Los Angeles

I have recently listened quite a bit to the BBC News on BBC
America and it seems to me that many British newsreaders
pronounce the final vowel as a long e ("ee"), not unaccented as
in "the", which would be my preference. I wonder if British
English users have any opinions?


James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

"James Silverton" wrote in message
news:XcMhj.2$na4.1@trnddc05...
I have recently listened quite a bit to the BBC News on BBC
America and it seems to me that many British newsreaders
pronounce the final vowel as a long e ("ee"), not unaccented as
in "the", which would be my preference. I wonder if British
English users have any opinions?

"eez" it is as far as this Brit is concerned. And no-one corrected me when I
was there.

Surreyman

a.spencer3 wrote:

"James Silverton" wrote in message
news:XcMhj.2$na4.1@trnddc05...

I have recently listened quite a bit to the BBC News on BBC
America and it seems to me that many British newsreaders
pronounce the final vowel as a long e ("ee"), not unaccented as
in "the", which would be my preference. I wonder if British
English users have any opinions?


"eez" it is as far as this Brit is concerned. And no-one corrected me when I
was there.

Surreyman

Really? Probably because your average Angeleno couldn't
care less! We pronounce it "ess", the original Spanish uses
a long "a" sound (and pronounces the "g" as they do the
letters "j" and "x").

On Fri, 11 Jan 2008 16:02:31 GMT, "a.spencer3"
wrote:


"James Silverton" wrote in message
news:XcMhj.2$na4.1@trnddc05...
I have recently listened quite a bit to the BBC News on BBC
America and it seems to me that many British newsreaders
pronounce the final vowel as a long e ("ee"), not unaccented as
in "the", which would be my preference. I wonder if British
English users have any opinions?

"eez" it is as far as this Brit is concerned. And no-one corrected me when I
was there.

One song rhymed "Los Angeles" with "a couple of keys". But the
name is Spanish and in older days it was "ess" even if the "g"
was pronounced "j". Except as an affectation I've never heard it
as "eez". To me it's "ess" even after living in California for
sixteen years.

--
************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

On 2008-01-11 10:33:50 -0800, "EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)"
said:

Really? Probably because your average Angeleno couldn't care less! We
pronounce it "ess", the original Spanish uses a long "a" sound (and
pronounces the "g" as they do the letters "j" and "x").

And even then, the local pronunciation has changed over the years.
Quoting from a blog entry awhile back
athttp://www.quartzcity.net/2006/08/02/el-lay/

----QUOTE----
My rant about "Silver Lake" and a subsequent conversation with Nicholas
reminded me of some old struggles over how to pronounce "Los Angeles."
A series of fights that involved rival car dealers and a separate fight
between the Los Angeles Times and the east coast.

Back in the 1920s, the Los Angeles Times promoted the Spanish "Loce
Ahng-hail-ais" pronunciation, even printing the Spanish phonetic
pronounciation below the editorial page masthead. The popular
pronunciation was the anglicized "Loss An-je-les," and when the U.S.
Geographic Board officially recognized that pronunciation in 1934, the
Times was outraged, complaining that the pronunciation made the city
"sound like some brand of fruit preserve" and intimated that Easterners
were plotting to remove Spanish pronunciations all along the west coast
and that "Sandy Ego," "San Joce," and "San Jokkin" were next.

Meanwhile, the rivalry between Packard dealer and NBC broadcast station
magnet Earle Anthony and Cadillac dealer and CBS broadcast station
magnet Don Lee spilled over into pronunciation. The NBC stations (KFI
and KECA) used the common "Loss An-je-les" pronunciation, however Don
Lee insisted on a hard-G pronunciation for KHJ announcers: "Los
ANG-less." Lee died of a heart attack in the 1930s, but the hard-G
pronunciation continued to be used through the late 1940s.
----END QUOTE----

-c.

Hatunen wrote:



One song rhymed "Los Angeles" with "a couple of keys". But the
name is Spanish and in older days it was "ess" even if the "g"
was pronounced "j". Except as an affectation I've never heard it
as "eez". To me it's "ess" even after living in California for
sixteen years.

Actually, the "eez" pronunciation usually marks a Brit or
someone from the East Coast!

EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) wrote:

Hatunen wrote:



One song rhymed "Los Angeles" with "a couple of keys". But the
name is Spanish and in older days it was "ess" even if the "g"
was pronounced "j". Except as an affectation I've never heard it
as "eez". To me it's "ess" even after living in California for
sixteen years.

Actually, the "eez" pronunciation usually marks a Brit or
someone from the East Coast!

That makes sense- because not only did I use "eez" but I heard a lot of
Americans where I lived (Boston, Philly) saying the same.

--
(*) of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate -www.davidhorne.net
(email address on website) "If people think God is interesting, the
onus is on them to show that there is anything there to talk about.
Otherwise they should just shut up about it." -Richard Dawkins

On 2008-01-12 14:10:37 -0800, (David Horne, _the_
chancellor (*)) said:

EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) wrote:

Hatunen wrote:



One song rhymed "Los Angeles" with "a couple of keys". But the
name is Spanish and in older days it was "ess" even if the "g"
was pronounced "j". Except as an affectation I've never heard it
as "eez". To me it's "ess" even after living in California for
sixteen years.

Actually, the "eez" pronunciation usually marks a Brit or
someone from the East Coast!

That makes sense- because not only did I use "eez" but I heard a lot of
Americans where I lived (Boston, Philly) saying the same.

Lohs-ahn-hay-lays is what I heard educated Spaniards (UC Berkeley) say
in the 50s. Among Santa Feanos this was considered a bit twee. gb

glen black wrote:

On 2008-01-12 14:10:37 -0800, (David Horne, _the_
chancellor (*)) said:

EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) wrote:

Hatunen wrote:



One song rhymed "Los Angeles" with "a couple of keys". But the
name is Spanish and in older days it was "ess" even if the "g"
was pronounced "j". Except as an affectation I've never heard it
as "eez". To me it's "ess" even after living in California for
sixteen years.

Actually, the "eez" pronunciation usually marks a Brit or
someone from the East Coast!

That makes sense- because not only did I use "eez" but I heard a lot of
Americans where I lived (Boston, Philly) saying the same.

Lohs-ahn-hay-lays is what I heard educated Spaniards (UC Berkeley) say
in the 50s. Among Santa Feanos this was considered a bit twee. gb

That's how I say it in Spanish. Dave mentions "ess" but that doesn't
sound right to me. I checked with my Peruvian SO and he says it's
possible dialects differ, but he's not sure...

--
(*) of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate -www.davidhorne.net
(email address on website) "If people think God is interesting, the
onus is on them to show that there is anything there to talk about.
Otherwise they should just shut up about it." -Richard Dawkins

My son went to college there and came back pronouncing it "Los An-ga-lees."