What's with the pronunciation of Louisville by Louisville local media? (Lexington: neighborhood, high school)

[Guineas]

I grew up in Lexington and have always pronounced Louisville as "Lou-uh-vul" and always thought that's the correct local pronunciation.

But why do Louisville TV anchors and radio stations pronounce it as "Lou-ee-ville"? It sounds disturbingly weird, like an occupation regime mispronouncing local names. But then local ads come up, and they pronounce it as I do.

[tomocox]

You are hearing the instructions, which have become traditional, from Barry Bingham, Sr. Mr. Bingham and his family were the owners and publishers of the Courier-Journal and the Louisville Times, which in turn started WHAS-Radio and WHAS-TV as well as other media products of the 20th Century. Mr. Bingham was a strict-detail person. The true French pronunciation is Lou-ee-ville. The town is named after Louis (Lou-ee) XVI (16th) and therefore, Mr. Bingham in his style demanded that when WHAS-Radio signed on and thereafter, the announcers would say "Lou-ee-vil"

[censusdata]

The most common pronunciation seems to be "Lou iv uhl" it's like the s becomes silent and the v takes its place

Since Kentucky has a lot of crazy place pronunciations it's only appropriate that the largest city does too. You have Yosemite (Yo see might), Versailles (ver sails), Owenton (Oint in), etc.

[Rafo1981]

I always grew up saying LOUIE-VILLE. Many people say loo-evuhl. I find that the differences arise mainly from socio-econmical factors. My mom, the native between my parents, has a masters in linguistics and came from an upper-middle class family. She used the french pronunciation, which is what you will here on TV and radio. Neither is wrong, it just depends on what household you grew up in or what neighborhood.

[Miss Blue]

'Lou-e-ville" Sometimes I think I am the only person in this area who pronounces it that way. May be because I was born and raised in Ohio where all my relatives also pronounce it that way.

Louisa is another town with different pronounciations. For myself it has always been" Lou-ee-sah" Some here call it "le-wee-zee"

[thunderkat59]

I think its hilarious that there are a lot of cities here that have the same name as cities in Vermont, but they are pronounced so differently. One example would be Versailles. Here, its "Ver sales", in VT, its "Ver sigh"

[kygman]

Back in the early 70s, on a family camping trip to Floriday, we were on a bus tour of Cape Canaveral. During one of the longer drives between sites, the driver would ask who was from each state. When we let out a yell for Kentucky, he asked "How do you pronounce the capital of Kentucky? Is it Lewisville or Louie ville? My brother's friend got the whole bus laughing when he said "Frankfort!" lol

[CraigCreek]

Originally Posted by kygman

Back in the early 70s, on a family camping trip to Floriday, we were on a bus tour of Cape Canaveral. During one of the longer drives between sites, the driver would ask who was from each state. When we let out a yell for Kentucky, he asked "How do you pronounce the capital of Kentucky? Is it Lewisville or Louie ville? My brother's friend got the whole bus laughing when he said "Frankfort!" lol

My father used to "catch" non-Kentuckians with this one, way back in the 'fifties.

Actually, wouldn't the French pronunciation of "Louisville" be more like "Louie-veel", with the concluding L half-swallowed into an almost "via"? Deauville, Lexington's sister city, shares this concluding syllable, and is pronounced accordingly.

That's the way my French teachers in high school and college would have taught it, if I remember correctly.

[Mr. In-Between]

Originally Posted by thunderkat59

I think its hilarious that there are a lot of cities here that have the same name as cities in Vermont, but they are pronounced so differently. One example would be Versailles. Here, its "Ver sales", in VT, its "Ver sigh"

I get caught out on that one so often I now go out of my way to avoid using the name "Versailles" in any conversation. I get tired of feeling so damned awkward when they stand there frowning and trying to figure out where the hell "Versie" is.

[mike1003]

Dont say that in Louisville, CO. They call it LOUIS-ville