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"Syracuse" has always been a real trouble. As a Long Islander, I've always said "SEER-a-kyoos"(rhyming with beer) but I'm pretty sure everyone else not from LI says "SEHR-a-kyooz.' Who takes the cake?
yeah but someone's gonna have to educate me on Watervliet. Is it water-va-LEET?
Darn it, I just realized you can't edit your own posts after a while. that sucks. We'll just have to keep adding periodically... (not every time tho, that would be too much)
Rochester area
Chili... (CHYE-lye)
Riga... (RYE-ga)
Charlotte... (shar-LOT)
Genesee... (jenna-SEE) rhymes exactly with Tennessee
Finger Lakes area
Ithaca... (ITH-a-ka)
Keuka... (KYOO-ka)
Cayuga... two pronunciations are common... (KAY-yoo-ga) or (KYE-yoo-ga)
Canandaigua... (cannon-DAY-gwa) or (canna-DAY-gwa)
Penn Yan... the Yan rhymes with "Ann"
Honeoye... (HONEY-oy)
Syracuse area
Skaneateles... (skinny-ATLAS) or less commonly (skanny-ATLAS)
Brewerton... (BRUR-'n) if you want to sound like a real native
Chittenango... (chit-NANG-go)
Oswego... (ah-SWEE-go)
Schroeppel... (SCREW-pull)... just like the word "scruple"
Pompey... (POM-pee)
Constantia... (kun-STAN-sha)
Albany area
Greenwich... (GREEN-wich)
Colonie... (kah-la-NEE)... like "colony" but with stress on last syllable
Rensselaer... (ren-sa-LEER)
North Country
Lowville... (LAOW-ville) rhymes with "ow"
Pulaski... (pull-ASK-eye)
Southern Tier
Olean... (OH-lee-ann)
Binghamton... (BING-m-ton) - it's not one of "The Hamptons"!
Mohawk Valley
Canajoharie... (canna-jo-HARRY)
Utica... (YOU-tick-a)
Ilion... (ILL-ee-un)
Herkimer... (HER-k'm-er) ... seems easy but can be confusing...
Oneida... (oh-NIGH-da)
Schenectady... (skeh-NECK-ta-dee)
Chenango Valley
Chenango... (sheh-NANG-go)
Oneonta... (oh-nee-ON-ta)
Actually the Oneonta natives don't pronounce the "T" - I think it's a central NY thing. They usually say "OH-Nee-AH-NA".
Actually, I guess it depends where you are from, but I am an LI native and your Hauppauge pronunciation isn't exactly correct - it's HAH-PAHG or HOP-HOG.
Cairo depends on who says it. It can be said like Cairo in Egypt or Kay Row.
Valatie is one of my favs! You can always tell when someone's not from these here parts with this one!
Cohoes
Latham
Albany - Al is the mayor, but the city isn't named for him
Schaghticoke - enjoy this one!
I lived in the Albany area for about 2 years before I realized Valatie was Vah-LAY-sha.
My favorite from the Hudson Valley is Coeymans (QWEE-mans).
Quote:
Originally Posted by wingsauce711
Sorry to bump this, but there's a county in WNY whose name I can never remember how to pronounce... Cattaraugus County. Any help? I wanna say it's pronounced "Catter - aw - gus." Am I right?
My aunt from WNY used to pronounce Niskayuna like "Nis - KAI - una." And Valatie... I'm from the Capital District and the first time I saw that name, I just stared at it blankly for like 5 minutes, before embarrassing myself with pronouncing it "VAL - uh - tai."
Close on Cattaraugus is CAT-uh-raw-gus.
More WNY:
Scajacquada: ska-JACK-qui-da
Hertel: HER-tle
Napoli: na-POLE-eye
Kinzua Dam: Kin-ZOO
Point Gratiot: GRAT-it
Also, in the Southern Tier, hotel is often pronounced HOE-tel, especially in the name of bistros popular with local folks ... Dayton Hotel, Sherman Hotel, Stockton Hotel, West End Hotel
As a native of Dutchess County, I can't think of any names in that county that aren't pronounced the way they look. But there is one city name that, as a kid, shocked me when I saw the actual spelling. I'd always heard it pronounced by my parents and relatives as nerrahshell (New Rochelle), a city in Westchester County.
I'm no expert, but upstaters sound like Chicago to me. My brother's name is Robby and they call him "RA-bee" like the "ra" in rabbi or rat. A lot of people don't really have an accent, but those from long time resident families seem to be the one's who pronounce "O" like the "A" in rat.
You're not hearing it wrong, most of upstate is within the north central dialect area, thus many people (especially as you go further west) sound like they're from Chicago or Michigan. But the eastern border extends right up to Vermont.
That accent is certainly not like anything you'll hear in the Syracuse area. BTW, we are considered Central New York not Upstate. Any part of NY above us is called North Country.
To me that commercial sounds NYC/NJ. Like a Brooklyn thing.
That accent is certainly not like anything you'll hear in the Syracuse area. BTW, we are considered Central New York not Upstate. Any part of NY above us is called North Country.
To me that commercial sounds NYC/NJ. Like a Brooklyn thing.
Brooklyn and NJ? Umm, no. Have you ever been here? This is Brooklyn and North Jersey:
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