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 Office of Postdoctoral Affairs  >  Pronunciation Guide
         

 

Puget Sound Area Pronunciation Guide

You'll discover that the place names in Washington State and British Columbia may not be pronounced the way they are spelled.  Here is a little guide to help you sound like a native!

Washington WASH-ing-ton
(note that there is no R in "Washington")

Aberdeen ABB-er-deen
Alki AL-kye (rhymes with "pie")
Anacortes ann-a-COR-tiss
Asotin a-SOE-tin
Bellevue BELL-vyoo
Blewett (Pass) BLOO-it
Bothell BAW-thel
Bremerton BREM-er-ton
Brier BRY-er (rhymes with "higher")
Camano (Island) ca-MAY-no
Camas CAMM-us
Cathlamet cath-LAM-met
Chehalis sha-HAY-lis
Chelan sha-LAN
Cheney CHEE-nee
Chewelah chew-WEE-la
Chimacum CHIM-a-cum
Chinook shin-NOOK (rhymes with "book")
Cle Elum clee ELL-um
Colville CAHL-vil
Coulee COO-lee
Coupeville COOP-vil
Covington CUV-ing-ton
Darrington DARE-ing-ton
Deschutes dez-SHOOTS
Des Moines de MOYN
Duwamish doo-WAH-mish
Elbe ELL-bee
Entiat EN-tee-at
Ephrata ee-FRAY-ta
Everett EV-rit
Hoquiam HOE-kwee-um
Ilwaco il-WAH-co
Issaquah ISS-a-kwah
(Strait of) Juan de Fuca (h)wahn de FYOO-ca
Kalalach CLAY-lock
Kalama ka-LAM-a
Kittitas (County) KIT-it-tass
Klickitat (County) CLICK-it-tat
Makah ma-KAW
Mazama ma-ZAM-a
Methow MET-how
Montesano MON-ta-SAY-no
Mukilteo muck-il-TEE-o
Naches NAT-cheese
Neah Bay NEE-a
Nisqually nis-KWAHL-lee
Okanogan O-ka-NOG-gan
Olalla o-LAH-la
Palouse pa-LOOSE
Pe Ell pee el
Pend Oreille (County) PAWN-do-RAY
Poulsbo PAULS-bo
Puget (Sound) PYOO-jit
Puyallup pyoo-AL-up
Quillayute KWILL-a-yoot
(Mt.) Rainier ray-NEER
Sammamish sa-MAM-ish
San Juan (County) san (h)wahn
Sauk sock
Seattle see-AT-tl (named after Chief Sealth [pronounced "SEE-elth"], who was also known as Chief Seattle)
Selah SEE-la
Sequim skwim
(Mt.) Si sigh
Skagit (County) SKAJ-it
Skamokawa ska-MOCK-a-way
Snohomish sno-HOE-mish
Snoqualmie sno-KWAHL-mee (only 3 syllables)
Spanaway SPAN-a-way
Spokane spo-CAN
Sprague sprayg
Stehekin sta-HEE-kin
Steilacoom STILL-a-cum
Suquamish soo-KWAH-mish
Tacoma ta-COE-ma
Tlingit KLINK-it
Toppenish TOP-pen-ish
Toutle TOO-tl
Tukwila tuck-WILL-a
Tulalip too-LAY-lip
Vancouver van-COO-ver
Vashon VASH-on
Wahkiakum (County) wah-KYE-a-cum
Walla Walla WAHL-a WAHL-a
Wapato WOP-a-toe
Wenatchee wen-NAT-chee
Yacolt YACK-olt
Yakima YACK-im-a

British Columbia

Agassiz AGG-a-see
Coquitlam coe-KWIT-lum
Kelowna kel-LOE-na
Nanaimo na-NYE-moe
Penticton pen-TICK-ton
Quesnel kwe-NELL
Vancouver van-COO-ver
Wycliffe WICK-liff

 

Office of Postdoctoral Affairs, unit of The Graduate School, University of Washington, Seattle, WA  98195
Contact:   pdafrs@u.washington.edu       Telephone 206-543-4836
      Fax 206-685-3234   Modified: 09/18/07