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Well, the town was originally named North Fork (or some variation of that) but the post office changed the spelling to Norfolk.
Are you referring to Nebraska, or Virginia?
A thousand years earlier, the Angles in Britain, in the Anglia area, recognized the people of the area as "North Folk" and "South Folk", and quickly condensed those into Norfolk and Suffolk (spelled Nordfolc in 1066), which assumed status as counties. By the time of the early settlement of the American colonies, almost all places were named for cities or counties in England or the British Isles, including Norfolk, Virginia, which was never anything other than Norfolk, the same as the county in England it was named after. The same Norfolk, England, lent its name to Norfolk County, Massachusetts (including Boston), Norfolk Island in the South Pacific, and the Norfolk Pine, indigenous to Norfolk Island.
Norfolk Virginia was founded and named Norfolk in 1682, long before there were any post offices.
It is interesting, however, that Norfolk, Nebraska, originally named for the North Fork River by early settlers, is to this day pronounced by Nebraskans as "nor-fork". Similarly, Oshkosh Nebraska is pronounced by locals as "arsh-karsh".
A thousand years earlier, the Angles in Britain, in the Anglia area, recognized the people of the area as "North Folk" and "South Folk", and quickly condensed those into Norfolk and Suffolk (spelled Nordfolc in 1066), which assumed status as counties. By the time of the early settlement of the American colonies, almost all places were named for cities or counties in England or the British Isles, including Norfolk, Virginia, which was never anything other than Norfolk, the same as the county in England it was named after. The same Norfolk, England, lent its name to Norfolk County, Massachusetts (including Boston), Norfolk Island in the South Pacific, and the Norfolk Pine, indigenous to Norfolk Island.
Norfolk Virginia was founded and named Norfolk in 1682, long before there were any post offices.
It is interesting, however, that Norfolk, Nebraska, originally named for the North Fork River by early settlers, is to this day pronounced by Nebraskans as "nor-fork". Similarly, Oshkosh Nebraska is pronounced by locals as "arsh-karsh".
Sorry, I was talking about Nebraska. It was originally North Fork or some similar variation and that's why many people still pronounce the "r". You can tell an outsider that way. LOL Again, I never heard Oshkosh pronounced that way. I very rarely heard anyone who said warsh instead of wash, but maybe the residents of Oshkosh do? I don't really know! I'm not sure that is necessarily regional. I am in Western South Dakota now and I've heard a couple people say "warsh" but the vast majority don't. I think it's more generational than regional, but I could be wrong.
Mass. Towns
Amherst, MA- Am-erst not Am-herst
Barnstable- barn-stibbe no Barn-stable
Pembroke- Pem-Brook not Pem- Broak
Haverhill- Hav-rill not Haver-hill
Weymouth- Way-mith not Wiegh-mouth
Billerica- Bill-rica not Bill-a-rica
Quincy- Quin-Zee not Quin-see
Plymouth- Pli-mith not Ply-mouth
Worcester- Wu-ster not War-chester
Tewksbury- Tooks-bury not Tewwks-berry
The pronunciation of Concord has always interested me. When I first moved to NC I pronounced it the New England way and called it Conquered. I made this mistake only one time when talking to someone who was a North Carolina native and was very quickly corrected. The proper way to pronounce it is Concorde, just like the plane. I now pronounce it the NC way. Does anyone know how people in Concord, CA pronounce it?
The way some people pronounce Faulkner County amuses me a little.
Which pronunciations do you think are funny, and which are not? If you're talking about the one at Conway, Arkansas, as far as I know they pronounce the same as William Faulkner.
By the way, here is a tip on hearing locals pronounce things. Go to local.yahoo.com and look up a business with the city or county name in their title, and phone their number at night or on Sunday, and listen to their recording when they answer the phone. If you get a live person answering, just ask them how they say the name.
I don't think anybody has mentioned Piqua, Ohio, yet, which is PICK-way.
Last edited by jtur88; 11-04-2012 at 09:56 AM..
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