How do you say Alsea?
Photo above courtesy Gary Halvorson, Oregon State Archives By David Walker KVAL News and Mark Furman KVAL.comALSEA, Ore. -- How do you say Alsea? MultimediaRelated ContentKVAL News mentioned the town southeast of Philomath -- which shares a name with a river, a waterfall and other geographic features -- on TV on March 3 and pronounced the name "all-sea" "Everytime it's on the news," an e-mail to the newsroom read, "you guys mispronounce it. It's not ALL-sea. It's AL-sea." You don't say. "Like a guy named 'Al' - Alsea!" the viewer wrote. "This is just as annoying as some idiot saying Ory-gone!" Well doggone, how do you say Alsea? A broadcast pronounciation guide to Oregon place names indicates "ahl-SEE," like totally sea, not like Mr. Al C. But this is Oregon, where Coquille can be both Co-kwell or Co-keel at the same time, and where a mountain named for Enoch Stein can be Steens Mountain but a rock pillar named for the same man a few counties over shows up as "Steins" on maps. Don't even get started on that Baker City versus Baker and back again business ... So: ALL-sea or AL-sea? KVAL News decided to call some people who should know. The first call was to the Port of Alsea where we we were quickly told it was AL-SEA. "We say Al-sea. Al-sea. A-L-S-E-A." The next call was to a business on the Alsea Highway. The woman who answered the phone assured us it is pronounced Al-sea. "It's AL-SEA," she said. "I've lived here for 50 years and it's AL-SEA. Now you can tell all the folks that that's the way it's pronounced." Our third call, to another business, brought a different response. "It's ALL--SEA!" she said. Come again? "ALL-SEA. IT'S ALL-SEA." Another call went to the AL-SEA column. "You're talking to somebody with an English accent so I'm probably not right either way," the survey respondent answered. "I use AL-SEA." Of the 5 pone calls we made, 3 people said it is pronounced AL-SEA, 1 told us it is ALL-SEA, and one answered by hanging up the phone. So in spite of the pronunciation guide, KVAL News has decided to go with "AL-SEA," mmm'kay? |
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February 9, 2012
- Roseburg, Oregon
