# Pronounce "Racine" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 8, 2010, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-racine/535366 "2010-04-08T01:31:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-racine/535366/21 "2010-04-08T12:52:23Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > Ray-seen is what you do with cars, horses or dogs on a track. Uh, no - that’s pronounced “rey-sin”. “Sin” has an “eh” sound in it that you find in “racin’”. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-racine/535366/22 "2010-04-08T14:01:21Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Uh, no - that’s pronounced “rey-sin”. “Sin” has an “eh” sound in it that you find in “racin’”. Have you heard a Norwegian say racin?🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-racine/535366/23 "2010-04-08T14:10:36Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > We have a New Berlin here too. I know I’m not the only one who tends to forget if it’s pronounced New BUR-lin or New bur-LIN. I always heard it as New BUR-lin. ---
**Author:** ![wunderkammer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ed8c4c/32.png) [@wunderkammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wunderkammer)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-racine/535366/24 "2010-04-08T14:15:22Z")
Former Racine resident here–it’s rə-SEEN. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-racine/535366/25 "2010-04-08T14:17:56Z")
Grew up in Wisconsin. Ruh-seen. The second way. So it is said, so shall it be. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-racine/535366/26 "2010-04-08T14:46:44Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > We have a New Berlin here too. I know I’m not the only one who tends to forget if it’s pronounced New BUR-lin or New bur-LIN. There’s also Berlin, WI, pronounced BER-lin. It was pronounced differently before WWII. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-racine/535366/27 "2010-04-08T14:53:53Z")
Obviously accent is on the -SEEN, but is that first syllable a clearcut schwa (“uh”) sound, or is it a clipped “ay” that isn’t emphasized? In other words, is it like the final syllables of “on al-Jazeera **seen** ” or “by my friend Ray **seen** ” (with ‘seen’ stressed in both cases)? ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-racine/535366/28 "2010-04-08T16:00:38Z")
> [@Scarlett67](#): > > There’s also Berlin, WI, pronounced BER-lin. It was pronounced differently before WWII. Did they previously pronounce it bare-leen? ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-racine/535366/29 "2010-04-08T21:18:57Z")
Folks around here with that family name call themselves ray-SEEN. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-racine/535366/30 "2010-04-08T21:26:50Z")
I lived in the Chicago area for over a decade, and always called it Ray-seen. I think that’s how I heard it. ---
**Author:** ![LunarPlexus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@LunarPlexus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LunarPlexus)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-racine/535366/31 "2010-04-08T21:29:05Z")
Grew up about 20 miles from there - on the Illinois side - and only ever heard it with a long a. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-racine/535366/32 "2010-04-08T22:19:46Z")
As a Brit who’s lived on Racine Avenue in Chicago, I use Ray-seen when it’s an American placename and the correct pronounciation when it’s a French playwright. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-racine/535366/33 "2010-04-08T22:27:51Z")
Born in Wisconsin but left as a child, however my grandparents lived there for many years after and Racine was the next closest “big” city and I always heard it called Ray-seen, emphasis on Seen. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-racine/535366/34 "2010-04-09T03:24:34Z")
There is a Racine Ave. in Chicago, and it was a stop on a bus that I often rode when growing up. The driver always pronounced it “ray-seen”, and that’s how I say it. I’ve never heard it pronounced differently. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-racine/535366/35 "2010-04-09T03:38:02Z")
> [@Scarlett67](#): > > There’s also Berlin, WI, pronounced BER-lin. It was pronounced differently before WWII. There’s one in NH pronounced the same way, and it used to be pronounced the other way before WWII also. I don’t think I’ve read the name in the OP before, but I think I’d go with ray-seen if I had to say it. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-racine/535366/36 "2010-04-09T03:51:17Z")
Ray-seen. Native American English speaker, raised at ground zero of the flat-A Great Northern Vowel Shift territory, but with only a trace of a regional accent left. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-racine/535366/37 "2010-04-09T11:31:18Z")
This is Peter Berryman explaining their Poniatowski song about Poniatowski, Wisconsin and asking a native how they pronounce Poniatowski. Do you pronounce it Poe-knee-ah-toe-ski or Pon-yah-touw-ski. Pon-yah-touw-ski Thank you. Your Velcome. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-racine/535366/38 "2010-04-09T13:49:06Z")
I’ve only ever heard ray-seen with almost but not quite equal stress on the two sylables. The seen part is slightly the heavier stress. Not saying that’s correct or how the natives say it. Just reporting what I’ve heard living all around the US for a long time now. We have customers in WI; I’ll have to ask somebody next time I talk to them. Although if the previous posts are any indication, even Wisconsite pronunciations will be all over the place. ---
**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-racine/535366/39 "2010-04-09T13:59:20Z")
Rah-seen. Because I sang Gabriel Fauré’s _Cantique de Jean Racine_, so I can’t think of it any other way. ---
**Author:** ![Ibanez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a4c791/32.png) [@Ibanez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibanez)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-racine/535366/40 "2010-04-09T14:06:42Z")
The origin of the word is French for taking root. In french it’s pronounced Rahsin. Oui je parle français. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-racine/535366.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-racine/535366.md?page=3)