[Mgs] Common Language

Paul Hunt paul.hunt1 at blueyonder.co.uk
Thu Jan 8 02:52:12 MST 2009


The clue is in what you wrote - one is spelt 'chester' and the other 'cester'
and the two *are* treated differently, Dorchester, Barchester and others are
pronounced as they are spelt as well, Bicester is not, even though are both
are said to come from the Roman.  It's probably not universal,
Chester-le-Street for example is pronounced Chesleystreet with soft 's' in
both cases.  Many American place names particularly on the Eastern seaboard
came from the UK, and UK place names came from the Celtic, Anglo-Saxons i.e.
Germanic, Vikings i.e. Scandinavia, Romans i.e. latin, Normans i.e. French and
so on.

PaulH.
  ----- Original Message -----


  Sorry I missed the beginning of this thread.  In Boston,
  Dorchester is pronounce 'Dor-Chest-er' but Worcester 'Wister'.  I
  lived in the Boston area for 30 years and never understood it. Another
  30 years later and I still don't understand it.


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