How do you say Greenville?

[thehappysmith]

I say Green-vuhl. What I really say if I was spelling it is Greenvl. Which I think is what is implied.

I am not local yet; went to school at Clemson (Clem-sun) some years ago and am moving to Pelzer next month (PEL-zer... is there any debate on that? I suppose I should find out now).

What's interesting is I grew up in Jacksonville, FL. I pronounce it the way it's spelled, Jack-son-ville. And Sonrise does bring up an interesting point about Simpsonville, because I would naturally pronounce that with ville on the end, not vl.

But when I run through a list of ville cities in my head, it sounds like this:

Nashvl

Statesvl

Ashevl

Louvl

Greenvl

Jacksonville

Simpsonville

Marysville

And so forth. Three or more syllables begets a ville, two syllables seems to result in vl. Is that cultural? Beats me. I don't agree that there is only one correct pronunciation for every word, as that in my experience would imply that the majority of people pronounce most words wrong, and that seems unjust. But ultimately I doubt anyone here has an ego so fragile that it depends on everyone else here agreeing with them, and clearly those of us who think there is only one right pronunciation are not going to convince nor be convinced by those of us who think there are multiple correct pronunciations.

I would be interested to know if other people who use the vuhl pronunciation do as I do with the longer ville names--Jackson and Simpson and likewise. And if it's different, why? And why does it need to be consistent, considering that numerous letter combinations in English have different pronunciations in different situations (ti, gh, ou, ch, the letter c, and so on).

Not to stray too far, but what about Walterboro? Is that bore-o, or burrow? Or burra? Compare Walterboro to Hillsborough. I occasionally hear Hillsbruh from some people in this area (Tampa).

[GVLbikeNboard]

Statesvl

Ashevl

Louvl

Greenvl

Jacksonville

Simpsonville

Marysville

And so forth. Three or more syllables begets a ville, two syllables seems to result in vl.

I would be interested to know if other people who use the vuhl pronunciation do as I do with the longer ville names--Jackson and Simpson and likewise.

[GVegasDude]

Let me stir the pot a little bit

Do you all pronounce Greer as Greer or Grrrr and Berea as Berea or Bereer

[gs3]

I say Green-vuhl. What I really say if I was spelling it is Greenvl. Which I think is what is implied.

I am not local yet; went to school at Clemson (Clem-sun) some years ago and am moving to Pelzer next month (PEL-zer... is there any debate on that? I suppose I should find out now).

What's interesting is I grew up in Jacksonville, FL. I pronounce it the way it's spelled, Jack-son-ville. And Sonrise does bring up an interesting point about Simpsonville, because I would naturally pronounce that with ville on the end, not vl.

But when I run through a list of ville cities in my head, it sounds like this:

Nashvl

Statesvl

Ashevl

Louvl

Greenvl

Jacksonville

Simpsonville

Marysville

And so forth. Three or more syllables begets a ville, two syllables seems to result in vl.

[Greenville]

Let me stir the pot a little bit

Do you all pronounce Greer as Greer or Grrrr and Berea as Berea or Bereer

[whitehourseview]

Let me stir the pot a little bit

Do you all pronounce Greer as Greer or Grrrr and Berea as Berea or Bereer

[Greenville]

Seeing how my last name is Greer, most definitely just Greer. Really, it's like finger nails running across a chalk board to get one of these two questions:

1. So your name is Greer, does that mean you live in Greer?

2. Hey there, can I call you Mr. Grrrrr....

[linkerjpatrick]

Seeing how my last name is Greer, most definitely just Greer. Really, it's like finger nails running across a chalk board to get one of these two questions:

1. So your name is Greer, does that mean you live in Greer?

2. Hey there, can I call you Mr. Grrrrr....

In less charitable moments, I've wanted to punch a wall when I've heard either question, because I've heard both around 10,000 times in my life.

[Sonrise]

I have felt the same way but lately if taken to literally growling at people or saying yes, it's a family obligation we live there to keep an eye on "the secret family treasure" or I turn their last name back around and even making up a town name based on their last name like Oh, Your name is Green? Are you from Greenvuhl?

Some other stupid comments based on my last name are;

Are you related to the "Texize Greer's" aparently some dude with the same last name ran the Texize plant in Mauldin

and then when I said no the conversation stopped. The same question has happened in my church but based on people who spelled their name with Grier instead of Greer. If they stop the conversation because they can't associate me with a history I just start making up my own history but in reality I am and I in the future someone with my same last name is going to be asked if he or she is related to me. It's getting to the point where it's kind of fun to make up stories because I think they are expecting it anyway or maybe they aren't and it's fun to shock them.

The annoying thing is these so called conversation starters are meant to be funny but after 40 some odd years of hearing the same things it's getting old.

Anyone ever seen the movie Office Space where the nerdy office worker is named, Micheal Bolton? Same idea.

[linkerjpatrick]

Is it safe to assume that you and WHV are related to one another since you didn't post, "hey, my last name is Greer too". or is it just a coincidence and wasn't a big deal to you? Also, I forgot which way you pronounce greenville but you indicated in this post that you say, "Green-vuhl", if that's the case and you weren't be sarcastic how can you be mad at people saying Grrr? By the way, I hate when people say Grrr. Thanks

[G'ville-gal]

I pronounce it Greenville as in the number one choice.

I am a native Greenvillian.

[RestedTraveler]

Yes, WHV or WHR and I are brothers in "real life," and I was just trying to be funny by the Green-vuhl comment unless the person's last name is Green. BTW, I'm surprised no one has brought up the Green-Veeal pronouciation which is a lot more "country" than the Vuhl version I have seen mentioned. Although I guess you could say they are two kinds of country.

[whitehourseview]

Again, I assert my theory that regional dialects directly reflect who the original settlers of that region were. In the case of our area, and those that pronounce "Greenville" as "Grinvuhl" or "Grenvuhl" or "Greenvuhl," we were originally settled by people from Scottland. In the case of Nashville where you have people that would commonly emphasize the "ville" as "veeal," those original settlers were (and I verified this by doing some research) French Fur Traders.

[Spartan]

Generally speaking, I hate that our language and culture has become so watered down that regional dialects are not only disappearing, but looked down upon by many. My personal policy has always been the "when in Rome..." philosophy with regards to pronunciation. When y'all travel, do you not take pleasure in experiencing other cities with different dialects at all? Certainly SOME are grating to the ear (eg: Baltimore). However, the sheer fact that they are different is one of the many things I love about travelling, and IMO it makes places much more unique and interesting. I'll add that its one of the downsides to going out west, as their accent is virtually non-existent. I am very proud of my Southern accent, especially here in the land of yankees (Charlotte). Its sort of a badge of pride due to its scarcity.

More locally, I try to pick out accents, or more accurately "dialects." from varoius parts of the state. Charleston is a given. So far, I have managed to pick up a distinct dialects from Gaffney, Orangeburg, and I'm starting to notice a broad category of "other" Lowcountry islands. I suspect that there are many more, but I have yet to place them (its also very hard to place your own accent, since you can't "hear" it, so I expect Spartanburg has one too). Even here in Charlotte, I've been able to pick out an accent of those people who are born and raised here, especially before the 1980s. Its hard for me to explain in writing what makes them distinct, but its just a subtle similarity in the way these people from their respective regions pronounce things.

Do you pronounce Louis as Lew-a as in King Lew-a the VIII? It only sounds better because a majority of people have been mispronouncing it for so long that the wrong way has become right.

[Greenville]

Generally speaking, I hate that our language and culture has become so watered down that regional dialects are not only disappearing, but looked down upon by many. My personal policy has always been the "when in Rome..." philosophy with regards to pronunciation. When y'all travel, do you not take pleasure in experiencing other cities with different dialects at all? Certainly SOME are grating to the ear (eg: Baltimore). However, the sheer fact that they are different is one of the many things I love about travelling, and IMO it makes places much more unique and interesting. I'll add that its one of the downsides to going out west, as their accent is virtually non-existent. I am very proud of my Southern accent, especially here in the land of yankees (Charlotte). Its sort of a badge of pride due to its scarcity.

[linkerjpatrick]

Based on your "when in Rome" philosophy, do you adapt your accent to whoever you are around? In other words, if you visit Boston do you ditch your accent and talk Bostonese?

[RestedTraveler]

Based on your "when in Rome" philosophy, do you adapt your accent to whoever you are around? In other words, if you visit Boston do you ditch your accent and talk Bostonese?

[Cap'n Prowler]

I do it too, mainly out of habit. I always figured it was just my natural tendency to try and blend in and avoid confrontation.

[Spartan]

Based on your "when in Rome" philosophy, do you adapt your accent to whoever you are around? In other words, if you visit Boston do you ditch your accent and talk Bostonese?