Guide to Pronouncing County NamesJohn L. Sanders; The author is a former director of the Institute of Government The proper--that is, the customary local--pronunciation of the names of some North Carolina counties is often a puzzlement to native as well as to newcomer. The very spelling of some county names makes their pronunciation baffling--Cabarrus, for example. In other instances, the spelling suggests a pronunciation, but it is one with which local practice does not agree-Robeson, for example. And in yet other cases, the emphasis in pronunciation is put on a different syllable from the one that seems normal--Bertie, for instance. The following list has been compiled to provide a ready guide to customary county name pronunciations. The advice of readers on how the guide might be improved would be welcome. (It is recognized that there are local variations that differ from those shown here--some Iredell County residents call their home "ARE-dell," for example--but no attempt has been made to list them here.)
North
Carolina Counties: Pronunciations
John L. Sanders. "Guide to Pronouncing County Names," Popular Government, Vol. 63, no.3, Spring 1998: pg. 38, published by the UNC-Chapel Hill Institute of Government. Reproduced by permission of the School of Government, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. |
Website comments or questions: wilsonlibrary@unc.edu
Suggestions on Library Services? Give us your feedback.
URL: http://www.lib.unc.edu/ncc/ref/resources/guide.html
This page was last updated Monday, March 26, 2012.