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This is fun! Let's keep going!

Just don't say Anchas or Mike will torture you.

I've always pronounced it "anncha". Googling the Spanish pronounciation closely matches that too.

Gesundheit!

Ainka... unless I catch myself and say Ahnka. But I've never heard the word spoken out loud before.
And, I can't shake pluralizing it
As in, The Rocky Mountain Divide / The Rockies. Pinal Mountain / The Pinals...

Ancha (pronounced on-cha) is a Spanish word meaning "wide." In Spanish the modifier comes after the noun, instead of before it. So, Sierra Ancha means wide mountain range.

Depends on the person I'm speaking to and how they say Casa Grande

If the original Spanish uses the "ch" sound, where does the the hard "k" version come from? That's obviously not English phonics.

I've never heard the hard "k" pronunciation. 30 years in Arizona. But I didn't live near that range.

joebartels wrote:Depends on the person I'm speaking to and how they say Casa Grande

I have to admit, although I have a minor in Spanish and speak it fairly well, I tend to "do like the Romans" when it comes to some of these pronunciations. I admit to sometimes pronouncing Casa Grande with flat "a" sounds and no "e" sound on the end. I know I'm doing it, though. In the back of my mind I'm always thinking what the real pronunciation is.

I've only heard one or two people pronounce it with the hard "k", everyone else I've heard has used "ch". I've always assumed the variations in the "a" sound had more to do with individual accents than anything else.

Folks who pronounce it with a hard "k" are most likely fans of Paul Anka (which is almost as bad as being a fan of Bury Manilow).

I've always been partial to the lighthearted bovine mountains to the south, The Cheery Cows.

Alston_Neal wrote:I've always been partial to the lighthearted bovine mountains to the south, The Cheery Cows.

And their neighbor to the west - the Goonies.
And their neighbor to the southwest - the Hoochie Coochies.

Changing it up a bit, but still related in terms of questioning pronunciations...

Appalachian. When I was in school back east, all our teachers told us it was pronounced app-ah-LAY-shun. Nowadays I always seem to hear app-a-LATCH-ee-yun. Anyone have any preferred pronunciation or opinion?

Your first is how I know it.

@DarthStiller
@The_Eagle
Both are correct. It's the long A in New England, and it definitely is the short A in the south. There is a town, Appalachia, Virginia, pronounced with the short A. I recently spent 3 weeks in North Carolina. It's definitely the short A in that area. Years ago I spent the summer visiting up and down the East coast, and that's when I was first made aware of the different pronunciations.

It's pronounced Rwyf wrth fy modd arogl bobl