Being of foreign extraction, I recently hit on a conundrum. I’ve lived in this fair city for more than a few years, and have always called it “Canberra”. However I am reliably informed that I live in “Can-Bra”
Where do you live?
Can-berra? (Rhymes with “error”)
Can-bra? (Rhymes with “bra”)
Can-be-ra ? (Rhymes with “Raw”)
Can-brah? (Rhymes with “borough”)
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What’s Your opinion?
How you say?
Oldest to Newest
Can-bruh.
Tugg-ner-rong is endemic here in Tuggeranong.
We need a nuculer reacter to go with.
Hume looks good.
I used to work with someone who kept saying “Tugg-ner-rong”. Was she just a bit special or have others come across that ?
And my two cents worth is that it is Can-bruh.
Go ask Bruce!
: )
astrojax said :
Yes, Glastonbury.
i’m with johnboy all the way – it was named after a chap who was called ‘jar-vis’, so don’t listen to your bloody abc anymore – just where did their pronunciation committees get to these days??
and what is it with the pronunciation of the nation’s capital causes so much angst, pommy-b? i just say ‘the glorious and fabled city in excelsis’ and it must be entirely obvious whereof i speak…
I would never say Gund’roo. Never!
But what about Jyndabine or Gundaroo.
Nope, usually only 2 syllables each: Jyndie and Gund’roo !
You should be here in London these days. No-one speaks properly anymore. The children speak some sort of tribal language (I do live near Brixton) which is almost unintelligible.
In real English, CBR would be pronounced Canberra, the berr sounding like berry. That’s how they say it in Forrest and Deakin. Upper class twits.
I think it is of supreme interest, not to say profoundly affecting, to be able to pronounce the name of this fair city properly.
Now all I need to do it to get you all to agree that my pronunciation : “Can bu ra” is the correct one.
After all, I’m one of the few people in the city who speak the Queen’s English properly.
No wonder people think Canberra is boring if this is the most scintillating thing you have to talk about….
That’s the short version, yes.
: )
Granny said :
lyneham flats???
According to Wikipedia ‘the longest official geographical name in Australia is Mamungkukumpurangkuntjunya Hill. It is a Pitjantjatjara word meaning “where the Devil urinates”.’
Even they just call it Wagga.
But what about Jyndabine or Gundaroo.
GB said :
And how do you pronounce ‘Australia’?
Some fey individuals insert four syllables, but I find it difficult to get three out of it. I’m starting to wonder whether there are any place names that Australians pronounce with any more than two and a bit syllables… maybe that’s the rule… If it doesn’t fit into less than three syllables, force it!
Even the place where I grew up, Cabramatta, which clearly was intended by some pommy bastard (not our pommy bastard, just a generic one from the nineteenth century) to be pronounced with four syllables, is generally pronounced with barely three (the glottal stop between the last two is sublimated). And that’s true of all the nationalities that call the place home.
I think we should have a contest to see if anyone can find a place in Australia that is pronounced (by the locals) with clearly more than three syllables… Excluding places like Wagga Wagga, who are obviously cheating.
Sigh. We really need a phonetic language. And an ability to read it. Any opera singers out there?
Ozpuck said :
Not knowing who Peter Harvey is, do you mean “bra” as in the lingerie item, or the sound at the end of “Debra”?
I’d still like a poll on the pronunciation of Canbourough.
In terms of establishment versus plebeians, Lady Denman appears to be the establishment spokesperson who advocated the emphasis on the first syllable.
GB is right in describing the three syllable, emphasis on the second syllable crowd as fancying that they are showing a superior education. The emphasis is on fancying – it’s very “new money”.
Wikipedia says it’s JERvis. Me, myself and I wouldn’t know.