We’ve got some absolute doozies here in Aus.
How would you pronounce CANOWINDRA (a town in outback NSW)?
Yeah, nah, it’s CAN-OWN-DRA (with the OWN being pronounced like DOWN).
And even that is Anglicized or “corrupted,” as the name would be pronounced “CHOO-meye” in Polish (assuming it’s the Polish surname), not with an initial “sh” (which would be spelled with “sz” or a couple other ways, although there’s two different “sh”-type sounds in Polish.) And the “aj” ending corresponds to the diphthong that is called a “long i” in English phonics, or /aɪ/ or /aj/.
That particular example doesn’t work as well, as pretty much all the phonemes in the Hungarian word “Budapest” exist in many/most dialects of American English. (The main problem is the “a”–if you come from a dialect that merges “cot” and “caught,” then you don’t have the same vowel, otherwise, the Hungarian “a” is like the vowel sound in “saw” and “caught,” so it would be like saying “boo-daw-pesht.” IPA renders both sounds as /ɒ/, although to my ears there is some very slight difference that I can’t quite place. At any rate, it’s pretty darn close.)
The aw sound is /ɔ/. You are getting a transcription from a place that has the caught-cot merger.
I use slashes because it’s often realized as a diphthong or triphthong–“aw-uh” or “oh-aw-uh”, especially when emphasized.
I guess I can take the time to explain my pronunciations.
I say Budapest because saying Budapesht sounds like I’m affecting an accent, and I’ve always been taught that that is rude. I say kyoo-ip-purr belt because I’ve never heard it said aloud, and just went by the spelling. If people say “kipe-purr belt,” I’ll try and change it.
I say “hyoo-ston” because I never have any reason to refer to a place that is actually house-ton: local pronunciations are correct unless there has been a long established alternate pronunciation. Getting up in arms about this and expecting their to be rules is silly. All that matters is whether people will know what or where you are talking about.
And I say “Van Wick” because I had no idea how the guy pronounced his name, so I just avoided the English-only sound. Since I rarely use his name, if he said Van Wike, I’ll say Van Wike, just like I’ll now say Kipe-purr belt. Well, until I forget because I never use either one.
Thanks for this summary. So, it’s not a totally neat and tidy “one rule”.
This is interesting. The only reference I’d ever seen before to this town, is in an old song in praise of three Robin Hood-esque outlaw types in the old times in those parts, who used some of their stolen money to treat the local people:
“In Canowindra’s best hotel they held a charity ball –
‘We don’t hurt them who don’t hurt us.’ says Dunn, Gilbert, and Ben Hall.”
To make the above scan, the town needs pronouncing with four syllables, including the “i”; well, poetic license and all that, I suppose…
I think it’s purely a matter of historical custom. Anglicised forms come from the frequency which with they might have been known in English-speaking countries before recorded sound made the “native” pronunciation more familiar; most that were already well established survived in Anglicised pronunciation, those that became more familiar later stick closer to their “native” pronunciation. One or two did actually switch back: Victorian and earlier travellers to Italy would be familiar with “Leghorn”, nowadays people go to Livorno, as the Italians do. If a name’s pronounced differently when it’s adopted for a new place, so be it: when in Rome, and all that. All that matters is that you’re willing to be corrected if you say it differently when you’re there.
I’m assuming the OP is dealing with names as known in the US. From a transatlantic perspective, I’d say Buddha-pest, Hooston*, Kye-per belt and Fan Wyke (no English sounds come much closer to the Dutch “ui” and “ij” sounds).
*but I do know about the city in Texas, also Ay-thens (Georgia) and Poughkeepsie. Now who’s going to have a go at Milngavie, Kirkcudbright, Kirkcaldy and Llandeilo?
WOE-je-Ho-witz. just like it’s spelled. 
How’d I do?
I once had a squadron mate of Ukrainian heritage. His last name was Hrycaj.
He was born and raised in the US and his pronunciation of it was “hRITZ - eye” with the leading h subtle but still obvious. I have no clue how that compares to “proper” native Ukrainian-in-Ukraine pronunciation.
I bolded this part, cause I’ve never heard anybody pronounce the name Don Quixote any other way than Kee yoh tee or sometimes Kee hoh tee. Where are you that people commonly say Don Kwiksut? Eh, American English is a funny language.
now I wonder if the star trek character Cahotey (spelling?) is supposed to be some sort of reference to Quixote
I was going to say the same thing. Given that I’m in my fifties, seems like the "traditional " pronunciation has been dead or dormant for quite a few decades now. I’d say half a century is plenty to establish a new tradition. I might suggest it’d be quixotic to insist on a pronunciation of Kwik-sote in this day and age.
No, the “o” in “cot” is /ɑ/ in US English, not /ɒ/. But, you’re right in that it is usually transcribed as /ɔ/. Look at the bottom right of the vowel chart here with sounds.
Also, this may be caused by my accent, which is the Inland North dialect, where the cot-caught merger does not exist, but the former vowel is more towards /a/ and the latter is /ɒ/. I know the sound I make in “caught” and “saw” is like the Hungarian “a,” and the sound I make in “cot” is like the Hungarian “á.”
Too late to add: I guess the lot-cloth split describes what I’m talking about. Also, look at the audio examples on the right where they have two examples of merged cot/caught, and two unmerged. In the unmerged, the IPA for “caught” is rendered as /kʰɒ̈t̚/.
You can say New Orleans just about any way you like. and will always be either right or wrong. It is in Orleans Parish, and there is an Orleans Street, pronounced /or-LEENZ/. To say ‘new or-LEENZ’ is considered nowadays to be irregular, but old-time African Americans often used to call it “nyor-LEEN”. The original French is /or-LYAWn/, which would be enormously pedantic. “Nawlinz” is what bemused tourists call it, trying to emulate the local accent. The pronunciation that is likely to attract the least attention is “noo OAR-linz”, if you don’t already possess the local accent.
Reminds me of Louisville, KY. It’s hot enough there and the locals are lazy enough that in the local dialect it’s pretty much just “Luh”; the rest is silent because it’s too much work to say.
Seriously …
Years ago I knew a guy who’d be about 90 now if he’s still alive. He grew up waay out in far rural Florida someplace. His accent was distinctive because every word consisted of only the very first vowel plus very first consonant sound or vice versa. He was too lazy to say the rest of it. Probably made sense in a farming or fishing community in / near the Everglades 50 years before air conditioning was invented. Just standing in the hot sun was hard work. Move slowly, talk slowly, and minimize both seemed to be his Prime Directive.
The Van Wyck homestead, of the same family of the NY mayor for whom the highway is named, is near Fishkill, NY, ie the mid Hudson Valley. That’s definitely Van Wike. And so it would be natural if people from there tended to pronounce the highway that way. It’s a little like Hewston and Houseton that way, except it’s the same family (whereas Houston TX and Houston St are named after unrelated people, and the namesake of the street originally spelled his name Houstoun). And descendants of the Van Wyck’s want the highway also to be called Van Wike. But to (City of) NY natives it’s Van Wick, which is clearly incorrect for the homestead museum.
You are correct. However, you’re getting into a complication I almost mentioned but decided would be more confusing than helpful.
To put it simply, the merged back vowel is very often written as /ɒ/, no matter how it actually sounds. I actually wound up having to unlearn what sound I thought it represented because of this.
I heard of Cleveland Indians second baseman (and current San Francisco Giants broadcaster) Duane Kuiper before I learned of the Kuiper Belt, so I pronounce the word “kiper” (as Duane does) in both cases.
There’s a relief pitcher named Huston (pronounced like the city of Houston) Street who’s pitched for several teams, but never the Yankees or Mets. If he ever signs with a New York team, he could become Houston Street Huston Street…
There’s a neighborhood just north of Georgetown in DC named Glover Park, named after Charles Carroll Glover, a landowner from the 1800s. Some erroneously believe it to be “GLOH-ver,” rhyming with “clover,” but it’s actually “GLUH-ver,” rhyming with “lover.”
Bowie, MD is not “BOH-ee” like David Bowie, but “BOO-ee,” like …nothing else I can think of.
McLean, VA is not “mick-LEEN” like some kind of low-calorie sandwich from McDonald’s, but rather “mick-CLANE” (and it’s specifically “CLANE” and not “LANE”; the “CL” sound is important).
La Plata, MD while it is Spanish for “the silver” which is properly “la-PLAH-ta,” the town is “la-PLAY-duh.”
Staunton, VA is “STAN-tun,” not “STAWN-tun.”
Conversely, Taneytown, MD is “TAWNEY-town” and not “TAY-nee-town” or “TAN-ee-town.”
“Bowie knife” is also often pronounced /ˈbuːiː/ (boo-ee). Both the knife and the city were named after people.