Sorry to resurrect this thread, but it is a topic that interests me greatly. As you may have discerned from my name, I have ties to three Midwestern colleges. I am a native South Dakotan from Rapid City (western part, Black Hills, Mt. Rushmore). I am an alumnus of both the University of South Dakota and Iowa State University, and am a big fan of the Huskers (University of Nebraska).
The athletics teams from USD are called the Coyotes (kai-yot) or the “Yotes” (yots). Our cheer was “Go Yotes!”. In my experience Western South Dakotans say kai-otes, and in the east it is kind of split, with the more urban areas saying kai-ot-ees. My friend from Fargo says kai-ot-ees. most people in Minnesota, Iowa and Eastern Nebraska say kai-ot-ees.
This has been more on my mind lately, with both USD and their rival SDSU being more noticed on a national scale since their recent switch to Division I football. It is interesting that things like how we pronounce our state capitol, Pierre (pier) are largely unknown to the rest of the mainstream US.
I would just say that pronunciation should be thought of in relative terms. Things evolve and change. This wouldn’t be the first time a foreign word was anglicized and it is not just backwards rednecks who say it. Think of it as a link to our past. Regionalism can be fun, and adds to diversity. Urban culture tends to make everything the same. For example, People from large southern cities often have less of a southern accent. Does that make them better?
If there’s a way to pronounce a word that does not sound like a hick affectation, I take it. Pronouncing the e as a separate syllable definitely sounds like a hick affectation.
If I was going to go for the Spanish pronunciation, I’d say it right: co yo te (like tay but without the dipthong). But seeing as affecting a Spanish accent is generally frowned upon in normal speech, I stick with the shorter pronunciation.
If it were acceptable, I’d say hyper-bowl and epi-tome. The others just sound hickish.
I do say Wile E. Coyote and Coyote Ugly correctly, just like I say Pirates of the Carribean correctly, despite preferring the more English sound of accenting the antepenultimate syllable.
I accept your perspective when you say " to me…" or " sounds like…" because it is relative to your experience. Correctness as it relates to pronunciation is a moving target. Dictionaries are constantly changing to reflect what is generally accepted as “correct”. If something is generally accepted in a wide region over a long period of time, it is just as correct as what was accepted before, even if it started out as a “hick affectation” or a mispronunciation of a foreign word. The funny part of this argument is that those who steadfastly say that “kai-ot-ee” is the only correct way are forgetting that even this is an anglicized version of a Spanish word.
From the sound of it, the current range of “kai-ote” is the mountain west and western great plains (both extending into Canada), with fuzzy edges in the southwest, west coast, and midwest. It may have had a larger range in the past, though.
Another interesting thing to note is that the original pre-modern range of the Coyote was western North America (Arctic to Central America). Starting in the early 19th century, the Coyote has extended its range eastward in response to two things: Successful adaptation to human-altered landscapes (see Raccoons, skunks, opossum, etc), and the extermination of the Coyote’s natural predator, the wolf. As an example, when wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park, the Coyote populations took a nose-dive.
So I guess I would argue that the “most correct” name for the animal would be the names various Native American Tribes had for it, and the "most correct way to pronounce Coyote would be the Spanish way “coy-o-tay”. The Spanish encountered this animal before english-speakers did. So, between the 2 or 3 Anglicized versions, I would lean towards the one most dominant in the animal’s original range. “kai-ote”. Go Yotes!
Oh, and thank you to all contributors to this thread, you have illuminated something that i have wondered about for a long time.
I know it’s just a regional thing but the three-syllable pronunciation of coyote is like a cheese grater to the brain.
“I saw some kai-o-tees out by the creeeeek.” No, you saw some kai-otes by the crick. Now explain why you weren’t shooting at them.
I love regional differences but this one gives me a strong knee-jerk reaction. I can’t hear coyote in three syllables without thinking the speaker is a moron. Then I dial it back and remember that colloquial differences are FUN.
Montana native here, and it’s definitely KAI-oat to me. My high school mascot was the coyote, and all the cheers used two syllables.
They are viewed as being somewhat akin to vermin. My father was a farmer not a rancher, and we generally left them alone if they left us alone because they eat the rodents that eat the crops. However if over population or close proximity threatened our pets, my dad and brothers were out there hunting them down to eliminate the nuisance. They are generally pretty nasty, mangy critters.
Oh yeah, I’ve never eaten rattlesnake or shit, though you have my invitation to do so if you like.
Actually, I’m a bit curious about the overlap of these now. Where I grew up, in northern Illinois, it was ‘kai-oh-tee’ and ‘crick’. Down here in north Texas, the natives seem to use ‘kai-ote’ and ‘creek’. So, where are you from, where it’s apparently ‘kai-ote’ and ‘crick’? (Honestly, I’ve hardly ever heard anyone use ‘crick’–people from all over the country hear me use that term and go, “What’s a crick?”)
Well, I’ve had the rattlesnake (breaded and pan fried on one occasion, and sauteed with butter and garlic on another), and I’ve had food that might colloquially be referred to as shit, but I still use the three syllable pronunciation.
Northern Idaho. Creek and coyote are big red flags around here. We were sitting through a boring weekly meeting and our newish boss said creeeeek. No one said anything but we must have visibly reacted because he actually stopped and asked what happened.
We also say coon or coons instead of raccoons. I’ve occasionally heard people on t.v. pronounce it RUH-coons, if we bother to say the whole word it’s always rack-oons. How 'bout y’all?
