Last week I was in a queue at the Tube station and the guy in front of me was trying to buy a ticket to Southwark, but he was getting increasingly flustered. The problem was, he kept saying South-wark and the customer assistant had no idea which station he was asking for: I don t where that is, mate.
How do you pronounce Southwark?
You see, the south in Southwark is not pronounced the way we would normally say south you say suhth instead (using the same vowel sound that s in the word up ); the w in wark is silent and since this second syllable is weak, it uses the schwa rather than taking a long ar sound as in car . So, how should the guy have said where he was going? Suh-thuk would have got him his ticket far quicker - or / s k/ for those of you familiar with the phonemic script.
The relationship between the spelling and sound of English words is pretty complex in general, but that of place names in particular can be mind-boggling. To save you time and hassle at the ticket office, we ve compiled a list of just a few of the tube stops whose pronunciation you may struggle with:
|
|
Don t say |
Say.. |
|---|---|---|
|
How do you pronounce Southwark? |
south-wark
The south part is said with a completely different vowel sound; the w is silent; the second syllable is weak so the ar is not long as in car .
|
suh-thuk / s k/
|
|
How do you pronounce Greenwich? |
green-witch
Green is pronounced gri or gre and the w is silent.
|
gri-nitch or gre-nitch / gr n / or / gren / |
|
How do you pronounce Leicester (Square)? |
lai- ses-ter
There are only 2 syllables in this word so you have to imagine the middle ice disappears.
|
les-tuh / lest / |
|
How do you pronounce Borough? |
bo-ruff
The first o sounds like the u in up ; the ough is weak and takes the schwa sound.
|
buh-ruh / b r / |
|
How do you pronounce Clapham? |
klap-ham
There is a silent h .
|
kla-pum / kl p m/ |
|
How do you pronounce Canary Wharf? |
ka-naa-ri waarf
The second syllable in Canary rhymes with wear ; the h and r in wharf are silent.
|
kuh-nea-ri wawf /k ne ri w f/ |
|
How do you pronounce Gloucestor (Road)? |
glaw-ses-ter
There are 2 syllables in this word so imagine the middle uce has disappeared.
|
glos-tuh / gl st / |
|
How do you pronounce Ladbroke (Grove)? |
lad-broke
The broke is not pronounced like the past of break : it rhymes with book .
|
lad-brook / l dbr k/ |
|
How do you pronounce Vauxhall? |
vauks-hall
The first syllable rhymes with shocks and the h is silent.
|
voks-all / v ks l/ |
|
How do you pronounce Loughton? |
loff-ton
The ough can be said in various ways but in this case, it rhymes with how .
|
lau-tun / la t n/ |
|
How do you pronounce Warwick (Avenue)? |
wahr-wick
The war sounds like more and the second w is silent.
|
woh-rick / w r k/ |
|
How do you pronounce Deptford? |
dept-ford
There is a silent p and r ; the second syllable is short not long. |
det-fud / detf d/ |
|
How do you pronounce Ruislip? |
roo-i-slip
The first syllable rhymes with my .
|
rye-slip / ra sl p/ |
|
How do you pronounce Marylebone? |
mary-lee-bone
Mary sounds like maa and bone becomes short and weak. |
maa-li-bun
|
