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?
I always heard it as New BUR-lin.
Former Racine resident here–it’s rə-SEEN.
Grew up in Wisconsin. Ruh-seen. The second way. So it is said, so shall it be.
There’s also Berlin, WI, pronounced BER-lin. It was pronounced differently before WWII.
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)?
Did they previously pronounce it bare-leen?
Folks around here with that family name call themselves ray-SEEN.
I lived in the Chicago area for over a decade, and always called it Ray-seen. I think that’s how I heard it.
Grew up about 20 miles from there - on the Illinois side - and only ever heard it with a long a.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Rah-seen. Because I sang Gabriel Fauré’s Cantique de Jean Racine, so I can’t think of it any other way.
The origin of the word is French for taking root.
In french it’s pronounced Rahsin. Oui je parle français.