Detroit Street Name Pronunciation

**DetroiterOnTheWestCoast** · February-06-16, 03:59 PM

Originally Posted by GPCharles

Goethe - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe pronunciation - ɡətə [[28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German writer and statesman.

As someone who took a few years of German in high school and college, I cringed when I heard anyone say "Go-thee" when I lived in the area.

**Detroitdave** · February-05-16, 10:57 AM

How in the world did they get Gratiot = Grass-shit.

**dtowncitylover** · February-05-16, 11:12 AM

Originally Posted by Detroitdave

How in the world did they get Gratiot = Grass-shit.

Ehhh, I've never really heard people pronounce it like that. It's more "GRAH-shit".

I've heard two possible French pronounciations, "GRAH-tee-o" or "GRAH-syee-o"

**Detroitdave** · February-05-16, 11:24 AM

Originally Posted by dtowncitylover

Ehhh, I've never really heard people pronounce it like that. It's more "GRAH-shit".

I've heard two possible French pronounciations, "GRAH-tee-o" or "GRAH-syee-o"

LOL I know but either way it's too funny , how are they getting a s from tiot?, Where in the world is the S coming from ? LOL

**ferndalien** · February-05-16, 02:56 PM

Originally Posted by Detroitdave

LOL I know but either way it's too funny , how are they getting a s from tiot?, Where in the world is the S coming from ? LOL

How do you pronounce motion?

**Detroitdave** · February-05-16, 03:35 PM

Originally Posted by ferndalien

How do you pronounce motion?

True , true , I pronounce Mo-shi-tion lol JK

**bust** · February-05-16, 04:24 PM

Originally Posted by ferndalien

How do you pronounce motion?

Hilarious. Now I finally have a justification for my native french speaking friends!

**canuck** · February-05-16, 06:18 PM

Originally Posted by Detroitdave

LOL I know but either way it's too funny , how are they getting a s from tiot?, Where in the world is the S coming from ? LOL

Yes well it's a lot like English really. In French, «Attention» is pronounced Attawnseeawn more or less, whereas in English, it is pronounced: Attenshun. Where is the T sound gone to? What is the «shh» sound all about? Lol

**Hornwrecker** · February-05-16, 05:15 PM

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

**Lowell** · February-07-16, 12:07 PM

Originally Posted by Hornwrecker

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..

**gumby** · February-06-16, 08:59 AM

The one that I have no clue about is Cadieux.

**EastsideAl** · February-06-16, 11:27 AM

Originally Posted by gumby

The one that I have no clue about is Cadieux.

....Cad-jew.

**Király** · February-06-16, 01:16 PM

Originally Posted by EastsideAl

....Cad-jew.

Stress! Stress! Stress! CAD-jew or cad-JEW?

How about Puritan? Is the T pronounced? Or is it hardly there at all like in "button"?

PURE-it-tan?
PURE-i-n?

How about Moross?

MORR-is?
MORE-ross?
muh-ROSS?

**EastsideAl** · February-06-16, 01:42 PM

Moross?
For old east siders it's pronounced "Seven Mile"

**Hamtragedy** · February-06-16, 02:57 PM

Vernier.

Vern-ee-er?
Vern-yer?

Kind of like Canadian

Can-ay-deean?
Cana-dyen?

**canuck** · February-06-16, 07:25 PM

Originally Posted by Hamtragedy

Vernier.

Vern-ee-er?
Vern-yer?

Kind of like Canadian

Can-ay-deean?
Cana-dyen?

Yup, I would say Vairn-yay as the closest sounding in French.

And Caddy-er would sound closest to French if you expel the "r" sound at the end.

A lot of these phonemes are hard to reproduce for a native English speaker.

Chene street is pronounced "Shen" in French and, it would have a circumflex accent on the first e like this: Chêne.

**Honky Tonk** · February-06-16, 07:40 PM

Originally Posted by canuck

Yup, I would say Vairn-yay as the closest sounding in French.

And Caddy-er would sound closest to French if you expel the "r" sound at the end.

A lot of these phonemes are hard to reproduce for a native English speaker.

Chene street is pronounced "Shen" in French and, it would have a circumflex accent on the first e like this: Chêne.

What about Dubois? "Doo-boys" or "Doob-wah"?

**FormerDetroiter** · February-06-16, 09:12 PM

Originally Posted by Honky Tonk

What about Dubois? "Doo-boys" or "Doob-wah"?

"Doo_Bwah"

**Király** · February-07-16, 11:46 AM

Originally Posted by FormerDetroiter

"Doo_Bwah"

Stress! Stress! Stress!

Is it DOO-bwah or doo-BWAH? "Doo_Bwah" doesn't tell where the stress goes!

Still wondering about Moross...

**canuck** · February-06-16, 09:46 PM

Originally Posted by Honky Tonk

What about Dubois? "Doo-boys" or "Doob-wah"?

It would sound like a cross between dew and dee, you try to average the two sounds and eliminate the oo sound as much as possible. These sounds exist in German and French but don't in English, Spanish and Italian as far as I know.

It might help to relax your jaw if you smoke a doobie and down a Mountain Dew with it.

**Honky Tonk** · February-07-16, 03:49 AM

Originally Posted by canuck

It might help to relax your jaw if you smoke a doobie and down a Mountain Dew with it.

Ok........... I took your advice......... What were........ we......... talking about?

**Jimaz** · February-06-16, 08:48 PM

Weatherman nails [Welsh] town's super long name

Street View

Wikipedia's Llanfairpwllgwyngyll Article

The long form of the name was invented for promotional purposes in the 1860s; with 58 characters it is the longest place name in Europe and the second longest official one-word place name in the world.

**FormerDetroiter** · February-06-16, 09:13 PM

Dee-troit
Duh-troit
Da_Troit
Day-Twaa

**gazhekwe** · February-07-16, 01:13 PM

The family pronounces it LAH ser

**bust** · February-07-16, 02:05 PM

I'm relieved there remains disagreement about some of these pronunciations. Especially since they are obvious mispronunciations of the originals. Historically, the way people said these names must have been varied and changing to get to where they have. Back when Detroit was collecting a lot more immigrants [[whether from Pennsylvania or Transylvania) hearing that variety must have been much more common. Speak to some immigrants and you'll still find variety today. Local / family / cultural accents are a simple indication of differences in perspective. This gets back to some points raised in the 'Detroit out-migration, in-migration, and the "other"' thread before it derailed.

It's amazing all the ways people say DeKalb within a few blocks of it in Brooklyn. It's a mistake to think there is a specific "New York accent". When people mention it I think "which one?". What they mean of course is the one they consider "typical". But what's typical is a matter of opinion. Even within a common ethnic group there there are differences by neighborhood and recency to the location. It's still a city very in flux, with people like and unlike me constantly moving in and messing things up. I really like that.

My family says a version of LAHser sometimes with a hint of LAHzher [[parents didn't agree), and it was a word frequent in our vocabulary. But those are just two ways.