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ArishMell · 70-79, M
You will hear many variations due to the very wide range of regional accents in Britain, but the general pronunciation of Worcestershire and of its county-town (Worcester) shortens but stresses the first, and passes over the second, syllables.
Similarly with its Southerly neighbouring county and county-town, Gloucestershire and Gloucester - the "est" syllable left unsaid.
The neighbour to the NE, though, Warkwickshire, tends to be pronounced with a hard "orr" as in "on", rather than "ark+w" in the middle. I assume this is because "Warricksher / ~shire" is easier to enunciate than the purely phonetic way!
Then travelling on, Leicestershire and Leicester follow the same silent-"est", then we reach Nottinghamshire & Nottingham which most English do pronounce pretty well phonetically, fully and with first- or second- syllable stress. The "ham" syllable is always slightly weakened, often with a touch of a hard "u" to the sound.
Generally, the "shire" root is spoken as a short "sher" sound, slightly longer "shire" or a hybrid "shiur", again depending on the speaker's accent.
I have seen a SW thread titled something like "I love the British accent", prompting British readers to ask, "Which British accent?". Apart from the very distinct English, Welsh, Irish and Scottish generics, there are very many regional accents and dialects. England alone would fit in a rectangle not much more than 450 miles long by 250 or so wide, but has an enormous range of accents that can differ noticeably across only a few tens of miles, or even across a conurbation like Greater London or the West Midlands county encompassing Birmingham and the Black Country. ("Black" describes its 19C industrial condition.)
'
By the way, a point sometimes missed is that not all English counties carry that "shire" suffix, originally an administrative term.
Similarly with its Southerly neighbouring county and county-town, Gloucestershire and Gloucester - the "est" syllable left unsaid.
The neighbour to the NE, though, Warkwickshire, tends to be pronounced with a hard "orr" as in "on", rather than "ark+w" in the middle. I assume this is because "Warricksher / ~shire" is easier to enunciate than the purely phonetic way!
Then travelling on, Leicestershire and Leicester follow the same silent-"est", then we reach Nottinghamshire & Nottingham which most English do pronounce pretty well phonetically, fully and with first- or second- syllable stress. The "ham" syllable is always slightly weakened, often with a touch of a hard "u" to the sound.
Generally, the "shire" root is spoken as a short "sher" sound, slightly longer "shire" or a hybrid "shiur", again depending on the speaker's accent.
I have seen a SW thread titled something like "I love the British accent", prompting British readers to ask, "Which British accent?". Apart from the very distinct English, Welsh, Irish and Scottish generics, there are very many regional accents and dialects. England alone would fit in a rectangle not much more than 450 miles long by 250 or so wide, but has an enormous range of accents that can differ noticeably across only a few tens of miles, or even across a conurbation like Greater London or the West Midlands county encompassing Birmingham and the Black Country. ("Black" describes its 19C industrial condition.)
'
By the way, a point sometimes missed is that not all English counties carry that "shire" suffix, originally an administrative term.
Crazychick · 36-40, F
@ArishMell It's Warwickshire, not Warkwickshire.
ArishMell · 70-79, M
@Crazychick Thank you for spotting my error!
- That's my typing, not my odd blend of ancestral Notts, native Hants and off-cumden Dorset accents with touch of Yorks dialect!
Incidentally I was in Warwickshire (pauses to confirm spelling) for a few days last year, and noticed many locals seemed to have little discernible accent - suggesting to me that of course they do, but my own is very close to theirs.
- That's my typing, not my odd blend of ancestral Notts, native Hants and off-cumden Dorset accents with touch of Yorks dialect!
Incidentally I was in Warwickshire (pauses to confirm spelling) for a few days last year, and noticed many locals seemed to have little discernible accent - suggesting to me that of course they do, but my own is very close to theirs.
