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There seems to be two (main) ways of pronouncing "Los Angeles":

  1. Los An-jel-eeze
  2. Los An-jel-ess

It's clearly Spanish, and my limited Spanish skills suggest option 2, but I've heard many people use option 1 (including commercial aircraft pilots over the intercom).

Which is "correct"?

Update:

In the classic 1938 movie Double Indemnity, at 1:18:00 into the movie, Edward G Robinson clearly pronounces Los Angeles to rhyme with cheese!

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Bohemian
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    For what it’s worth, the Spanish pronunciation of Los Ángeles is the super-simple /lo'sanxeles/ when written using the standard notation of the International Phonetic Alphabet which one uses for these things. Each letter there stands for its own sound, with the only potential surprise that /x/ does not mean /ks/ but rather is more like the sound at the end of Scottish loch or German Bach. – tchrist Nov 23 '17 at 03:12
  • @tchrist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFx6O4r3hGo seems like the last s is silent : ) – Agent_L Nov 23 '17 at 21:56

5 Answers5

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The pronunciation of any word in any language does not necessarily inform the way it is pronounced as a loanword or by foreign speakers. I wager not a single Korean would recognize Hyundai as rendered by Jeremy Clarkson. Place names are no exception. Delhi, Ontario is pronounced rather differently from Delhi, India, which is not quite like the Hindi to begin with. Neither pronunciation you suggest is much like the Spanish, either Castilian or Mexican.

Most all Spanish names in the American Southwest have been anglicized, the small Spanish-speaking population having been vastly outnumbered by Anglo settlers from the late 19th century onwards. San is invariably /sæn/ not /san/, Los is similarly /lɑs/ or /lɔs/, almost never /los/. Beyond that, the changes are idiosyncratic. San Mateo and the Rodeo in Rodeo Drive retain the Spanish stress pattern, but Los Feliz doesn't. San Pedro, for its part, doesn't sound like either the Spanish or the English pronunciations of the given name Pedro.

Naturally, many competing opinions have been voiced about the pronunciations of various places. For L.A., Steve Harvey of all people had a column in the June 26, 2011 Los Angeles Times entitled "Devil of a time with City of Angels' name":

In the early 1900s, The Times advocated the Spanish version, carrying a box by its editorial page masthead that proclaimed the way to say Los Angeles was Loce AHNG-hayl-ais.… The Times' campaign aside, the United States Board on Geographic Names decreed in 1934 that the name should be Anglicized to Loss AN-ju-less.…

While the Spanish version lapsed into disuse, a debate arose over newcomers using an alternative Anglicized version with a hard G — something along the lines of Loss AN-guh-less.

So, in 1952, Mayor Fletcher Bowron impaneled a jury of experts to determine an official pronunciation, once and for all, for the city.… Loss AN-ju-less. [/'æn dʒə ləs/]

But official pronouncements are one thing, actual usage is another. In fact, there is no one universally accepted way to pronounce Los Angeles, California. Former LA Mayor Sam Yorty used a "hard G" and "long E" pronunciation (not unlike angle ease); you can also find one or the other or both in many older films and television shows. Surely the pronunciation favored by a longtime mayor and in Hollywood productions cannot be faulted.

The writer Charles Fletcher Lummis apparently had a special dislike of rhyming Angeles with bees, even writing a poem decrying it. But Bugs Bunny (0:07) isn't about to take advice from Charles Fletcher Lummis.

Will M. Cressy reportedly noted in his 1923 History of California that there were 26 ways to pronounce Los Angeles, all wrong.

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choster
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    "the small Spanish-speaking population having been vastly outnumbered by Anglo settlers from the late 19th century onwards." In the interests of pedantry, Los Angeles was 48.5% Hispanic in the 2010 census. Also of interest, more Angelinos speak Spanish as a first language than English. – kingledion Nov 22 '17 at 05:36
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    As far as I can tell, all of your sources are out of date. You can stream LA radio stations over the internet and I’d be surprised if you ever hear anything other than “ann-juh-luss” or something very close. – Todd Wilcox Nov 22 '17 at 06:24
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    What about Los Alamos? I'm sure I've heard that as loce fairly often (but maybe only from people who've lived there). – Peter Shor Nov 22 '17 at 12:12
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    @PeterShor Yes, Los Alamos starts with /los/ in the mouths of its English-speaking residents. – tchrist Nov 22 '17 at 13:12
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    @kingledion My point is that the influence of the influx of migrants particularly from the Midwest in the early- to mid-20th century remains, and indeed you say Angelenos not Angeleños. – choster Nov 22 '17 at 14:35
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    If "Hyundai" isn't bad enough, he also pronounces "Nissan" as "Datsun". – KSmarts Nov 22 '17 at 14:43
  • Arlo Guthrie didn't take advice from Lummis either. – Michael Seifert Nov 22 '17 at 15:20
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    If Los Angeles is anything like Philadelphia, there are 10 ways to say it and nobody thinks they say it any different than anyone else. – Yorik Nov 22 '17 at 15:40
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    Is there an answer in there? If so, I missed it. – Bohemian Nov 22 '17 at 17:42
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    @Bohemian Loss AN-ju-less is the "official" pronunciation as preferred by the city government, but no, there is no single "correct" way to pronounce Los Angeles. – choster Nov 22 '17 at 17:58
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    Hard G and long E is not atypical of some southwest accents (think Sam Elliot, opening monologue Big Lebowski, for example) – J... Nov 23 '17 at 13:48
  • @J... The opening monologue of the Big Lebowski makes it clear that the narrator doesn't come from Los Angeles. "This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise." I think the mispronunciation of Los Angeles is done deliberately here to emphasize that. – Peter Shor Nov 24 '17 at 13:41
  • @PeterShor Naturally, but lots of people have accented versions of place names depending on where they come from. It's only considered a mispronunciation by the people who live there. Take New-Orleans for instance... which pronunciations are "correct" and which are just local accents. A midwesterner vs a southwesterner vs west-coaster vs New Englander will all say it differently. In Canada we have lots of this (Cal-Gary vs Calg'ry... Toron-to vs Tronno, etc). – J... Nov 24 '17 at 15:01
  • @J... I assumed by "southwest" in your comment that you meant somewhere relatively near L.A. I don't know why I assumed that; Colorado and Texas can be considered "southwest", as well. – Peter Shor Nov 24 '17 at 15:44
  • @PeterShor No, I meant like old-west southwest (cattle and cowboy country, you know). California I generally think of as pacific southwest or whatever. I guess even northwest would apply given where the accent can be found (montana, wyoming, etc). – J... Nov 24 '17 at 15:46
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According to Oxford Dictionaries Online, the British pronunciation rhymes with cheese (as the comments say, it's closer to the last syllable of Hercules), while the American pronunciation does not; rather, it nearly rhymes with scandalous (or maybe evangelist).

Peter Shor
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Well, the Spanish is like "Lows-Ahn-hell-ace" (pronounced like those English words, except Ahn which is not a word).

But no one in LA (except native Spanish speakers, perhaps) says that while speaking in English. Most Angelenos say "Loss Ann-gel-ess " or "Loss Ann-gel-uss".

Logophile
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    You're pronounciation for Spanish is a little off. Just compare it to this one. – Ian Nov 22 '17 at 08:21
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    Thanks. Yes, I know. I was trying to approximate it as closely as I could with sounds/words in English. So no "kh" for example. Also the Lows in English ends with a z sound whereas in Spanish it would be more like Loce, but then that isn't a word and would require another pronunciation guide. – Logophile Nov 22 '17 at 08:32
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    I might have sounded harsh. I hope you did not take it offensively. Providing the link I merely wanted to point out the limited capability of English words to give a pronounciation guide for other languages. – Ian Nov 22 '17 at 08:45
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    No offense at all. The point is a good one to make that the "wordlets" I put together are no official Spanish pronunciation (Of which, there can be multiple flavors anyway) but just to distinguish that clealry from the usual spoken forms in English. – Logophile Nov 22 '17 at 08:52
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    Please use standard IPA notation for all pronunciations here. "Spelling" pronunciations are at best confusing and misleading and ambiguous. For example, in IPA the Spanish pronunciation is /lo'sanxeles/, which is nearly as easy as it gets. – tchrist Nov 23 '17 at 03:05
  • @tchrist Indeed, that’s neat and easy. Thanks for the link. I’m going to have to figure out how to input this with a keyboard! – Logophile Nov 23 '17 at 06:46
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    Thank you for not using IPA. It's pronounced "Loss Ann-gel-uss". @tchrist - low san exle ees? eh, wut? – Mazura Nov 23 '17 at 17:51
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    @Mazura You must use IPA if you expect anybody to know what you're talking about. You cannot use English "spelling pronunciations" not only because the mapping between English spelling and English pronunciation is many-to-many, but also because different people say the same word differently. Now compound that with a billion speakers worldwide and you can see why it is hopeless to use fake spelling pronunciations. If you expect anybody to know what you're talking about who isn't your identical twin then you have to use IPA. We have a worldwide audience here. Go look up IPA if you don't know it. – tchrist Nov 23 '17 at 20:06
  • @Mazura We're a site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English-language enthusiasts. If you can't handle standard notation, then that's something you should work on; don't complain about professional notation on a site such as ours. If you want Yahoo Answers, you know where to find it. Notice how even Wikipedia uses IPA. Do you understand why? – tchrist Nov 23 '17 at 20:08
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    @tchrist - "IPA notation is indecipherable to the majority of users... I'd suggest that people shouldn't be discouraged from using "spelling" pronunciation, merely encouraged to add IPA." - "Is there a meta post to refer to, for general policy?" – Mazura Nov 23 '17 at 20:25
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    @Mazura It's not "indecipherable to the majority of users". The majority of users are not untrained Americans, who are the only ones who aren't taught IPA. The whole world learning English uses IPA to learn it by, just as they use IPA to learn every other language by. Monoglot Americans who've never studied any language at all (or else they'd have learned this) and who can't be bothered to look symbols up in a trivial dictionary key—which they all have—are only disadvantaged by their own unwillingness to lift a finger to learn. We should not use spelling pronunciations here, AT ALL. – tchrist Nov 24 '17 at 00:26
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As someone born and raised in California (albeit about 7 hours north), I have never heard the /iz/ pronunciation from a local (unless, perhaps, as a jest).

I normally hear /ləs/ or /ɛs/ (without stress), or just "L.A." (/ɛl eɪ/). Due to different stress, the /ɛs/ pronunciation is normally closer to "-ness" (e.g., in "business", "kindness") than to "mess".

I don't know how it's pronounced elsewhere, but I tend to go for the local pronunciation as the default "correct" one for place names unless there's a reason to go with a non-local pronunciation.

Soron
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  • +1 for just "L.A." If only everything were that simple. By the way, is "ness" in "business" really pronounced the same as in "kindness"? – Mr Lister Nov 22 '17 at 11:34
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    @Mr Lister: I pronounce the ness in "business" and "kindness" the same way I pronounce the nis in "tennis". And the American Heritage Dictionary does as well. – Peter Shor Nov 22 '17 at 11:54
  • @MrLister I'd have to think about whether the "-ness" is pronounced the same, but in my accent/(native) dialect either of them seems like a reasonable analogue for the ending of "Los Angeles". – Soron Nov 22 '17 at 15:10
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    Please use standard IPA notation for all pronunciations here. "Spelling" pronunciations are at best confusing and misleading and ambiguous. – tchrist Nov 23 '17 at 03:05
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    @tchrist - and IPA notation is indecipherable to the majority of users... I'd suggest that people shouldn't be discouraged from using "spelling" pronunciation, merely encouraged to add IPA. I upvoted this answer yesterday; on returning to it now I have no idea what it's trying to say. – AndyT Nov 23 '17 at 14:21
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    I originally chose to match the questioner's spelling pronunciation, since it appeared unambiguous enough in context. Is there a meta post to refer to, for general policy? If not, it might be worth having one? – Soron Nov 23 '17 at 14:29
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It depends on what you want it to rhyme with.

From "Coming Into Los Angeles" by Arlo Guthrie:

"Coming into Los Angeles,

Bringing in a couple of keys,

Don't touch my bags if you please,

Mr. Customs man."

It really doesn't work very well if you rhyme with "mess".

WhatRoughBeast
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