Aug 21 2004
Edinburgh Does Not Rhyme With Pittsburgh
So That’s How It’s Pronounced? - A Guide to Scottish Placenames:
…do try to sound the “r”, although not with the exaggerated trill usually given it by so-called ‘Scotch’ comedians. But, again this to my English readers, don’t even attempt to get the guttural sounds of “ach” and “loch”. You will only strangle yourselves. To say “ach!” correctly you need generations of Scots blood behind you, and you must have been born with the peat-reek in your nostrils, and the sight of the hills as the first thing you clapped your eyes on.
For Islay, my favorite scotch producing region:
The Inner Hebrides island of Islay is pronounced I-lah with both the ’s’ and ‘y’ silent. On the other side of the country in Angus, the lovely Glen Isla is pronounced the same way.
