How do you pronounce "Chile"?

[pulykamell]

@Novelty_Bobble

so you do say “Paree” “Wien” “Koln” etc. etc. ?

You have to define what you mean by “correct” here. “Chilly” is a perfectly correct English pronunciation.

And the thing is, “Chee-lay” is not the “correct” pronunciation in Spanish, either.

[Tom_Tildrum]

This was a big problem when they made “Chilly Willy goes to Chile.”

[Ambivalid]

@Novelty_Bobble

so you do say “Paree” “Wien” “Koln” etc. etc. ?

You have to define what you mean by “correct” here. “Chilly” is a perfectly correct English pronunciation.

Exactly!

[wolfman]

I guess I say it a mostly like chilly, but not quite the same.
Chilly is chill-ey Chile is chill-ley. Just a tiny bit more of a beat to actually start the second syllable with an “L”

[Kizarvexius]

I had a co-worker who was from Chile, and he pronounced it “SHE-leh”. I picked up the habit from him, and I’ve never had anyone try to correct me or accuse me of pretentiousness on account of it.

[pulykamell]

@Kizarvexius

I had a co-worker who was from Chile, and he pronounced it “SHE-leh”. I picked up the habit from him, and I’ve never had anyone try to correct me or accuse me of pretentiousness on account of it.

So I looked this up, since my uncle pronounces it otherwise, and it appears to be a variant pronunciation, apparently from a “non-prestige” dialect of Chilean Spanish.

The voiceless postalveolar affricate /t͡ʃ/ is pronounced as a fricative [ʃ] by many the lower-class speakers (thus, Chile is pronounced [ˈʃiːle]). This type of pronunciation is viewed as very undesirable. Other variants are a fronted alveolar affricate, [t͡s], and an even more fronted dental affricate, [t̪ˢ], mostly used by the upper class.

[Ambivalid]

@Kizarvexius

I had a co-worker who was from Chile, and he pronounced it “SHE-leh”. I picked up the habit from him, and I’ve never had anyone try to correct me or accuse me of pretentiousness on account of it.

So do you pronounce the name of every city or country in the world in the manner of it’s local inhabitants? You know, Meh-hee-koo (Mexico) or Pare-ree (Paris) and so on and so forth.

[Skammer]

I voted Other, for chee-lay.

ETA Although growing up in New England we also pronounced it “chilly.” I evolved. I don’t say “Ore-a-gone” for Oregon anymore either.

[Kizarvexius]

@jamiemcgarry

So do you pronounce the name of every city or country in the world in the manner of it’s local inhabitants? You know, Meh-hee-koo (Mexico) or Pare-ree (Paris) and so on and so forth.

Begging your pardon, but if I have somehow offended your sensibilities, you might wish to review what I wrote.

I stated that I acquired the habit of pronouncing “Chile” in a manner similar to that of a friend of mine, who was a native Chilean. I further asserted that I had not yet had occasion to defend my use of this pronunciation. End of story.

Jeez.

[Ambivalid]

@Kizarvexius

Begging your pardon, but if I have somehow offended your sensibilities, you might wish to review what I wrote.

I stated that I acquired the habit of pronouncing “Chile” in a manner similar to that of a friend of mine, who was a native Chilean. I further asserted that I had not yet had occasion to defend my use of this pronunciation. End of story.

Jeez.

Ok, I see. Myyyy bad.

[syncrolecyne]

@Johanna

Hypercorrection. Hyperforeignism. I hear this all the time and it drives me crazy.

Beizhing instead of Beijing.
Razh instead of Raj.
Shockra instead of cakra.
And now, Shile instead of Chile. Never heard that one, but it sure fits the pattern.

The logic, as it were, seems to run like…

French is a foreign language.
X is a foreign language too.
Ergo, X is pronounced the same as French.
A little learning is a dangerous thing.

In northern Mexico, ch is often pronounced like sh (Shihuahua)…but that is hardly standard Spanish.

[Ronald_C.Semone]

@Skammer

I voted Other, for chee-lay.

ETA Although growing up in New England we also pronounced it “chilly.” I evolved. I don’t say “Ore-a-gone” for Oregon anymore either.

You don’t? How do you say it?

[JKellyMap]

@Ronald_C.Semone

You don’t? How do you say it?

OR-ghin (more or less)

[Fear_Itself]

@Ronald_C.Semone

You don’t? How do you say it?

I say it the way the locals say it: Ora-gun, or Orry-gun

[rogerbox]

Here in the Northwest Oregon is pronounced like “orr-eh-gun”.

I say “Chee lay” for Chile.

[Siam_Sam]

@markdash

This is kind of interesting. I also say the American affectations of Paris and Berlin (even though I speak German), yet I’m an enthusiastic supporter of “CHEE-lay.” For some reason it sounds like “Chilly” is incorrect.

I have to admit Chilly sounds a little odd to me too. It always makes me think of that old joke about the Mexican weather report: “Chili today and hot tamale.”

Some words are like that. Like “vase” – “vahz” sounds pretentious, but “vaise” sounds like you found it in the trash somewhere.

NOTE: I do say Beizhing myself.

[Ambivalid]

@JKellyMap

OR-ghin (more or less)

What?!? “OR-ghin”? origin? organ?

[Novelty_Bobble]

@Kizarvexius

I had a co-worker who was from Chile, and he pronounced it “SHE-leh”. I picked up the habit from him, and I’ve never had anyone try to correct me or accuse me of pretentiousness on account of it.

Nothing wrong with that at all. Habit is everything, you are immersed in and exposed to a particular pronunciation so of course that is what you use. The main thing is that you wouldn’t dream of picking people up on other, equally habitual pronunciations.

[BigT]

I think the American /i/ sounds wrong and tends towards a diphthong, so I go with the shorter /ɪ/. I also make the /e/ quite short, so it is acceptable not to make it a diphthong.

So, yes, I actually say the second option.

[kayaker]

Uruguay.