All Thangs Pussum and Chad Thread

#55,005
#55,005
Behr said:
How to pronounce PECAN in English
Click to expand...

It's an Indian word
Behr said:
How to pronounce PECAN in English
Click to expand...

It's neither UK English, or American English in origin. So I guess the native should have a say though I think they said neither and said something closer to "Pa-Kan-ee"

I always heard it pronounced as Puh-kahn but that's just how it was from my mom's family in Jawjaw.

I could care less ...i do find it interesting though, that most southerners will call the nuts "Puh-kahn", but the pie "Pee-can" Pie...it seems to change pronunciation once it's a pie.
 
#55,007
#55,007
Sgt_Nick_Fury said:
It's an Indian word


It's neither UK English, or American English in origin. So I guess the native should have a say though I think they said neither and said something closer to "Pa-Kan-ee"

I always heard it pronounced as Puh-kahn but that's just how it was from my mom's family in Jawjaw.

I could care less ...i do find it interesting though, that most southerners will call the nuts "Puh-kahn", but the pie "Pee-can" Pie...it seems to change pronunciation once it's a pie.
Click to expand...
I have literally never in 57 years heard the same person say Pecan one way and Pecan pie another. 😆
 
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#55,010
#55,010
VolNExile said:
“It was pronounced pe-can because it was spelled as such.”

LMAO. And who decided the spelling? Not the Indians. A settler from England? From Ireland? France? Germany? All of whom would hear a spoken word (from a non-Indo-European language at that) and try to capture it in our Latin alphabet, according to how THEIR ears heard it and their very possibly limited spelling skills.

I would be astonished if there were a single word that we had learned from any of the American Indian language groups that was pronounced even slightly the way that it is “supposed” to be pronounced.
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Yes

The way Noah Webster "Americanized" the language in the early 19th century is fascinating, drawing from the native languages and creating new words. Here is one that's easy to track down (the fruit):
ORIGIN OF SQUASH
2
An Americanism dating back to 1635–45; from Narragansett (English spelling) askútasquash (plural)

But as you say, who knows about the original pronunciation.

It's interesting, though.
 
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