List of places in England with counterintuitive pronunciations: A–L

This is a sublist of List of names in English with counterintuitive pronunciations.

Pronunciations for the following common suffixes are regular pronunciations, despite being counterintuitive at first glance:

  • -b(o)rough and -burgh – ,
  • -bury – ,
  • -cester –
  • -combe – ; although the standalone word 'combe' or 'coombe' is (including in place names such as Castle Combe and Coombe Bissett)
  • -gh – silent
  • -ham –
  • -holm(e) – ,
  • -shire – ,
  • -quay -
  • -wich - ,
  • -wick – '''{{#tag:ref|Accordingly: Southwick, Hampshire -
    Anomalies: Southwick, West Sussex is pronounced , like Painswick, Gloucestershire, Prestwick and Hardwick as well as Pickwick a former village in Wiltshire through which the novel The Pickwick Papers got its title, but these by population represent a very small minority.|group= n}}
  • -mouth –

Pronunciation of the following common prefix is variable depending on dialect:

  • Al- ;

Place names in England

A

  • Aigburth, Liverpool –
  • Aldeburgh, Suffolk –
  • Alnwick, Northumberland – , but nearby Alnmouth is usually
  • Althorp, Northamptonshire – beside intuitive
  • Altrincham, Greater Manchester –
  • Alresford, Hampshire - or
  • Alverdiscott, Devon – or
  • Aslackby, Lincolnshire –
  • Averham, Nottinghamshire –
  • Aveton Gifford, Devon – {{#tag:ref|This is doubly counter-intuitive if adopting an exception re: G from the other place names named Gifford, the forename and the surname.|group= n}}
  • Ayscoughfee Hall, Lincolnshire –

B

  • Barham, Kent –
  • Barholm, Lincolnshire –
  • Barnoldswick, Lancashire - local pronunciation is
  • Barnstaple, Devon –
  • Barugh, South Yorkshire –
  • Great Barugh and Little Barugh, North Yorkshire –
  • Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire -
  • Beauchamp Roding, Essex – {{#tag:ref|Also a surname.|group= n}}
  • Beauchief, Sheffield –
  • Beaudesert, Warwickshire – commonly until recently
  • Beaulieu, Hampshire –
  • Beaminster, Dorset –
  • Bellingham, Northumberland – {{#tag:ref|c.f. Bellingham, Washington, U.S.A., which is intuitive (|group= n}}
  • Belvoir: Belvoir Castle and village, and Vale of Belvoir, Leicestershire – {{#tag:ref|Also an area of Belfast, Northern Ireland, and see Belvoir Park Golf Club|group= n}}
  • Berkeley (all English towns) – {{#tag:ref|Mirrors British "clerk", which is also irregular.|group= n}}
  • Berkshire –
  • Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland –
  • Bicester, Oxfordshire –
  • Bideford, Devon –
  • Billericay, Essex –
  • Blackley, Greater Manchester –
  • Blidworth, Nottinghamshire –
  • Bosham, West Sussex -
  • Bozeat, Northamptonshire –
  • Bradley, West Midlands –
  • Brant Broughton, Lincolnshire –
  • Brewood, Staffordshire –
  • Bridestowe, West Devon –
  • Brougham, Cumbria –
  • Brough, East Riding of Yorkshire –
  • Burgh by Sands, Cumbria –
  • Bylaugh, Norfolk -

C

  • Caldmore, West Midlands –
  • Cambois, Northumberland –
  • Cambridge – {{#tag:ref|The River Cam and sometimes Cambridge, Gloucestershire are pronounced with ; however, locals now pronounce the latter like the city.|group= n}}
  • River Cherwell, river –
  • Cheshunt, Hertfordshire –
  • Cheylesmore, Coventry –
  • Chideock, Dorset –
  • Cholmondeley, Cheshire –
  • Cholmondeston, Cheshire –
  • Chop Gate, North Yorkshire -
  • Cirencester, Gloucestershire – now usually but traditionally
  • Claughton, Lancashire –
  • Claughton on Brock, Lancashire –
  • Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire –
  • Cogenhoe, Northamptonshire –
  • Congresbury, Somerset –
  • Costessey, Norfolk –
  • Cowbit, Lincolnshire –
  • Cowden, Kent - - unusual secondary stress
  • Cowpen, Northumberland –
  • Croxton Kerrial, Leicestershire -
  • Cruwys Morchard, Devon –
  • Cuckfield, Sussex – {{#tag:ref|C.f. nearby intuitive Uckfield|group= n}}

D

  • Daventry, Northamptonshire – now usually but traditionally
  • De Beauvoir Town, London - {{#tag:ref|Intuitive also heard, like Holborn, especially in relatively new residents.|group= n}}
  • Derby, Derbyshire –
  • Devon (county) – ; but Devon (river in Nottinghamshire) –
  • Dodworth, South Yorkshire –
  • Durham –

E

  • Edensor, Derbyshire –
  • Edenham, Lincolnshire –
  • Elsecar, South Yorkshire –
  • Ely, Cambridgeshire –
  • Esher, Surrey –
  • Eton, Berkshire –
  • Euxton, Lancashire –
  • Ewell, Surrey –
  • Eyam, Derbyshire –
  • Eynsham, Oxfordshire –

F

  • Farcet, Huntingdonshire/Cambridgeshire –
  • Folkingham, Lincolnshire –
  • Fowey, Cornwall –
  • Frithsden, Hertfordshire –
  • Frome, Somerset and the rivers Frome in Dorset, Somerset and South Gloucestershire –

G

  • Gateacre, Liverpool –
  • Gillingham, Dorset – ; but Gillingham, Kent – )
  • Gloucester –
  • Godmanchester, Cambridgeshire –
  • Gotham, Nottinghamshire –
  • Greenwich, Greater London –
  • Greysouthen, Cumbria –
  • Groby, Leicestershire –
  • Guildford, Surrey –

H

  • Happisburgh, Norfolk –
  • Harewood House, West Yorkshire, – {{#tag:ref|The adjacent village, Harewood, is pronounced intuitively. The other main stately home of broad architectural and historical note with an unusual pronunciation is: Cliveden |group= n}}
  • Haverholme, Lincolnshire –
  • Little Hautbois, Norfolk –
  • Haverhill, Suffolk –
  • Heather, Leicestershire –
  • Herstmonceux, East Sussex – or
  • Hessle, East Riding of Yorkshire –
  • High Wycombe see Wycombe below.
  • Holborn, London – (intuitive also heard)
  • Holnicote, Somerset –
  • Holywell, Lincolnshire –
  • Hough-on-the-Hill, Lincolnshire –
  • Hougham, Lincolnshire –
  • Houghton-le-Spring –
  • Hunstanton, Norfolk – (intuitive also heard)

I

  • Ide, Devon –
  • Isleworth, Greater London –
  • Islip, Northamptonshire - {{#tag:ref|c.f. Islip, Oxfordshire identical but for the r with: Ruislip|group= n}}
  • Iwerne Minster, Dorset -

K

  • Keadby, Lincolnshire –
  • Keighley, West Yorkshire –
  • Kirkby, Merseyside –

L

  • Laughton, Lincolnshire –
  • Launceston, Cornwall – , intuitively with a t or {{#tag:ref|cf. Launceston, Tasmania, pronounced )|group= n}}
  • Leamington Spa, Warwickshire –
  • Leasingham, Lincolnshire –
  • Leicester –
  • Leigh, Kent and Surrey –
  • Leominster, Herefordshire – {{#tag:ref|cf. Leominster, Massachusetts|group= n}}
  • Liskeard, Cornwall –
  • Loose, Kent –
  • Loughborough, Leicestershire –
  • Lostwithiel, Cornwall –
  • Ludgvan, Cornwall –
  • 'Luxulyan, Cornwall – alongside intuitive
  • Lympne, Kent –

See also

  • List of places in England with counterintuitive pronunciations: M–Z
  • Grapheme
  • English spelling
  • Pronunciation of Chinese names in English - counterintuitive Q, X, C, Zh, etc. in words romanised in Pinyin.

Notes and References

Notes
References