FROME has been named the most difficult place name to pronounce in the UK by language app Babbel.
Babbel comprised a list of the top 10 most difficult to pronounce places names in the UK, putting Frome in the top spot ahead of places in both Scotland and Wales.
In the ‘difficult pronunciation stakes’ Frome topped Ynysybwl in Wales (An-is-abull); Godmanchester in Cambridgeshire (Gumster) and Woolfardisworthy in Devon (Woolzery).
Ted Mentele, didactics editor at Babbel said, “British English is famous for some of the most confusing pronunciations on earth.
“Place names can evolve over time from foreign input – like invasions – or from translations that bring peculiarities of pronunciation. Frome (pron: froom) for example, comes from a Brythonic (indigenous Celtic British) word ‘frāmā’ that would have originally been used to describe the flow of the river as ‘brisk’.
“The main reason that these are difficult to pronounce (for non-native speakers as well as anyone from outside the UK) is that they’re not spelled phonetically – there are a lot of silent letters and letters that are pronounced differently depending on where they are in the word, which could be due to accents or slang.
“Many people in the UK, particularly locals to these areas, have grown up hearing these names and naturally don’t find them so hard to get their tongues around. Others attempt to pronounce them as they’re spelled, and without knowing the origins of the word, can get it far from correct!”
The Top 10 ‘most difficult’ place names are:
1. Frome, Somerset, (Froom)
2. Ballachulish, Highland, Scotland (Ball-a-hoolish)
3. Godmanchester, Cambridgeshire (Gumster)
4. Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland (oh-ma)
5. Woolfardisworthy, Devon, (Woolzery)
6. Beaulieu, Hampshire, (Bew-lee)
7. Bicester, Oxfordshire, (Bister)
8. Ynysybwl, Cwm Clyndach, Wales (An-is-abull)
9. Rampisham, Dorset, (Ran-som)
10. Quernmore, Lancashire, (Kwor-mer)
Mayor of Frome, cllr Mark Dorrington said, “It seems that Frome knows how to top a list – we’ve been voted one of the best places to live, most stylish and now one of the most difficult to pronounce. We always say Frome is made differently and this proves it!”
