Bayou Pronunciation - Long O or oo?

[xsatyr]

Old thread but I'll join. Always said bye-you, never heard it the other way.

[katygirl68]

Jambalaya - Hank Williams, Jr.

Goodbye Joe, me gotta go, me oh my oh
Me gotta go pole the pirogue down the bayou
My Yvonne, the sweetest one, me oh my oh
Son of a gun, we'll have good fun on the bayou

CHORUS:
Jambalaya, a-crawfish pie and-a file gumbo
'Cause tonight I'm gonna see my ma cher amio
Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gay-oh
Son of a gun, we'll have big fun on the bayou.

Instrumental Verse (Country Fiddle solo)

Thibodeaux, Fontainbleau, the place is buzzin'
Kinfolk come to see Yvonne by the dozen
Dress in style, go hog wild, me oh my oh
Son of a gun, we'll have big fun on the bayou.

REPEAT CHORUS

Instrumental Verse (Country Fiddle solo)

FINAL CHORUS:
Jambalaya, a-crawfish pie and-a fillet gumbo
'Cause tonight I'm gonna see my ma cher amio
Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gay-oh
Son of a gun, we'll have big fun on the bayou.
Son of a gun, we'll have big fun on the bayou.
Son of a gun, we'll have big fun on the bayou.


This song definitely rhymes bayou with me oh my oh.

[annie_himself]

It's ba-you. Just like it's spelled. Cajuns say it a little more like bye-ya.

[Meyerland]

Both are fine, and I have said it both ways. Older folks may say the word like bye-oh.

It reminds me of the street San Felipe, and it's different pronunciations. San fee-leep or San Filipee.

[land161]

I sometimes might use the word both ways, but most of the time I say bayou with oo at the end.

[llmrkc07]

Bi-you..that's how I always pronounced it.

[theSUBlime]

I say bye-you - native Texan.

[raj kapoor]

A word of native American origin that has been both Americanized and transformed by the French influence of the early eighteenth century. It is almost exclusively used in reference to the American Gulf Coast region.

If one looks at the French words that contain 'OU', one will understand that it is the French who gave us the 'BY-OO', BY-YOO' pronunciation. Words such as 'VOUS', LOUVRE, NOUS, ROUX.

The 'BY-O' pronunciation is a derivative of local people casually speaking the word as influenced by all of the above but not having formal education related to the pronunciation. In other words, a colloquialism.

They are both considered correct, however the 'BY-OO, BY-YOO' version is the proper pronunciation, and found as the 'first' pronunciation in dictionaries.

Knowing this, no one of good breeding would correct another for pronouncing it differently. In fact it is not appropriate to correct anyone's pronunciation in all but the most intimate circumstances. (the best way being that you would pronounce the offending word correctly and if the person has a brain they will either ask or search the word to satisfy the curiosity that this should cause.)

Words and language are great fun. In our time and culture, unfortunately. we are mostly word 'slobs'. So to have a thread like this is actually a promising thing.

Without enough words in your vocabulary you can't say what you mean, and therefore you can't mean what you say. How sad that is.

Have fun,
raj

[Haldous Uxley]

6th generation Texan here, I've mostly heard by-oh (in Houston), but that just sounds weird af, so I say by-you

[atadytic19]

It's Bah- You.

Bah - yuh if you country.