Credit: DrewSineath.com
Credit: DrewSineath.com
This entry was inspired by a Twitter conversation I saw a few months ago. With a diverse group of residents, the dialect in Charleston can be quite unique…and confusing.
Here’s a pronunciation guide featuring some of the more confusing words and their correct or most popular pronunciations if the “right” way isn’t clear:
(FYI – Most of these pronunciations came from SCIWay.net. There are even more listings and an explanation on how they reached their conclusions on their website):
- Awendaw: AW-win-daw, AW-en-daw
- Beaufain: BYOO – fain (“BYOO” rhymes with “you”)
- Beaufort: BYOO – fort, BYOO – fert
- Beidler: BYE – dler
- Blenheim: BLEN – um
- Bonneau: BOHN – oh
- Cayce: KAY – see
- Clemson: CLEM – zun, CLEMP – sun, CLEM – sun
- Gaillard: gil – YARD
- Givhans Ferry: GIV – ANZ
- Hasell: HAY – zul
- Horry: or – ree, o – ree
- Huger: u – GEE, HU – gee
- Lancaster: LANK – uh – stur
- Legare: le – GREE
- McLeod: muh – CLOUD
- Moultrie: MOOL – tree, MOW – tree
- Pamplico: PAMP – li – koe (Edit: One agitated reader swears this should be pronounced Pam-li-coe. SCIWay.net and Google disagree, but that’s the whole point of this list. People pronounce things differently).
- Pinopolis: pie – NOP – uh – lis
- Prioleau: PRAY – low
- St. Stephen: STEE – ven, STEE – vens (Some add the “s” on the end)
- Sumter: SUMP • tur
- Vanderhorst: VAN – der – HORST, VAN – dross
When it comes to town/street names, it’s almost impossible to know what’s “right.” Plus, pronunciations change over time. Some people adapt to the “new” way of saying a word, while others don’t. If you don’t like what’s above, that’s ok! These are all up for debate.
These pronunciations came from SCIWay.net. There are even more listings on their site.
