Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Cabell is CAB (as in taxi) ull, emphasis on CAB. Kanawha is a funny word. If you pronounce it wrong, everybody knows you're not from around here. Kuh-GNAW-uh, emphasis on the second syllable, and the 3rd syllable almost disappears. If you say it right, it is nearly indistinguishable from a 2 syllable word.
There are lots of words like that; taking on a regional characteristic. For example, a hurricane is a big storm. The place in Putnam County name Hurricane is not pronounced the same as a storm. Nearly lose the "cane" and turn it into a hint of "cn" and you might pass yourself off as being from nearby.
People that have spent many decades in Charleston can turn the city's name into a 2 syllable word.
Having lived here most of my life, pronouncing Char-el-stun as a two syllable word: Cha-stun. It almost exclusively the impoverished and black communities that use the two syllable version.
Ka-naw-wa with the hard K is pronounced by those same groups as Ka-naw with no third syllable at all. You occasionally here a dying sound at the end of an almost voiced third syllable but it is rare.
The dividing line is money and education. Those with it say them properly, those that without, don't. Diction in West Virginia is the surest way to separate classes of people, whether they know it or not.
Having lived here most of my life, pronouncing Char-el-stun as a two syllable word: Cha-stun. It almost exclusively the impoverished and black communities that use the two syllable version.
Ka-naw-wa with the hard K is pronounced by those same groups as Ka-naw with no third syllable at all. You occasionally here a dying sound at the end of an almost voiced third syllable but it is rare.
The dividing line is money and education. Those with it say them properly, those that without, don't. Diction in West Virginia is the surest way to separate classes of people, whether they know it or not.
I disagree with your characterizations of Charleston's communities. You comments are insulting and derogatory to poor and black people in Charleston. I've heard these pronunciations myself with my own ears (neither impoverished nor black) for better than 60 years, coming from people in Kanawaha City, South Hills, Edgewood, and other parts of Charleston that are not, and have not been, historically black or impoverished areas. It has nothing to do with money, race, education, or neighborhood. It's simply the way those with life-long familiarity create local shortcuts and abbreviations. When I was a student at Charleston High School, we had a cheer that shortened "Charleston" to 2 syllables to fit the rhythm of the cheer.
The same thing happens in lots of other places. I didn't offer any other examples because this is the West Virginia forum, and that would obviously have been off topic.
It's nothing more than the same type of familiarity that caused the term "WVU" to change over decades from "Double-You -- Vee -- You" into "Dub-Ya -- Vee -- You." (BTW, that second version is the way the "Pride of West Virginia" cheers their way into "Go Mountaineers.")
It's nothing more than the same type of familiarity that caused the term "WVU" to change over decades from "Double-You -- Vee -- You" into "Dub-Ya -- Vee -- You." (BTW, that second version is the way the "Pride of West Virginia" cheers their way into "Go Mountaineers.")
That cheer is used prior to Fight Mountaineers. The second time the letters are said the u is drastically shortened, but not eliminated.
I disagree with your characterizations of Charleston's communities. You comments are insulting and derogatory to poor and black people in Charleston. I've heard these pronunciations myself with my own ears (neither impoverished nor black) for better than 60 years, coming from people in Kanawaha City, South Hills, Edgewood, and other parts of Charleston that are not, and have not been, historically black or impoverished areas. It has nothing to do with money, race, education, or neighborhood. It's simply the way those with life-long familiarity create local shortcuts and abbreviations. When I was a student at Charleston High School, we had a cheer that shortened "Charleston" to 2 syllables to fit the rhythm of the cheer.
The same thing happens in lots of other places. I didn't offer any other examples because this is the West Virginia forum, and that would obviously have been off topic.
It's nothing more than the same type of familiarity that caused the term "WVU" to change over decades from "Double-You -- Vee -- You" into "Dub-Ya -- Vee -- You." (BTW, that second version is the way the "Pride of West Virginia" cheers their way into "Go Mountaineers.")
Your experience differs from mine is all that your diatribe gets across. Have you lived any where else but in West Virginia? I have. Many other states and around the world. Nothing tunes the ear to such things like travel.
Allow me to educate you. Look up sociolinguistics, which is what we are discussing here.
In sociolinguistics, an accent is a manner of pronunciation peculiar to a particular individual, location or nation. An accent may be identified with the locality in which its speakers reside, the socio-economic status of its speakers, their ethnicity, their caste or social class or their influence from their first language.
This is exactly what I have stated. People in this area that shorten these place names do so because of their impoverished nature, lack of education or because they are from the black community. None of those are absolute terms as there are always exceptions, but in this case your opinion is merely one man's point of view. The field of study of sociolinguistics suggests you are in error.
I stand corrected on the song title. (I knew better, but had a memory lapse.) The second "U" is shortened so the band members can grab a quick breath before starting to play.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
