There is but one piece of advice which applies every time: If you see a place-name in the UK with what appears to be French spelling, rest assured it will not be pronounced anything like a reasonable person would expect it to, so be very wary. How Do You Pronounce Words With French Spelling In The UK?

Of course there had to an exception, but as far as I know, it’s the only one in this category. While this almost always true, there is one exception I know of: Cirencester.Ĭirencester – sirensester. When you know to just ignore the ‘-ce-’, the pronunciation suddenly becomes self-explanatory. Listen to these audio files: Lei cester, Glou cester, Wor cester, Tow cester, and Bi cester.

The basic rule is that you leave the ‘-ce-’ out. The ‘-er’ at the end of these names is always pronounced like a neutral vowel – that is simple enough. In the UK, all place names ending in ‘-caster’, ‘-cester’, ‘- eter’ and ‘-chester’ are derived from the Latin word ‘castra’ which means a fort or a military town.

How Do You Say Leicester, Gloucester, Worcester, Towcester And Bicester?

How to you pronounce plekanec