When did people stop pronouncing the hard-G in 'Los Angeles' and start using the soft-G?
I was listening to Old Time Radio channel on Sirius XM last week (playing Dragnet from 1949 or 1950). On that radio show, they pronounced Angeles as if it were An-Guh-Lees.
Ever since I have been around, I heard “An-juh-lees”.
When did using a soft-G become common?
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The late 50’s and 60’s when the influx of outsides moved there.
“an-guh-leez” sounds like something an East Coaster would say. :P
What I’ve been able to find is that various pronunciations, including “an-juh-less” and “an-guh-less” (with a schwa in the final syllable most often, though a long “ee” and /z/ at the end also occurred) were common throughout the early 20th century, until the 1950s when “an-juh-less” (the current pronunciation) superseded the alternatives. According to this, that became the official pronunciation at that time.
Pronunciation with a long “ee” in the final syllable seems to still occur in Britain, perhaps under the influence of Greek names in -es. (e.g. Hercules)
It should be noted that pronunciations of Spanish names in California vary widely and are often not close to the authentic Spanish pronunciation. Consider how you’re supposed to say Los Feliz, San Pablo, and San Pedro (fee-liss, pabb-lo, pee-dro).
I was brought up in LA in the 1940s and 1950s – - -remember the change over on TV and radio. ^^^^
Gee, I just thought they were being inclusive of us : Los An jellies
I knew nothing about this. Why was it pronounced with a hard G? What group of people?
In English the word angel the g is like a j. In Spanish the g is like an h.
Would it be hard G in German? What language keeps that pronunciation with an e following the g?
@JLeslie your comment reminded me of the pronunciation of Angela Merkel, the former politician in Germany. Her first name is pronounced An Guh Luh, whereas we’d pronounce it like the “G” in Angel.
@jca2 Right! The thing is the heavy concentration of Germans is in the Midwest, so I’m not sure. Germans are still the largest ancestry group in the US, and so they are almost everywhere across the country.
Well, it’s the city of angels, not the city of angles. That would be San Francisco. :)
It’s news to me.
But.
I have noticed, that when people have Spanish speaking friends or family, they often mix the two languages. And it really doesn’t mess up the conversation, as both languages are Latin derived…
^^The Spanish pronunciation is An-hel-less. Emphasis on the first syllable.
We arrived in LA in June, 1955 and most of the pronunciations I heard were with a soft G.
Here’s a clip from Dragnet, where Webb pronounces Angeles with a soft g.
It first aired on 2/14/52.
Ah. Misread it JL.
I’m an east coast person anyway, I have always heard it pronounced normally.
Or. I have heard “LA.”
I’m a Raiders fan, and we always called the team the LA Raiders.
Or said it “normally.”
Uh… I never hear either. It’s Los Angelus. That’s the whitest way to say the Spanish name. lol
Well how does every one pronounce “angel”?
I think I’m going to try cross stitch.
Let us know how it goes. I have a friend who does gorgeous cross stitch. I would think that will be difficult for you, but I think they are all worth trying and see what you enjoy.
And cross-stitching is related to Los Angeles how?
LOLL! Wrong thread! But it’s ok!
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