A little pronunciation help here?

[Dewman]

So I was in ATL a couple of years ago for a conference, and extended my stay to give me a chance to hike on the AT in GA for the first time. So I asked someone how far it was to Dalon-AY-ga. I got a puzzled look at first, and then she smiled and said, Oh you mean Dah-LONG-ega? Yeah, that.

So I got to wondering what else I'm mispronouncing. So how do you pronounce Walasi-Yi? Does Yi rhyme with high or he?

And the NOC. Is it the N-O-C, or the "knock" or something else entirely?

[hobby]

So I was in ATL a couple of years ago for a conference, and extended my stay to give me a chance to hike on the AT in GA for the first time. So I asked someone how far it was to Dalon-AY-ga. I got a puzzled look at first, and then she smiled and said, Oh you mean Dah-LONG-ega? Yeah, that.

So I got to wondering what else I'm mispronouncing. So how do you pronounce Walasi-Yi? Does Yi rhyme with high or he?

And the NOC. Is it the N-O-C, or the "knock" or something else entirely?

Yes there are a lot of names around here that are mispronounced by those not familiar with them, usually of Native American origin. Dah-LON-ega is a good example
Wa-la-see-yee is another

N-O-C is the Nantahala (Nan-ta-HEY-la) Outdoor Center, which is right on the trail, in western North Carolina

[Sarcasm the elf]

I was told by locals that to pronounce Walasi-Yi, you should think of John Wayne saying While-I-See-Yee.(Pardner )

[imscotty]

That depends. Do you plan on hiking the 'Appal-lay-chin' Trail or the 'Appal-latch-in' Trail?

[Sarcasm the elf]

That depends. Do you plan on hiking the 'Appal-lay-chin' Trail or the 'Appal-latch-in' Trail?

Thesame lady that told me the John Wayne bit in my previous post also told me " Appalachian-lay-chin is a term used to describe where different wines are made. Apple-at-chin is a mountain range.

[moldy]

If they were stupid enough to pick a name like Walasi-yi and then spell it the way they did then you should feel free to pronounce it any way you want. Most people just avoid the term and call it Neel's Gap.

[Terry7]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxOt2D2DSaw how to pronounce Appalachian

[Damn Yankee]

That depends. Do you plan on hiking the 'Appal-lay-chin' Trail or the 'Appal-latch-in' Trail?

I was going to say this same example. I was told it was pronounce like someone throwing an apple at cha but, before that, I that it had a long A sound. I stood corrected.

[Dewman]

Thanks all! Very helpful!

I'll return the favor here. In East Tennessee, Unaka Mountain is pronounced Yew-NAY-ka (I've heard it mispronounced "Unucka," all short u's and emphasis on first syllable, several times). And if you want to sound like a local, say Wuh-DOG-uh Lake...

[Sarcasm the elf]

If they were stupid enough to pick a name like Walasi-yi and then spell it the way they did then you should feel free to pronounce it any way you want. Most people just avoid the term and call it Neel's Gap.

It was called While-I-See-Yee long before the English language had the chance to arrive on these shores and butcher it's pronunciation.

[Hill Ape]

unicoi is the same indian word as unaka, simply spelled differently by whites. my grandmother says it a little differently than i do, not really a U sound, more like an EW sound, and not really coi, more like qua but not so hard. ew ni qua, but sounds like she's swallowing the sounds. with her it is definately LATCHee or LATCH ah, i've never heard her say it with an N at the end. it DUH lon igga, i can promise you that. its neels gap, no local calls it anything but. i've always thought the walasi-yi part was purely made up. maybe i'm wrong. and anything around here called painter, is referring to panthers.

she was raised by a cherokee speaker, but i barely remember my great granny. IMO, i'm not quite as hillbilly as the rest of my family in ellijay, but my girlfriends family in Wisconsin loves the way i talk

[bigcranky]

NOC is an acronym, pronounced En Oh See.

[slbirdnerd]

NOC is an acronym, pronounced En Oh See.

Sorry I have to chime in: NOC is an initialism, pronounced N.O.C. If it were an acronym, it would be pronounced "knock."

[Another Kevin]

That depends. Do you plan on hiking the 'Appal-lay-chin' Trail or the 'Appal-latch-in' Trail?

That depends on whether I'm hiking north or south of the Mason-Dixon Line!

[bigcranky]

Sorry I have to chime in: NOC is an initialism, pronounced N.O.C. If it were an acronym, it would be pronounced "knock."

Well, cr@p, of course you are correct. My inner grammar nerd failed me on that one.

[bobgessner57]

Cherokee words are the basis for a lot of place names and a lot of southern mountain speech. But the language has also been influenced by English. All Cherokee words are accented on the last syllable but many of the adapted words carry the accent on other syllables. Unaka is a good example (means white). In Cherokee the word would be approximately ooh-nah-GUH, but Cherokee slang for a caucasion person is you-naig or you-NAG-uh . The same person might use the traditional pronunciation while speaking in Cherokee, but the Anglicized version when speaking in English.

Hill Ape's description of the way his grandmother pronounced things gives a good idea of the sound of the language. It is a beautiful lilting language, a pleasure to listen to even if you can't understand a word.

Also, a lot of southern mountain speech is based on old English. I have heard uncouth visitors belittle locals for their speech while not realizing that the phrasing, pronunciation, etc is actually more "correct" than our contemporary use of the language. My wife is a native of Madison County, NC, (Hot Springs, Sams Gap, Big Bald are all in that county). Only people she is extremely comfortable with will here her native tongue. In school the kids were encouraged to loose it. She is keenly aware of how use of her natural speech causes many people to view her as an uneducated hick. Linguists and scholars from here and abroad have visited Madison County to study the speech and the fantastic oral tradition and music that has been maintained in some of the more remote parts of the county, particularly in the Laurel sections close to the trail.