Pronounce "Racine"

Joey P · #1 04-07-2010, 08:31 PM

It's a city in Wisconsin (and probably other states). I've heard it pronounced two ways. The people who live there typically pronounce it one way and the rest of us tend to pronounce it the other way (the right way

). So I'm curious as to how someone who's never seen or heard it would pronounce it.
(It's where the Racine Belles from A League of Their Own where from, but I don't remember how they said it in the movie).
Hmmm, I'm thinking I should have spelled the second option as "Ruh-seen"

Freudian Slit · #2 04-07-2010, 08:39 PM

I thought this was the playwright Racine, so I voted the second...

Scarlett67 · #3 04-07-2010, 08:54 PM

Mr. S's best friend lives there. I've lived in WI all my life and I've only ever heard "Ruh-seen."

Joey P · #4 04-07-2010, 09:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scarlett67

Mr. S's best friend lives there. I've lived in WI all my life and I've only ever heard "Ruh-seen."

How does Mr. S's best friend say it?

ISTM that people from Ray-seen say Ray-seen, and the rest of us pronounce it Ruh-seen. To me Ray-seen sounds like something a hillbilly would say. I like to joke that the people who live there just don't know how to say it correctly.

Obeseus · #5 04-07-2010, 09:11 PM

I know people who have that as a surname who say their name 'Ray-sin' (like 'racing' without the 'g'.)

Harmonious Discord · #6 04-07-2010, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joey P

How does Mr. S's best friend say it?

ISTM that people from Ray-seen say Ray-seen, and the rest of us pronounce it Ruh-seen. To me Ray-seen sounds like something a hillbilly would say. I like to joke that the people who live there just don't know how to say it correctly.

Ray-seen is what you do with cars, horses or dogs on a track.

jnglmassiv · #7 04-07-2010, 09:16 PM

My Racinite dorm roommate at college in Milwaukee called it Ray-cine. I'd always done the same and still do.

Ferret Herder · #8 04-07-2010, 09:18 PM

Wisconsinite born and raised; I pronounce it "Ruh-seen." My Chicago-suburban born-and-raised husband, who spent a lot of time in Wisconsin, calls it "Ray-seen."

Scarlett67 · #9 04-07-2010, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joey P

How does Mr. S's best friend say it?

I dunno, but he's not from there, he's from here (central WI).

Miss Woodhouse · #10 04-07-2010, 09:38 PM

They pronounced it Ray-seen in A League of Their Own, so that's the choice I went with.

I'm not surprised to hear that's not how the locals pronounce it. There are many, many cities and areas of the country that get pronounced differently by outsiders then they do by locals. After all, people from Oregon get to snicker every time someone east of the of the Mississippi pronounces the name of the state.

And I understand that residents of Boise know who the new people are by how they pronounce the name of the city.

jsgoddess · #11 04-07-2010, 09:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joey P

How does Mr. S's best friend say it?

ISTM that people from Ray-seen say Ray-seen, and the rest of us pronounce it Ruh-seen. To me Ray-seen sounds like something a hillbilly would say. I like to joke that the people who live there just don't know how to say it correctly.

Well, I AM a hillbilly, and I'd say Ray-seen. So, there's your evidence.

Enuma Elish · #12 04-07-2010, 10:42 PM

Many residents of Two Rivers, WI pronounce it Trivers. Apparently separating two words is difficult when you live on the lake.

Oh as for the OP- it is Ruh-seen.

pulykamell · #13 04-07-2010, 10:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ferret Herder

Wisconsinite born and raised; I pronounce it "Ruh-seen." My Chicago-suburban born-and-raised husband, who spent a lot of time in Wisconsin, calls it "Ray-seen."

Chicago-city born-and-raised. I usually say "ray-seen." I sometimes slip into "ruh-SEEN" in fast speech but, if asked to pronounce the town on its own, it'll be with the long "a".

BigT · #14 04-07-2010, 11:12 PM

Usually, in English, there is either a primary or secondary accent on the last syllable anything that ends in -ine. I can imagine ray-SEEN, but not RAY-seen.

ShibbOleth · #15 04-08-2010, 12:03 AM

I picked the first option, but don't really know (or particularly care) which is correct. It's not like that city comes up in conversation. Not a particularly important town and I couldn't place it on a map. If I ever get there, or nearby, I suppose I'll learn the "proper" way.

mkecane · #16 04-08-2010, 01:38 AM

Milwaukee resident checking in: I don't remember ever hearing it pronounced "Ray-seen" by anyone from Racine or the metro area.

SecondJudith · #17 04-08-2010, 05:53 AM

Sorry, I didn't fully read the OP -- I thought it was referring to the playwright as well.

Quartz · #18 04-08-2010, 05:58 AM

I don't know about the city but if it were the French playwright, it would be Rah-Seen. Short a.

Eats_Crayons · #19 04-08-2010, 06:56 AM

"Racine" is the French word for "root". I would pronounce it "rah-seen" as I have done since I learned to speak, and it would confuse me to hear "ray-seen".

But the a lot of places have historically non-English words as names that have evolved into something totally different over the years. I used to live in a town with a very high German population. The town was called New Berlin, until that was changed during the war. So many of the streets have German names - and almost none of them are pronounced as they were originally. "Vay-burr" has become "wee-burr" etc.

Joey P · #20 04-08-2010, 07:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eats_Crayons

"Racine" is the French word for "root". I would pronounce it "rah-seen" as I have done since I learned to speak, and it would confuse me to hear "ray-seen".

But the a lot of places have historically non-English words as names that have evolved into something totally different over the years. I used to live in a town with a very high German population. The town was called New Berlin, until that was changed during the war. So many of the streets have German names - and almost none of them are pronounced as they were originally. "Vay-burr" has become "wee-burr" etc.

We have a New Berlin here too. I know I'm not the only one who tends to forget if it's pronounced New BUR-lin or New bur-LIN.

Munch · #21 04-08-2010, 07:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harmonious Discord

Ray-seen is what you do with cars, horses or dogs on a track.

Uh, no - that's pronounced "rey-sin". "Sin" has an "eh" sound in it that you find in "racin'".

Harmonious Discord · #22 04-08-2010, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Munch

Uh, no - that's pronounced "rey-sin". "Sin" has an "eh" sound in it that you find in "racin'".

Have you heard a Norwegian say racin?

Ferret Herder · #23 04-08-2010, 09:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joey P

We have a New Berlin here too. I know I'm not the only one who tends to forget if it's pronounced New BUR-lin or New bur-LIN.

I always heard it as New BUR-lin.

wunderkammer · #24 04-08-2010, 09:15 AM

Former Racine resident here--it's rə-SEEN.

Snickers · #25 04-08-2010, 09:17 AM

Grew up in Wisconsin. Ruh-seen. The second way. So it is said, so shall it be.

Scarlett67 · #26 04-08-2010, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joey P

We have a New Berlin here too. I know I'm not the only one who tends to forget if it's pronounced New BUR-lin or New bur-LIN.

There's also Berlin, WI, pronounced BER-lin. It was pronounced differently before WWII.

Polycarp · #27 04-08-2010, 09:53 AM

Obviously accent is on the -SEEN, but is that first syllable a clearcut schwa ("uh") sound, or is it a clipped "ay" that isn't emphasized? In other words, is it like the final syllables of "on al-Jazeera seen" or "by my friend Ray seen" (with 'seen' stressed in both cases)?

ShibbOleth · #28 04-08-2010, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scarlett67

There's also Berlin, WI, pronounced BER-lin. It was pronounced differently before WWII.

Did they previously pronounce it bare-leen?

Napier · #29 04-08-2010, 04:18 PM

Folks around here with that family name call themselves ray-SEEN.

Skammer · #30 04-08-2010, 04:26 PM

I lived in the Chicago area for over a decade, and always called it Ray-seen. I think that's how I heard it.

LunarPlexus · #31 04-08-2010, 04:29 PM

Grew up about 20 miles from there - on the Illinois side - and only ever heard it with a long a.

bonzer · #32 04-08-2010, 05:19 PM

As a Brit who's lived on Racine Avenue in Chicago, I use Ray-seen when it's an American placename and the correct pronounciation when it's a French playwright.

Wile E · #33 04-08-2010, 05:27 PM

Born in Wisconsin but left as a child, however my grandparents lived there for many years after and Racine was the next closest "big" city and I always heard it called Ray-seen, emphasis on Seen.

rowrrbazzle · #34 04-08-2010, 10:24 PM

There is a Racine Ave. in Chicago, and it was a stop on a bus that I often rode when growing up. The driver always pronounced it "ray-seen", and that's how I say it. I've never heard it pronounced differently.

elfkin477 · #35 04-08-2010, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scarlett67

There's also Berlin, WI, pronounced BER-lin. It was pronounced differently before WWII.

There's one in NH pronounced the same way, and it used to be pronounced the other way before WWII also.

I don't think I've read the name in the OP before, but I think I'd go with ray-seen if I had to say it.

elmwood · #36 04-08-2010, 10:51 PM

Ray-seen. Native American English speaker, raised at ground zero of the flat-A Great Northern Vowel Shift territory, but with only a trace of a regional accent left.

Harmonious Discord · #37 04-09-2010, 06:31 AM

This is Peter Berryman explaining their Poniatowski song about Poniatowski, Wisconsin and asking a native how they pronounce Poniatowski.

Do you pronounce it Poe-knee-ah-toe-ski or Pon-yah-touw-ski.
Pon-yah-touw-ski
Thank you.
Your Velcome.

LSLGuy · #38 04-09-2010, 08:49 AM

I've only ever heard ray-seen with almost but not quite equal stress on the two sylables. The seen part is slightly the heavier stress.

Not saying that's correct or how the natives say it. Just reporting what I've heard living all around the US for a long time now.

We have customers in WI; I'll have to ask somebody next time I talk to them. Although if the previous posts are any indication, even Wisconsite pronunciations will be all over the place.

Electric Warrior · #39 04-09-2010, 08:59 AM

Rah-seen. Because I sang Gabriel Fauré's Cantique de Jean Racine, so I can't think of it any other way.

Ibanez · #40 04-09-2010, 09:06 AM

The origin of the word is French for taking root.

In french it's pronounced Rahsin. Oui je parle français.

Serenata67 · #41 04-09-2010, 09:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enuma Elish

Many residents of Two Rivers, WI pronounce it Trivers. Apparently separating two words is difficult when you live on the lake.

Oh as for the OP- it is Ruh-seen.

My mom grew up in Manitowoc and always called it Trivers. I call it Two Rivers, but if I want to poke fun at her, I say Trivers.

And I call it Ray-seen.

justrob · #42 04-09-2010, 09:30 AM

I grew up in Racine and pronounce it ruh-SEEN, as does everyone in my family.

The fact that we have a bunch of people from Chicago checking in to say they've always heard it pronounced RAY-seen really just proves the other pronunciation is the correct one.

New Berlin is pronounced New BUR-lin. As far as I know the pronunciation was changed during WWII. This cracks up a buddy that moved here from out of state every time he has to say it.

I have no idea about Trivers as I've only ever heard it as Two Rivers.

Swallowed My Cellphone · #43 04-09-2010, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scarlett67

There's also Berlin, WI, pronounced BER-lin. It was pronounced differently before WWII.

Here in Ontario, "Berlin" got renamed to Kitchener (after Herb Kitchener, a British war hero) during WWI. That showed those pointy-helmeted goons in the trenches! I bet Ludendorf cried when he found out.

BwanaBob · #44 04-09-2010, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigT

Usually, in English, there is either a primary or secondary accent on the last syllable anything that ends in -ine. I can imagine ray-SEEN, but not RAY-seen.

xxxx

Chefguy · #45 04-09-2010, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joey P

To me Ray-seen sounds like something a hillbilly would say.

So I suppose you consider those folks in Lima, OH to be downright crackers, eh?

maladroit · #46 04-09-2010, 01:52 PM

There's a township in Michigan called Buena Vista, they pronounce it Bewna Vista, ack.

John DiFool · #47 04-09-2010, 03:22 PM

A main road in my Snowbird Mom's northern town is named "Milan"-locals say it as "MY-lan." I always pronounce it in the Italian idiom, "Mee-LAAN," and she's always asking me, "What road again?"

Nightsong · #48 04-09-2010, 08:06 PM

Kringle!

___
<< Nom, nom, nom! >>

FalconFinder · #49 04-09-2010, 08:14 PM

It's Ruh SEEN.

I've yet to hear any "native" from the area (I live in IL a couple of miles from the border) and have never heard anyone local here or in WI ever pronounce it any differently...