# Any easy rules for the pronunciation of the -al- syllable in English?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-easy-rules-for-the-pronunciation-of-the-al-syllable-in-english/1029536
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [April 24, 2026, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-easy-rules-for-the-pronunciation-of-the-al-syllable-in-english/1029536 "2026-04-24T17:54:06Z")
**Posts on this page:** 13
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2026, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-easy-rules-for-the-pronunciation-of-the-al-syllable-in-english/1029536/21 "2026-04-29T21:10:03Z")
I pronounce those words exactly the same as @LSLGuy and I do not say the l in calve, which rhymes with salve.
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### Author:  [@billy-jack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billy-jack)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2026, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-easy-rules-for-the-pronunciation-of-the-al-syllable-in-english/1029536/22 "2026-04-29T21:39:20Z")
> [@bordelond](#):
>
> This is dialect dependent. In SE Louisiana:
>
> **salmon, salve** - the vowel is /æ/
> **calf, calve, half, and halve** - the vowel is a diphthong, /eə/
> **shall** - the vowel is /ɛ/. For us, “shall” and “shell” are homophones.
To me, it seems like the ‘l’ does influence the pronunciation. It’s like pronunciating the ‘l’, but silently, if that makes any sense. I’ have heard some people pronounce words like “calves” in which you could almost hear the ‘l’. It’s almost like the ‘l’ mildly darkens the ‘a’ and softens the ‘v’.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that it is the same everywhere.
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### Author:  [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2026, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-easy-rules-for-the-pronunciation-of-the-al-syllable-in-english/1029536/23 "2026-04-30T00:13:29Z")
> [@scudsucker](#):
>
> Obviously, Hollywood, where both characters originated is in the east coast.
Hollywood, Florida?
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### Author:  [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2026, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-easy-rules-for-the-pronunciation-of-the-al-syllable-in-english/1029536/24 "2026-04-30T10:45:25Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> Some that start with “Al,” like Albany, the capital of New York, use the “call” pronunciation.
>
> Probably more, though, rhyme with the name “Al.” Albuquerque, Alexandria, Allentown, Altoona.
In my dialect, Albany also rhymes with the name Al. Or it was my personal quirk and I just didn’t notice that I alone was saying it strange. I’ll have to ask my sibling.
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### Author:  [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2026, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-easy-rules-for-the-pronunciation-of-the-al-syllable-in-english/1029536/25 "2026-04-30T11:11:45Z")
> [@Pleonast](#):
>
> Hollywood, Florida?
Wow. I occasionally am so wrong, that it beggers my belief in truth. Thanks for the correction. I will slink off in geographical shame…
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2026, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-easy-rules-for-the-pronunciation-of-the-al-syllable-in-english/1029536/26 "2026-04-30T11:55:58Z")
Just to be pedantic. …
The Hollywood in California is where showbiz is centered.
The Hollywood in Florida is a pleasant enough beachside suburb with no showbiz industry whatsoever.
As to the pronunciation of coyote, California is geographically in the US far west. On the coast in fact. But, culturally, it isn’t “The West” which is really the arid inland states with the drawling accents.
“Kai-yote” is how the arid inland rural folks say it. “kai-yoa-tee” is the California, or at least urban California, pronunciation. And that’s where the cartoons come from.
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### Author:  [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2026, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-easy-rules-for-the-pronunciation-of-the-al-syllable-in-english/1029536/27 "2026-05-02T00:12:16Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#):
>
> In my dialect, Albany also rhymes with the name Al. Or it was my personal quirk and I just didn’t notice that I alone was saying it strange. I’ll have to ask my sibling.
The inhabitants of Albany say it with the all vowel. You cannot argue with that. This raises some interesting points. The Houston in Texas is named after a man who pronounced his name with the yu sound. But Houston St in NY is named after a man whose name’s first syllable was pronounced as in house and the street echoes that.
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### Author:  [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2026, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-easy-rules-for-the-pronunciation-of-the-al-syllable-in-english/1029536/28 "2026-05-02T05:05:24Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#):
>
> You cannot argue with that.
Of course there isn’t a question of “correct pronunciation,” I was explaining the pronunciation in my dialect.
I did confirm with my sibling and it’s not just me.
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### Author:  [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2026, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-easy-rules-for-the-pronunciation-of-the-al-syllable-in-english/1029536/29 "2026-05-02T06:41:10Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> “Kai-yote” is how the arid inland rural folks say it. “kai-yoa-tee” is the California, or at least urban California, pronunciation. And that’s where the cartoons come from.
In Utah, we have both pronunications as well. My father was from central (rural) Utah and I grew up saying KAI-oat. I was just talking to my best friend from high school who went to grad school at Standford and then lived in Menlo Park area until he moved to the midwest a few years back. As we were talking he said that he saw a kai-OH-tee run past their house. It looks like living in urban California has ~~corrupted his speech~~ educated him.
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### Author:  [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2026, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-easy-rules-for-the-pronunciation-of-the-al-syllable-in-english/1029536/30 "2026-05-02T07:30:12Z")
Heh. In my dialect, the ‘l’ in ‘calve’ is not pronounced, but the one in ‘salve’ is…Also the ‘a’ is pronounced differently.
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2026, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-easy-rules-for-the-pronunciation-of-the-al-syllable-in-english/1029536/31 "2026-05-02T12:44:48Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#):
>
> The inhabitants of Albany say it with the all vowel.
There’s also a 'burb named Albany in the San Francisco Bay area. It’s pronounced with the “all” sound. There might be slight additional differences stemming from the general nature of upstate NY versus NorCal accents, but the basic “all” sound is the same.
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### Author:  [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2026, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-easy-rules-for-the-pronunciation-of-the-al-syllable-in-english/1029536/32 "2026-05-02T16:20:35Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> California is geographically in the US far west. On the coast in fact. But, culturally, it isn’t “The West” which is really the arid inland states with the drawling accents.
I disagree. Urban, coastal California isn’t the West, culturally or linguistically, but eastern San Diego County and Imperial County absolutely are (among anglophones, anyway). I would imagine much of eastern California is the same, but I don’t have the experience to verify.
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2026, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-easy-rules-for-the-pronunciation-of-the-al-syllable-in-english/1029536/33 "2026-05-02T18:49:35Z")
Good point.
For all the talk about north & south California being two different states culturally, the coastal urban vs arid / semi-arid inland rural divide is even larger.
I should have been more precise as you were.
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