Cornish place names.

[Gob]

In a bid to make your trip to Cornwall even more enjoyable and to stop the locals' sniggers as you stop to ask directions to Foe-ee, here's CornwallLive's guide on how to pronounce some of the place names which leave visitors scratching their heads.

Mousehole
The old chestnut. No, it’s not mouse hole but Mowzle said in your best Cornish fisherman’s accent.

Delabole
I once persuaded a young colleague from upcountry that this village was pronounced De La Bolé as if it was the very centre of French sophistication. It’s actually Dellerbowl.

Trewoon
Some say Tre-woon, others say Tre-win for this village near St Austell. It should actually be pronounced Troon, not to be mistaken with the actual Troon in Camborne.

Doublebois
Not the French for two woods, double bois, but Doubleboys.

Launceston
If you’re a proper Cornish person, it’s not Launston or, worse Lawn-sess-ton, but Lanson, with the emphasis on the aaaaaa.

Hewaswater
Not He-woz-water but Hugh’ass-water.

Tideford
Bideford is Bidderford so Tideford is Tidderford, right? Wrong. It’s Tide-ford.

Breage
Don’t get all Gallic again. It’s not Breash or even Brague, but Breeg.

St Austell
Surely there’s only one way to pronounce the town? It’s Saint Ostell, not Saint Ore-stell. Better still just call it Ozzle like the locals.

Chûn Castle
The Iron Age hill fort near Penzance is not pronounced Chun but Tune.

Fowey
Another favourite. Foy as in hoi polloi.

Polzeath
You can always tell a visitor when they say Pole-zeeth. It’s Pol-zeth.

Praa Sands
A contentious one this. No one knows the definitive answer. I say potato you say potarto, I say Prar Sands you say Pray Sands.

Liskeard
You’d think no one could mispronounce Liss-card. But we’ve heard Lis-keer-d.

Tywardreath
Like Polzeath, it’s Ty-w’dreth not Ty-ward-reeth.

Truro
Again, surely you can’t mispronounce the capital city? It’s Tr’row not True-row. If you’re a true Truronian though, you pronounce it Tr’ra.

Roche
It hasn’t got an acute accent on the e, so it’s not pronounced as in Ferrero Rocher, but simply roach as in cockroach, which is no slight on the Clay Country village. It’s not Rosh either.

St Ive
The village near Callington is not pronounced like St Ives without the e. It’s Saint Eve.

Marazion
Not ma-razzion, but Marra-zion.

Illogan
It’s amazing how many people say Iller-gn. It’s I-luggan.

Maenporth
This place can confuse visitors to Falmouth. It’s Main Porth and not Mine Porth.

Trescobeas
Another area of Falmouth to confuse – it’s Tresco-bays as in a Scilly harbour not Tress-co-bay-as or even Tresco-bees.

Dracaena
And another Falmouth tongue twister – Dra-seen-a.

Tresillian
It’s a hard ‘s’ so Trez-illian not Tress-illian like my mother-in-law pronounces it even though she lives there.

Mevagissey
Similarly, Meva-gizzey not gissey. Though just call it Meva.

Luxulyan
For some strange reason a lot of people say Lux-illian. There’s a ‘u’ in it – Lux-ullian.

Zelah
Not Zeller, but Zeeler.

[Bicycle Bill]

Or you could just have the name written on a piece of paper, show it to a local, and ask, in your best American redneck accent, "howinthehell do I get to here?"   

-"BB"-

[Econoline]

None of those "correct pronunciations" tells you which syllable is supposed to be accented.

[Gob]

The Cornish haven't progressed as far as "syllables" yet.