Where did this pronunciation of “California,” with the final syllable stretched out to include long “I” and long “A” sounds, originate?
I’ve seen it occur in movies and on TV, and especially in song lyrics. I’m wondering if there was a specific movie or song that started this trend. How far back does the pronunciation go?
As I always understood it, it’s incorporating the spelling of word, as is sometimes used in rap. It’s not so much the stretching of the syllables, just spelling out the end of the word, instead of pronouncing it.
And further back still.Cowboy movies of the 30s/40s had at least one character saying he’s bound for Californeyeay.Usually the comic relief country bumpkin type.
Tho Gabby,and presumably his character from Blazing Saddles,used to say Californy.
And not just for California. Virginny and Alabammy were coined for precisely the same effect. People who added the the “ee” ending to their states names were tagged as bumpkins.
It got so commonplace that residents of Missouri started pronouncing their state name as “Missora,” so as not to be thought hayseeds, and that’s become a common in-state proununciation.