Detroit Street Name Pronunciation

[Hornwrecker]

Be thankful that Go-thee and Frood streets don't cross.

[Lowell]

Be thankful that Go-thee and Frood streets don't cross.

My former life as a Sears delivery driver, when I traveled every street longer than 3 blocks in the metro, gave me my linguistic education in Detroit pronunciations. None were more comical than those for Goethe and Freud. [Go-thee and Frood]

In German the oe [which is the anglicized ö] is most closely replicated as er and th is a hard T. So Gir'-tuh is as close as an English speaker can hope for and hence the comedy of Go-thee.

But when it comes to the ö to Schoenherr Detroiters say Shay'-nurr.

If one knows a little French Liver-noise for Livernois is worth a chuckle too

We do better on Beaubien Bow-bee-yen and almost get close on Charlevoix Shar-luh-voy and actually get the 'oi' ='wah' right in Antoinette An-twah-net..