A Guide to Oregon Pronounciation
Oar-eh-GAWN.
It’s a sound that makes both native and long-time residents cringe.
Visitors and new residents to this area struggle with some of the names for our counties, cities, rivers, and streets. It’s easy to tell an out-off-towner when you hear them say “Willa-met” instead of “wil-LAM-mut”. It’s understandable. Many titles come from Native American roots, and therefore, don’t roll off the tongue easily.
In the spirit of helping Oregon newbies fit in better, I present “A Guide to Oregon Pronounciation”, including audio clips to play in your headphones and repeat out loud–just like in high school French class. Click the small 
player icon to hear the clip.
Oregon — ORY-gun - LISTEN
Counties
Willamette — will-LAM-mut - LISTEN
Multnomah — mult-NO-meh - LISTEN
Clackamas — clacka-muss - LISTEN
Cities and Towns
Tualatin — too-WHAL-a-tin - LISTEN
Aloha — a-LOW-uh - LISTEN
Tigard — TIE-gurd - LISTEN
Hubbard — hub-ERD - LISTEN
Lake Oswego — oss-WEE-go - LISTEN
Estacada — ess-ta-CAY-dah - LISTEN
Molalla — muh-LAW-lah - LISTEN
Mulino — muh-LINE-oh - LISTEN
Gervais — jer-VISS - LISTEN
The Dalles - like the pals - LISTEN
Streets
Couch — coo-tsch - LISTEN
Nicolai — NICK-o-lye - LISTEN
Yeon — YEE-on - LISTEN
Glisan — GLEE-sun - LISTEN (There is some controversy as whether it should be pronounced “glisten”.)
And of course, the local family chain of pubs, restaurants, hotels, and theaters.
McMenamins — MICK-mena-minz - McMenamins
I’m sure I missed some. Leave a comment. I am glad I don’t have to pronounce some of the locations in Washington State. Quillayute or Puyallup, anyone?
Technorati Tags: names, cities, states, streets, counties, rivers, pronounciation, Oregon, audio
Photo by strph. Used under Creative Commons license.
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6 comments January 12th, 2007
