Here in Toronto area city of Vaughan pronounced as (/vɔːn/ or /vɑːn/) like in "dawn" or "gone"

Imaging me fresh from USSR asking someone how do I get to ... and getting blank stare

bluepeter 6 hours ago | parent | next [-]

That's great. What's also amusing is how you felt it necessary to provide the diacritical pronunciation guide for "Vaughan"... because I think to most native English speakers we can't imagine any other pronunciation!

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FpUser 5 hours ago | parent [-]

I think native English speaker who had never heard of Vaughan (sure we can find some of those) would likely to pronounce it like "Vog-un" - /ˈvɒɡən/ or "Vog-han" - /ˈvɑːɡən/

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trollierworm 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

This sent me down a mental rabbit hole, I think it's one of those interesting nuances that are rules that native speakers follow without being able to name it, or know it. I'm a native speaker, and also thought `vawn` was the most obvious pronounciation. I'm guessing it's because `augh` is perceived as a recognizable vowel cluster where `gh` tends to be silent (daughter, caught, naught, taught). The interesting twist for me is that `laugh` is in obvious counter example, until I realized that gh in final position (laugh, rough, enough) is almost always \f\. And further, in words like laughter, roughness, we immediately distinguish a modified root word from the lexical position.

Maybe there's also an interesting thread to pull on in that the pattern may be more pronounced for names (e.g. Hughes). Just ruminating here though, I don't have a source for any of this.

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b40d-48b2-979e 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

No, I don't think they would. I've never heard of Vaughan and assumed one syllable like the parent commenter.

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SoftTalker 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

No, "gh" is usually silent in English spelling.

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toast0 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

augh is not as common as ough, but either one can make any sound in the whole syllabary.

How about Sequim, WA. Guess how to pronounciate that.

	▲	philiplu 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Or Puyallup, WA. Those two are definite shibboleth tests in the PNW.

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jhauris 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Laugh, trough, tough, rough. Maybe it should be "Vawfan"

	▲	oblio 5 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Ghoul.

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nayuki 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

There are a handful of neighborhood and street names used in Toronto (not necessarily from Toronto) that have unusual pronunciations. Here I'll give some triples of (English spelling, actual pronunciation (IPA), a naive pronunciation (IPA)):

(Yonge, [jʌŋ], [jɑndʒ]); (Strachan, [sdʒɹɑn], [ˈsdʒɹa.tʃæn]); (Tecumseth, [tə.ˈkʌm.zi], [ˈti.kəm.sɛθ]); (Markham, [ˈmɑr.kʌm], [ˈmɑrk.hæm]), (Etobicoke, [ɛ.ˈtoʊ.bɪ.koʊ], [ɛ.ˈtoʊ.bɪ.koʊk]).

	▲	glitchc 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		That's because some are Indigenous names phoneticized for English speakers (Yonge and Markham on the other hand are entirely English names): Etobicoke. From Adobigok [1] Tecumseh (or Tecumseth). From tecumtha or takhamehse [2] Mississauga. From Misi-zaagiing [3] [1] https://www.etobicokehistorical.com/brief-history-of-etobico... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tecumseh [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississauga

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5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

[deleted]

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rapnie 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

As a non-native English speaker I wonder if Leicester is naturally pronounced right for the natives, or has to be explicitly taught.

	▲	sanswork 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		It has to be taught. Most english native speakers will say Lie-chester by default.

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loloquwowndueo 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Typical in Toronto - remember there’s only one T in “Toronto”

	▲	madcaptenor 4 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		There's also only one T in "Atlanta". (For some people there are none.)
	▲	canucker2016 4 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		...and the first o is silent, and the remaining o's are pronounced 'a'. But the TV news reporters enunciate every letter in Toronto.
	▲	FpUser 4 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		ROFL. I ignore this sacred rule