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De Kalb Pronunciation — Brooklynian

De Kalb Pronunciation

limestonekid
limestonekid
edited November -1 in Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Bed-Stuy
Can someone help me out with the proper pronunciation of De Kalb.

I've always pronounced it "Duh" Kalb but yesterday I heard someone referring to it as "Dee" Kalb (as in Dee Dee Ramone).

That just didn't sound right to me.

Comments

  • violet
    violet
    I always assumed it was Dee-kalb. It has never occured to me that it could be Duh-kalb! D'oh!
  • anonymous
    anonymous
    Dee Kalb. But in Atlanta, there is a major county call Dekalb County, and it's pronounced Duh-cab, like taxi cab.
  • anonymous
    anonymous
    OK, while we on it how about Macon - - pronounced like bacon or emphasis on the first syllable?
  • homeowner
    homeowner
    May-con. Macon is in Georgia...
  • jocelyn
    jocelyn
    May-con for the one in Brooklyn, Macon in Georgia pron. like bacon
  • whyfi
    whyfi
    Despite the "dee" announcements on the subway, I always assumed the same "deh" of Charles de Gaulle, etc...
  • theoryofpractice
    theoryofpractice
    I say "Dee Kal Bee Ah"
  • sweet tea
    sweet tea
    jocelyn wrote: May-con for the one in Brooklyn, Macon in Georgia pron. like bacon
    is this not the same? (how do you say bacon?? :scratch: )
  • whyfi
    whyfi
    Makin' bakin'
  • streetwise
    streetwise
    sweet tea wrote: [quote=jocelyn]May-con for the one in Brooklyn, Macon in Georgia pron. like bacon
    is this not the same? (how do you say bacon?? :scratch: )

    Pronounce it like May-kahn. That way you will hear the difference from bacon.
  • apollonia666
    apollonia666
    streetwise wrote: [quote=sweet tea][quote=jocelyn]May-con for the one in Brooklyn, Macon in Georgia pron. like bacon
    is this not the same? (how do you say bacon?? :scratch: )

    Pronounce it like May-kahn. That way you will hear the difference from bacon.

    Okay, that makes sense. But the emphasis is on the first syllable in both versions.
  • lemlar
    lemlar
    Actually, it is pronounced "duh" not "dee" since it is named after a a German dude whose name would have been pronounced as the former.

    http://www.forgotten-ny.com/STREET SCENES/myrtle-knick/knick.html

    Scroll about half way down.

    "Duh" is really right, though, it really is just "de" as in soup de jour, etc. But it isn't "dee".
  • lemlar
    lemlar
    oops, i meant "duh" is not really right . . .
  • anonymous
    anonymous
    but "duh" is the phoenetic way to write what "de" should sound like.

    Dee is just a colloquialism that is developing.

    I thought this thread would be about the "Kalb" part. DeKalb, rhyming with "bald" (which is what I say), or more like the name "Al" DeK"Al"b?
  • lemlar
    lemlar
    Well, "duh" is not really the phoenetic way to write what "de" should sound like. In fact, those two sounds are not the same but I know that was the intent.

    I've never heard anyone "Kalb" with the "al" sounding like that of "bald", although it is probably a more accurate pronunciation.
  • carnivore
    carnivore
    It kills me when people pronounce Nostrand like "nostrils" instead of like "nosy."
  • the changeling
    the changeling
    What about Throop? Any native-born person should pronounce the consonant cluster "thr" at the start of the word. Instead, many folks around here are pronouncing it "troop." In fact, people won't even know what you're talking about when you say "throop."
  • lemlar
    lemlar
    What about Classon? Is the "a" sound what it looks like, as in classroom, or is it like the "a" in awesome, which I've heard a lot?
  • sweet tea
    sweet tea
    claw-son. that one i was schooled on by an old-timer. of course, a lot of people look at you crazy for saying it that way, so i end up sort of splitting the difference with a kind claahsson.

    as for macon and de kalb...well, you know what they say about taking the country out of the girl. i'm afraid those will always be d'cab and mac'n to me.
  • lemlar
    lemlar
    I always say "clawson" too because that's how my father, who grew up in bedstuy in the 30s and 40s, says it but i've heard more and more people saying it like classroom, which is understandable.
  • anonymous
    anonymous
    It actually depends on where you are on DeKalb. Past Clinton Ave., it's "DeeKalb" but before Clinton it's "DehKalb". Much like that episode of "Entourage" when Turtle is trying to sign Saigon and learns that Rodeo Drive is pronounced differently wherever you happen to be on it. :D/
  • pitu
    pitu
    Anonymous wrote: It actually depends on where you are on DeKalb. Past Clinton Ave., it's "DeeKalb" but before Clinton it's "DehKalb". Much like that episode of "Entourage" when Turtle is trying to sign Saigon and learns that Rodeo Drive is pronounced differently wherever you happen to be on it. :D/
    funny.

    who says it Deh-Kalb'?
    I thought that was for newbies...and I'm not sure if that's what you are referring to with the Clinton split.

    I moved into Bklyn in the 80s and always heard Dee'-kalb.

    But I'm a quasi-southerner . . .
    :D
  • emily
    emily
    The Changeling wrote: What about Throop? Any native-born person should pronounce the consonant cluster "thr" at the start of the word. Instead, many folks around here are pronouncing it "troop." In fact, people won't even know what you're talking about when you say "throop."
    Unless you were a native speaker of German or Dutch, in which case you would pronounce it "troop"!

    As a non-native speaker of those languages, I get very confused by some of the pronunciations around here. A long E in De Kalb makes no sense to me, and neither does a short I sound in "Van Wyck."

    Oh, and the French speaker in me cannot help but note that it is soup (0r whatever) DU jour...
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