# Pronounciation of Los Angeles **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 25, 2002, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-los-angeles/125532 "2002-08-25T23:01:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2002, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-los-angeles/125532/1 "2002-08-25T23:01:13Z")
I list to a lot of old toime radio and in these shows a lot of times the say Los Angeles with a hard G like los angle s. Has it ever been pronounced that way? Or is it just the people saying it? ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2002, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-los-angeles/125532/2 "2002-08-25T23:03:42Z")
I listen to a lot of old time radio and in these shows a lot of times they pronounce Los Angeles with a hard G like los angle s. Has it ever been pronounced that way? Or is it just the people saying it? ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2002, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-los-angeles/125532/3 "2002-08-25T23:12:48Z")
If you live here it’s “Lahs ANN jah less”. The current pronunciation is almost, but not quite entirely unlike how it should be pronounced in Spanish. When Sam Yorty was mayor it was “Lahs Ang el eeze” ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2002, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-los-angeles/125532/4 "2002-08-25T23:15:43Z")
To clarify I was saying how Sam Yorty pronounced the city’s name when he was mayor, not how people in the city pronounced it. ---
**Author:** ![W.Panic\_Snopes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@W.Panic\_Snopes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/W.Panic_Snopes)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2002, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-los-angeles/125532/5 "2002-08-25T23:22:44Z")
I’ve always said “el Ay”. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2002, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-los-angeles/125532/6 "2002-08-25T23:35:24Z")
It’s a style choice to pronounce words as they should be in the original language. I get a kick out of rubes who think the ro-dey-o pronunciation is only a Beverly Hills thing. ---
**Author:** ![dqa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dqa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dqa)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2002, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-los-angeles/125532/7 "2002-08-26T01:03:09Z")
The Los Angeles Almanac basically agrees with **BobT** on this. [Pronouncing “Los Angeles”](http://www.losangelesalmanac.com/topics/Geography/ge13c.htm) It should also be noted that originally the full name was _El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciúncula_ or _The Town of Our Lady the Queen of Angels of the Little Portion_ although its official name was simply _El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles._ [Where Did the Name Los Angeles Come From?](http://www.losangelesalmanac.com/topics/History/hi03a.htm) ---
**Author:** ![JS\_Princeton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/57b2e6/32.png) [@JS\_Princeton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JS_Princeton)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2002, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-los-angeles/125532/8 "2002-08-26T01:10:36Z")
To clarify, in Spanish the name of the city is _approximately_ pronounced “Lohs AHN-hell-ace”. Of course, this is the problem with transcribing pronunciation between the two languages. The English accent in Spanish tends to sound tooo draahwn oouwt with the vohwels. Keeping your vowels quick will get you closer to the general way it is pronounced by most native Spanish speakers.