List of places in the United Kingdom and Ireland with counterintuitive pronunciations

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

Place names of the UK and Ireland

England

See:

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

Oxford and Cambridge Colleges

  • Balliol College, University of Oxford –
  • Caius College, Cambridge –
  • Magdalen College, Oxford and Magdalene College, Cambridge –

Scotland

  • Anstruther, Fife – beside intuitive
  • Athelstaneford, East Lothian – or
  • Auchinleck, Ayrshire – or intuitively or
  • Avoch, Highland –
  • Culross, Fife –
  • Culzean Castle, Ayrshire –
  • Findochty, Moray –
  • Friockheim, Angus –
  • Garioch, Aberdeenshire –
  • Gigha, Argyll and Bute –
  • Glamis, Argyll and Bute –
  • Glenzier, Dumfries and Galloway –
  • Grandtully, Perthshire –
  • Greenock, – {{#tag:ref|Or per Gaelic (resembles kriənək)|group= n}}
  • Hawick, Scottish Borders – alongside partly intuitive
  • Islay, island of the Inner Hebrides –
  • Kilchurn Castle,
  • Kilconquhar, Fife –
  • Kilncadzow, South Lanarkshire, Scotland –
  • Kingussie, Highland –
  • Kirkcaldy, Fife –
  • Kirkcudbright, Galloway – or
  • Milngavie, Dunbartonshire –
  • Murray Park, Glasgow and Moray, Morayshire – {{#tag:ref|Murray is also a common surname generally pronounced in this orthodox way.|group= n}}
  • Ravenstruther, Lanarkshire – or
  • Ruthven, Aberdeenshire –
  • Sanquhar, Dumfries and Galloway –
  • Scone, Perthshire –
  • Strathaven, South Lanarkshire –
  • Tillicoultry, Clackmannanshire –
  • Udny, Aberdeenshire -
  • Wemyss Bay, Inverclyde –

The island of Ireland

The rules of Irish Gaelic spelling are different from those of English. Most Irish places have English names originating as anglicised spellings of Irish names. Placenames with unanglicised spellings (such as Cóbh, County Cork – Cóbh) are omitted.

Ending -ane is regularly pronounced , with PALM vowel rather than FACE vowel, as in Ferbane, Portrane, Strabane, Teebane. -agh is pronounced , with a silent 'g'.

  • Ahoghill, County Antrim – or
  • Boyounagh, County Galway –
  • Breaghwy, Connacht –
  • Cahir, County Tipperary –
  • Cloghore, County Donegal –
  • Clones, County Monaghan
  • Cultra, Northern Ireland –
  • Gort, County Galway –
  • Inistioge, County Kilkenny –
  • Kiltimagh, County Mayo –
  • Leap, County Cork –
  • Leighlin and Leighlinbridge, County Carlow – or
  • Mweelrea, County Mayo –
  • Naas, County Kildare, Ireland –
  • Lough Neagh, Northern Ireland –
  • Owenabue, river in County Cork –
  • River Suir in Leinster, Ireland –
  • Tallaght, County Dublin –
  • Thurles, County Tipperary –
  • Tuam, County Galway –
  • Youghal, County Cork, Ireland –

Wales

Similarly, the Welsh language has its own rules, which a large proportion of Welsh settlements follow. Commonly mispronounced names, due to exceptions from either set of rules are:

  • Denbigh, Wales –
  • Holyhead, Holy Island, Anglesey –
  • Laugharne, Carmarthenshire –
  • Hawarden, Flintshire –

See also

  • 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