Mississippi Towns Spelled Out Phonetically in their Correct Pronunciations for the Media
A friend of mine started this list and would love any additions.
12. D'IBERVILLE - Dee-eye-burr-ville, NOT whatever your knowledge of English and/or French suggests.
11. TUPELO – “too-puh-low” NOT ”tuh-puh-low” (Come on, Elvis is from here. You should know how to pronounce Tupelo already. Come on. Really).
10. BELZONI – “bell-zone-uh” NOT “bell-zone-ee” (This is the World Famous Catfish Capital of the Whole World, people. It didn’t get built yesterday).
9. IUKA – “eye-you-kuh” NOT, well, just say it like the way I showed you
8. NANIH WAIYA – “na-nuh-wah-yuh” NOT “nanny-way-yuh” (You know an entire Native American people were born in Nanih Waiya. So be sure to practice this one out loud).
7. GAUTIER – “go-shay” NOT “go-tee-ay” (It’s a town. Not a fashion mogul).
6. SHUQUALAK – “shoo-ka-lock” OR “sugar-lock” NOT “shoo-kwuh-lock” (It’s best if you stick with the second pronunciation. Trust me).
5. LOUISVILLE – “lewis-vuhl” NOT “loo-vuhl” (Kentucky got fancy and named their city after a French king, but we’re more homegrown. Ours comes from a state senator named Louis Winston. And now you know).
4. NATCHEZ – “natch-uss” NOT “nat-chezz” (Can you believe that there are even any people around who actually say “nat-chezz”? That’s funny to me).
3. KOSCIUSKO – “kahz-ee-es-ko” NOT any other way you might ever try to say it (Let’s not upset Oprah further).
2. PASS CHRISTIAN – “pass-chris-chee-anne” NOT “pass-chris-chun” (The state has plenty of Christians already).
1. BILOXI – “buh-luh-ksee” NOT “bi-lox-see” (Though by water, there is no lox to be had. As long as this city has been on the map, it still can’t seem to assert itself enough to have its name spoken properly. Put on Destiny’s Child, “Say My Name,” and practice in front of a mirror awhile).
As an example of how not to pronounce several of these towns, I recommend Tom Waits' otherwise awesome song, "Pony", off the album Mule Variations.
= new reply since forum marked as read
it is pronounced Kos-I-es-kew. I go with that since it is how I heard Polish speakers say the name. But we also have strange translations. For instance Bourbannais, a French word, is pronounced Bor-ban-is. Cairo at the southern tip of the state is pronounced Kay-row. Every state mashes their own heritage it seems.
It seems names and pronunciations change over time and territory. It is one of the caveats of doing genealogy. I have found hundreds of minor and not so minor changes over centuries and then other changes when my ancestors immigrated. That is why I respect all of the spellings and pronunciations and try to remember the original way they were.
Thanks for reminding me. 