Hamtramck as it is spelled or is there some trick such as with Leominster, MA to make it easier?
Ham-tram-ick.
Okay, I’ll bite: what’s the trick? Is it not Lea-minster?
It is pronounced as Newton meter says. Many people sort of tuck the last syllable in fast, so it’s more a “Ham-Tramuck” sound. Emphasis on the first and second syllables are darn close to even, but a little more on the second.
I’d describe it as ham TRAM 'k, with the first syllable nearly as strong as the second and with the final syllable getting even less emphasis than a schwa, although it is a final /k/ sound and not an initial /k/ sound.
Another way to think of that final sound is to compare it to the first “syllable” of McAdams.
In Mass it’s LEH-minster which I think is easier to say than Leo-minster.
And Haverhill is HAY-vrille and some some places, like Lynn, MA, Boston is BA-stin (BA as in back).
Of course, since I’m from Iowa originally and I speak the purest and most nearly perfect American accent extant I can snicker at others’ accents.
Oh yeah, and thanks for the inputs on Hamtramck. I thought the hint of a vowel hat to be snuck in there somewhere. Sort of Like Al Capp’s Joe Btsplk, or whatever it was.
Ham-tram-@k, where the @ represents a schwa sound. The first two syllables have, as far as I can tell, equal stress, while the third is unstressed.
Yeah, for most of us it’s Ham-tram-ik. But really, as long as you slip in some sort of unstressed vowel everyone will know what you’re talking about.
In addition to learning how Hamtramck is pronounced I learned a new word, schwa.
So using Excalibre’s notation, Btfsplk would be B@tfsp@lk.
I say “hamtramic,” with the “tramic” coming out as if you said “magic” and emphasized the first syllable.