Last update: April 26, 2006 – 10:42 AM
Our differences are pronounced
Associated Press
MILWAUKEE — There are just some Wisconsin-related words that people butcher: Chequamegon forest, Lake Butte des Morts, Lac Courte Oreilles tribe and even Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz.
So radio reporter Jackie Johnson decided she was tired of it and wanted to give newcomers, tourists and even natives a resource to find the correct pronunciation. She recently started the Web site misspronouncer.com.
"They can't be expected to know. It's not their fault," said Johnson, a capitol reporter for Wisconsin Radio Network. "But there is nowhere to go."
By the way, it's shee-WAM'-eh-gehn forest, Lake BEWD'-eh-moore, lak-COOT-o-ray tribe and Madison Mayor Dave ches-LEV'-ich.
The site has recordings of her pronouncing Wisconsin's 190 cities, 400 villages, and 1,260 towns. She also pronounces names of judges, famous Wisconsin people, like Brett Favre, state officials and legislators. She even recorded some of them pronouncing their own names.
Johnson, who has lived in Wisconsin most of her life, said she has worked in radio for years and was embarrassed when she mispronounced words and didn't know where to go to get it right.
About six months ago, she started compiling the information in her spare time.
She estimated that she called chambers of commerce or libraries in about 500 Wisconsin locations to check pronunciations. Johnson said she never assumes Wisconsin words are pronounced the way they look, like central Wisconsin's Rio, which is pronounced REYE'-oh not REE'-oh.
Her brother helped her with some of the technical aspects of the Web site, which had 2,000 new visitors this month.
Joe Salmons, director of the Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said there are lot of American Indian and French place names in the state.
"Just the way that things are spelled are odd looking to the English eye," he said.
He also said stress patterns vary across depending the speaker's accent.
"Like Oconomowoc (oh-KON-oh-moh-wok) — when you first see that it takes some thinking," he said. "I've heard ongoing discussions on how to pronounce Prairie du Chien (SHEEN)."
Rio resident Chris Richardson, 33, said nonresidents usually mispronounce the name, but he doesn't care.
"I actually I think that's how it should be pronounced," he said.
Johnson said several library systems in the state have linked to her site, which also has many Wisconsin facts.
She hopes the site helps many mispronouncers, but also hopes to earn money someday from advertising.
She said there's one drawback to some people's names on the Web site: not everyone pronounces their names the same.
"If they tell me the wrong pronunciation, it's not my fault," she said.
(This story appeared in such places as the Minneapolis Star Tribune, CNN.com, New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Sun-Times, Madison Capital Times, Chicago Tribune, Marshfield News Herald, Eau Claire Leader Telegram, The Northwestern in Oshkosh, and the Appleton Post Crescent.)