August 1997
Key to Pronunciation
THE PRONUNCIATION of many California place names is obvious from their spelling. In other cases, however, this book indicates pronunciations phonetically within parentheses. Note the values of the following symbols:
| a | as in | cap, bad, act |
| ah | far, father, spa, cot, fond | |
| air | air, fare, there | |
| aw | law, dawn, caught(many people pronounce this the same as the o [ah] in cot) | |
| ay | day, wait, cape | |
| ch | child, church | |
| dh | like th in then, bathe, rather | |
| e | set, red, left | |
| ee | tree, east, eve | |
| er | her, sir, fur, upper | |
| g | as in | go, give, gag |
| i | it, bid, ink | |
| ie | die, my, high; before a consonant, written | |
| i . . . e, as in side, bite, line | ||
| ng | sing, long | |
| oh | oh, oak, own, vote | |
| oo | boot, soon, coop | |
| or | or, soar, tore | |
| ow | cow, down, out | |
| oy | boy, coin, soil | |
| s | sun, case, miss (not the z sound in rose, boys) | |
| sh | crash | |
| th | thin, thick, think (not the sound of then, bathe, which is written here as dh) | |
| u | put, book, look | |
| uh | but, sun, rug; also the unaccented vowel of sofa, alone | |
| zh | measure, azure |
The following phonetic symbols occur in languages other than English:
| ’ | represents a glottal stop, i.e., an interruption of the breath in the throat, as in oh-oh! or in a careful pronunciation of the (’) ice |
| č | like ch in church |
 |
the unaccented a of sofa, appear, alone |
| ï | like oo in boot, but with the lips flat in stead of rounded |
| ł | like English l, but without vibration of the vocal cords; the same as Welsh ll |
| ñ | like ny in canyon |
| š | like sh in ship |
 |
like s with the tip of the tongue pulled back |
 |
like t with the tip of the tongue pulled back (somewhat as in heart) |
The syllable that carries the principal accent is capitalized; for example, the pronunciation of the word Mono is shown as MOH noh.
1500 California Place Names
ABALONE (ab uh LOH nee) POINT [Humboldt Co.]. The abalone, an edible shellfish, has given its name to several places in California. The term comes from Rumsen (Costanoan), in which awlun means “red abalone.”
ACALANES (ah kuh LAH neez) [Contra Costa Co.]. Refers to a Indian tribe of the Miwokan family, living south of San Pablo and Suisun Bays, whom the Spanish called Sacalanes. The term Los Sacalanes was reinterpreted as Los Acalanes in the 1830s. The tribe is now usually referred to as Saklan.
ACHUMAWI (ah choo MAH wee). An American Indian group of Shasta, Lassen, and Modoc Counties; also called the Pit River tribe. Their language is related to the neighboring Atsugewi. The alternative spelling Ahjumawi occurs in the name of Ahjumawi Lava Springs State Park [Shasta Co.].
ACRODECTES (ak roh DEK teez) PEAK [Kings Canyon N.P.]. Although the word resembles an Ancient Greek name, it does not exist in the ancient language; it is a zoological name, coined from Greek akros, “peak,” and dektēs, “biter,” to refer to Acrodectes philopagus, a rare species of cricket found only in the high Sierra.
ADELANTO (ad uh LAN toh) [San Bernardino Co.]. A name given in recent times; the Spanish word means “progress” or “advance.”
ADOBE (uh DOH bee) CREEK [Mendocino Co.]. The Spanish term adobe, found in many place names, refers to a claylike soil suitable for making bricks, to such bricks themselves, or to a building constructed from adobe bricks.
AGASSIZ (AG uh see), MOUNT [Kings Canyon N.P.]. Named for Louis Agassiz, a Swiss-American scientist of the nineteenth century.
AGNEW [Santa Clara Co.]. Named for Abram Agnew and his family, who settled in the Santa Clara Valley in 1873. The name was later applied to a state mental hospital at the site.
AGOURA (uh GOO ruh) [Los Angeles Co.]. Named for Pierre Agoure, a Basque who had a ranch here in the 1890s.
AGUA (AH gwuh). From the Spanish for “water”; the word occurs in many combinations to form place names, such as Agua Caliente (kal ee EN tee) [Sonoma Co.], “hot water” (i.e., hot springs); Agua Fria (FREE uh) [Mariposa Co.], “cold water”; Agua Dulce (DOOL see) [Los Angeles Co.], “sweet water”; and Agua Hedionda (hed ee AHN duh) [San Diego Co.], “stinking water” (probably referring to sulfur springs).
AGUANGA (uh WAHNG guh) [Riverside Co.]. From a Luiseño village name, awáanga, “dog place,” from awáal, “dog.”
AGUEREBERRY (AG er bair ee) POINT [Death Valley N.P.]. Named, using an alternative spelling, for “French Pete” Aguerreberry, a Basque miner who worked here around 1906.
AHA KWIN (uh hah KWIN) PARK [Riverside Co.]. From Mojave ’ahá, “water,” and aakwín-, “to bend.”
AHJUMAWI (ah joo MAH wee) LAVA SPRINGS STATE PARK [Shasta Co.]. Named for the Indian group (also spelled Achumawi), locally called the Pit River tribe, who are native to the area. Their name in their language, ajumaawi, “river people,” from ajuma, “river,” originally referred to the Fall River band of this tribe.
AHWAHNEE (uh WAH nee) [Yosemite N.P]. From Southern Sierra Miwok awooni, “Yosemite Valley,” from awwo, “mouth.”
AHWIYAH (uh WIE yuh) POINT
