How to speak like a Floridian

A guide to place names

Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Published Monday, April 02, 2007

SARASOTA -- When it comes to names and places, the rules of pronunciation are meant to be bent, broken and ignored completely.

Local custom trumps the International Phonetic Alphabet.

Correct pronunciation is, in fact, a popularity contest. Consider the Myakka River. If you say "me-ACK-a," and everyone else says "my-ACK-a," then you are wrong and they are right.

Of course, right and left matter more than right and wrong, especially when you're giving directions.


Albee Farm Road runs straight through Venice, but local pronunciation curves into "po-TAY-to, po-TAH-to" territory.

Some people say "AL-be," like a man's name, which has a country feel and sounds like a farm road.

Other people say "ALL-be," like "all-in-one," and the name of dramatist Edward Albee.

Betty Albee -- the only Albee left in the Venice phone book -- says she hears the incorrect pronunciation all the time, but the second form is her family preference:


Aqui Esta

This is a boulevard south of Punta Gorda in Charlotte County. The words mean "Here it is" (ah-KEE es-TAH) in Spanish, but the local pronunciation has been Americanized by brute force:

"ACK-ee EST-a."


The Panhandle oyster town is pronounced just as it's spelled. Stress on the first, third and fifth syllables gives it a singsong quality: "APP-a-LATCH-i-CO-la."


The name for this Sarasota theater is spelled like there should be three syllables, but it's pronounced like the two-syllable capital of Norway:


Bahia Vista

In Spanish, this means "bay view," with the word for bay getting three syllables. In Sarasota, the name for an east-west boulevard gets shortened to "BAY-uh vista" or "BYE-uh vista."

It's hard to say which is right.

Boca Grande

Another Spanish name -- it means "big mouth" -- for the city on Gasparilla Island south of Englewood. There's a big accent on the first syllable:

"BO-ka grand."


No surprise here. It's "BRAY-den-ton," although some people find a way to call it "Bra-ding-ton."

Calle Ocho

If you want Cuban food in Miami, you head to Eighth Street, or "Calle Ocho." Pronunciation of the Spanish word for "street" is a little tricky, because the L's here sound like Y's.

It's "CAI-yay OH-cho."


For this Lee County island, the temptation is to stress the first syllable and flatten the second one. But that's not how it goes.

It's "cap-TEE-va."


Dona Bay in Venice does not get the pronunciation of a Spanish noblewoman's title. It's been Americanized to "Donna."


It would be cute if the accent were on the first syllable, but that's not how Floridians pronounce this city south of Orlando.

"Kiss-IMM-ee" rhymes with "gimme."


This little town south of Gainesville is known for antique shops -- and a billboard-advertised strip club -- just off I-75. The accent mark would probably go on the first syllable, but it's pronounced pretty evenly:



The Sarasota County river and state park is pretty straightforward:



The Sarasota County town gets its name from a Longfellow poem about American Indians. The vowel in the first syllable sounds more like an A than an O:



This Manatee County community starts with the letters o-n-e, but it isn't "one." Stress is on the second syllable:



The big lake in South Florida is pretty simple to say: "OH-ki-cho-be."


It looks Greek, doesn't it? All the weight is on the first sound:


Punta Gorda

The Charlotte County city means "broad point" in Spanish. The local pronunciation, though, has a football pronunciation of the first syllable:

"PUNT-a gorda."


At first glance, this Sarasota arena is often pronounced "ROB-erts." Then some people notice the A in the name and call it "ROW-barts." Then a few people learn the family pronounces the name as if the A were an E.

Which brings them back to "ROB-erts."


U.S. 41, better known as the Tamiami Trail, started off as the Tampa-Miami Trail. Hence the name, but the ending doesn't rhyme with the South Florida city.

It's "TAM-ee-AM-ee."


This name of this Hillsborough County town tempts you to play it safe and mumble "wi-maw-ma." Locals, though, give it a very broad, flat and Southern pronunciation:



In Hardee County, this Peace River town does get a kind of mumbly de-emphasis:



It looks tricky but isn't. The Hernando County state forest is said exactly like it's spelled:



In a speeding car on I-75, signs for this Pasco County town look almost like "zephyrrillis." In the supermarket, where you buy the bottled water, it's pronounced like two words:

"ZEFF-er hills."

StAugustine AllAccess

Trending this week:

