Pronunciation question

[palisadesk]

I was just rummaging through our school "Book Fair" in the library (school gets a kickback on books from Scholastic, the publisher), and was pleased to see one of my childhood favourites in paperback, Eric Knight's Lassie Come Home, unabridged and with original illustrations.

Then I looked at the first paragraph and wondered, for the umpteenth time, how to pronounce the name of the family in the story.

It starts "Everyone in Greenall Bridge knew Sam Carraclough's collie, Lassie."

The "Carra" part I can handle -- but "clough?" Does it rhyme with doe, huff, new, lock, off? Or something else altogether?

It was decades before I learned that "Cholmondeley" was "Chumlee" so I now take nothing UK for granted !

Curiously,

Susan S.

[Debbie Hepplewhite]

My instinct is to rhyme with 'huff' but that doesn't mean much!

[Susan Godsland]

I'd go with 'rhymes with huff', too

[FEtutor]

Hi Susan
Brian Clough was a well known football manager whose name was always pronounced "Cluff" - and a Mr Barraclough was a character in a TV series - pronounced "Barracluff"- so I'd go with rhyming with huff and puff..........

Have you heard of "Beauvoir" said as "Beever" (if I remember my headmistress right)

[palisadesk]

Have you heard of "Beauvoir" said as "Beever" (if I remember my headmistress right)

EEEEEKK!! I attended a school in Washington, D.C. in my salad days which had a preschool-primary school attached named "Beauvoir."

NOT "beever," <shudder> nor quite the French "bo-VWAH" either -- a decently Anglicised French "bo-vwar." The eminent writer Simone De B. was pronounced that way too except by my Latin teacher, who was a student or colleague or something of de Beauvoir at the Sorbonne I think.

Just to set your UK teeth on edge -- we have a leafy residential street in uptown Toronto called "Balliol Street." Naturally, named after the Oxford college -- and doesn't rhyme with much of anything, as D. L. Sayers found out when she penned the ditty,
"Wimsey went to Balliol
And sat at the feet of Gamaliel
Where his language was sesquipedalial..."

..at which point the jingle ran out of steam -- and options.

The residents of Ontario's capital city pronounce this name "bull OIL."
(Lysdexia perhaps)


Susan S.


Carra-cluff it is then. Now you mention it, there's a sports broadcaster on CBC (Canadian Broadcasting) named Rick Clough and his name is pronounced cluff. I've been saying "Carra-cloe" in my head for a long time though so it will take a while to hear it right.

[maizie]

Have you heard of "Beauvoir" said as "Beever" (if I remember my headmistress right)

That reminds me of when I first lived in Sheffield (S. Yorkshire) where an area of the suburbs is called 'Beauchief'. The first 'native' I tried out my pronunciation of the name on - Bo sheef - shrieked with laughter and said "It's Beechiff"

I'd go with 'cluff' too. We have a Clough on our staff and that's how they pronounce it.

[Judy]

Isn't the surname 'Barraclough' always pronounced 'Barracluff'? If so, I'd say that was near enough!

(Not forgetting 'Beauchamp', pronounched Beecham!)

And Norfolk has a few prize ones - 'Wymondham' pronounced Windam and 'Happisburgh' pronouced 'Hazebrough'!)

[JAC]

I would go for 'cluff' being a pom, but here in Oz there is a suburb called Glendalough pronounced 'Glendalow'.
Not only that they don't pronounce 'Derby' as 'Darby' now how weird can you get?!

[Goodenough]

I wonder if the Glendalough is named after Glendalough in Ireland. If so the original pronunciation would have been Glen-da-lock or rather Glen-da-loch with the lough pronounced like loch in Scotland. No wonder our poor students despair sometimes!