When I spoke to my granddaughter who moved recently, I asked her whether she missed Norfolk, Virginia. She said “no,” but then told me that those living in Virginia’s second-largest city pronounce it “nor-fuk,” not “nor-folk.”

That got me thinking about how people in my hometown of Summit Hill mostly pronounce it as “sum-mit-till.” Each of the other three Panther Valley boroughs also are mispronounced by natives and those living there now. They say “coal-dell,” not “coal-dale,” “lans-ferd,” not “lans-ford,” and “nes-kuh-honn-ee,” not “nes-qwa-honn-ing.”

When I was publisher of the daily newspaper in Oswego, New York, a number of people living in the Panther Valley and the Lehigh Valley would travel to Pulaski, New York, which is in Oswego County, about 25 miles away from Oswego, to go salmon fishing. New York State Assemblyman Will Barkley, who is now minority leader of the lower house of the Legislature, would always tell me that he and his family, who own extensive property along the Salmon River, could always tell outsiders by the way they pronounced the name of the well-known village with a population of 2,300. Despite the fact that it was named for Revolutionary War hero Casimir Pulaski (pronounced “pull-ASK-ee”), the natives and residents call it “pull-ask-eye.” Another community in Virginia with the same name is pronounced “pull-ASK-ee.”

Getting back to our area, I have heard several people pronounce “Tam-AH-kwa” as “TAM-ah-kwa,” a dead giveaway that they were not local. Nobody that I have ever encountered pronounces “SHEN-an-do-ah” correctly. Most say “SHEN-ah-door.” My mother and several of my Summit Hill acquaintances would call “MAH-annoy-cit-ee” “MOCK-annoy-cit-ee.”

In the Lehigh Valley, I don’t know how many times I have heard “BETH-leh-ham” pronounced as “BED-lam.” Another toss-up is between the North Whitehall Township village of “cop-play” or is it “co-play?”

If you ever pack up and visit communities across the United States, it would be a good idea to learn how the natives pronounce the names so they won’t immediately peg you for an outsider.

Just north of us, a visit to Luzerne County’s seat of government Wilkes-Barre, pronounced “wilkes-bare-ee,” not “wilkes-bare” or “wilkes-bar.”

My fifth grade teacher at Summit Hill, Miss Helen Boyle, was teaching us a geography unit on West Coast states, including California. Among the state’s largest cities, she mentioned “San Jose,” which she pronounced as “san-jos-ee.” I put my hand up and corrected her, saying, “Miss Boyle, that is pronounced ‘san-hose-ey.’” She was not thrilled to be corrected by a 10-year-old smart alec.

There are a lot of Spanish names in California since it was once part of the extensive territory belonging to Mexico. La Jolla, a city of about 50,000 north of San Diego, is pronounced “la-HOY-ah,” not “la-JOL-la.”

The correct pronunciation for the second largest city in the state of Washington is “spo-CAN,” not “spo-CANE.” The origin is a Native American name meaning “children of the sun.”

The capital city of Montana is pronounced “HELL-eh-na,” not “hel-LAY-na” or “hel-LEE-na.”

Another capital city that’s often pronounced incorrectly is Pierre, South Dakota. If you call it as you would a French male’s name, you are telling the natives that you are from out of town. They pronounce it “peer.” By the way, with just 14,000 inhabitants, Pierre is one of the most sparsely populated of our 50 state capitals. The least populous capital is Montpelier, Vermont, at about 7,000.

To a newcomer to the United States, logic would indicate that “Kansas” and the latter part of “Arkansas” should be pronounced the same, but they are not. It’s “KAN-zus” and “ARK-un-saw.”

A real toughie is Schenectady, New York. It’s pronounced “ski-NEK-tuh-dee,” not “skah-NEK-tuh-dee.”

Like its namesake in merry old England, Worcester, Massachusetts, is pronounced “WUSS-ter,” not “WOR-ches-ter” or `”WAR-ces-ter.”

If you want to sound like a genuine southerner, you’ll pronounce Kentucky’s largest city as “LOO-uh-vul,” not “LOU-is-vill” or “LOO-ee-vill.”

And last but not least, it’s Kissimmee in Florida - (“kah-SIM-mee,” not “KISS-ah-me.”)

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com