What are some examples of cities which were named in a certain language and dialect but are now pronounced according to a different language or dialect's rules (eg Los Angeles)?
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Replying to @blue_traveler
if you pronounce street names in LA in proper spanish even spanish speakers laugh at you
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Replying to @literalbanana @blue_traveler
The main street in Winnipeg, Manitoba - a city notable for having one of the largest concentrations of French speakers in Western Canada - is "Portage Avenue," pronounced PORT-edge; not like the French word "portage" that seems to be its etymological origin.
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Replying to @mattskala @blue_traveler
huh I think of the word portage (as in to carry a boat on land) as pronounced PORT-edge, interesting!
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Replying to @literalbanana @blue_traveler
In my Canadian English, the English word meaning to carry a boat is pronounced the same way as in French, and the Winnipeg street name sounds like a joke, or a trap for outsiders
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I learned the word "Portage" canoing in Canada as a teen, and usage by my American/Canadian wilderness guides was "port-azh" (like French), w/ emphasis on second syll. I've heard it pronounced "portage" (emp on 1st) but as a noun for 'stuff being carried', rather than as verb
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I've only heard it used as a noun (in English) as a place to do the verb, pronounced the same as the verb. As in "There are only two short portages on the route."
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"a place to do the verb" yeah, i think it actually varies even by regular canoer-people I worked for a few years for an outdoor outfitter, and the 'place'/point-of-transit-usage would sometimes be pronounced like the 'stuff', sometimes like the verb, no consistency
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then of course there's the town of Portage La Prairie, in which the first word is port-edge despite the whole thing looking French, and this would seem to be a good example for the original question of the thread
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imagine portaging a whole prairie
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