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I’m watching Auction Kings and a lady from Atlanta (who does not have much of a southern US accent) is putting a calliope up for auction. What caught my attention was the way she pronounce it: /kæliːop/ (cal-ee-ope) instead of /kəˈlaɪ.əpiː/ (call-I-oh-pee).

It didn’t stop there either, otherwise I would have chalked it up to it being just her unfamiliarity with the word. The owner of the gallery, Paul (who has a mild southern accent, similar to Matthew McConaughey), pronounced it the same way during several shots of him filmed after the auction, and numerous other times during the episode. In fact, in one scene, Paul pronounced it like that in front of a musical-instrument expert who was called in to appraise it, but the expert did not correct him (I note that the expert did not say the word at all throughout the segment, possibly to avoid embarrassing Paul on television).

Two of the bidders also pronounced it like that as did the owner again.

I particularly noted the pronunciation because this show was the third time this week that I heard it pronounced this way. The auctioneer however pronounced the way I expected.

(This reminds me of when I was young and saw the name Penelope on paper for the first time. I read the whole book pronouncing her name in my head as Pen-eh-lope—and thinking that the girl was unusual because of her strange name.)

I checked several sites (Merriam-Webster, Dictionary.com, Wikipedia) and none of them list an alternate spelling.

I thought that maybe it’s just a case of people hearing a new term pronounced incorrectly and repeating it, but Paul and the gallery manager pronounced it like that several times after the auctioneer pronounced it correctly.

Is there a regional (specifically southern US) pronunciation of the word calliope?

Elements In Space
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Synetech
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    I imagine that they just don’t know how it’s supposed to be pronounced. – tchrist Sep 02 '12 at 00:40
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    If I didn't listen to Bruce Springsteen (Blinded by the Light), I don't know if I'd know how to pronounce it, either. – Peter Shor Sep 02 '12 at 00:46
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    Having attended a school where latin was a major focus, in a public reading, one of my schoolmates referred to an "oo-nee-kway" (unique) experience. – bib Sep 02 '12 at 01:22
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    @PeterShor And I wouldn't know *deuce* was pronounced *douche* either, if it weren't for the Manfred Mann version. – Brendon Sep 02 '12 at 01:42
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    I lived in Atlanta for three years. Down there, you know, they pronounced insurance with strong stress on the first syllable. That's the way they said it, so they knew what they were saying, even if I didn't. Just because it isn't the way you pronounce it in your idiolect doesn't mean that it's wrong. Thinking that it does is unmitigated arrogance. –  Sep 02 '12 at 01:51
  • @tchrist, that’s what I thought, but then why would they keep pronouncing it like that after they heard head it pronounced correctly? – Synetech Sep 02 '12 at 01:55
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    @BillFranke, if someone pronounced your name Bile, I doubt that you would accept it and not call it wrong. – Synetech Sep 02 '12 at 01:57
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    The correct pronunciation of my name is what I say it is, but if your pronunciation is Bile, I'll have to accept it as a personal attack or a speech impediment. A personal name's a proper noun. See the pronunciations for Bottomly and Cholomondy. Calliope is a common noun and is pronounced the way people say it, which is fine if everyone who hears it knows what it means and fine if the uninitiated outsider hears it, doesn't understand, and has to ask "What does that mean?" When in Rome and all that jazz. –  Sep 02 '12 at 02:10
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    @BillFranke, if someone has never seen “Bill” before and pronounced it as Bile or as Beel (i is pronounced as ee in many/most languages), it does not mean an attack, nor a speech impediment; they are just pronouncing it phonetically (just like I did with Penelope when I was a child). Either way, there is a correct pronunciation and there is nothing arrogant about that. Some words have multiple pronunciations, but this one does not. I checked several sites and they all listed just one; and you have not provided a source showing another. (Besides, I never said it was correct or incorrect.) – Synetech Sep 02 '12 at 02:20
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    @BillFranke ~ Calliope is a proper noun. – Roaring Fish Sep 02 '12 at 03:11
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    @BillFranke, right, the lady was selling a ancient, mythical Greek muse. :roll: (Besides, even if I were talking about the proper noun, where do you think I got the IPA in the above question? Or maybe you think the name is pronounced cal-i-ope.) – Synetech Sep 02 '12 at 04:01
  • @synetech If you read what I wrote a little more closely, you'd see that my remark was personal and not general. If you, synetech, called me "Bile", I'd say it was " a personal attack or a speech impediment" because you're a native speaker of English who know very well how to pronounce "Bill" as well as every other word in English correctly. I know this to be true because you've told us all that every word has a correct pronunciation and that you are an expert on this topic. –  Sep 02 '12 at 15:04
  • @synetech I'm a linguist, a polyglot, and a lexiconophile, so I know about things like the various IPAs. If someone not a native speaker of English called me "Bile" or "Beel", I'd assume it was a pronunciation problem, would provide the correct pronunciation, and would accept whatever he or she could produce, not insist on my pronunciation. Sheet, man, that's too demanding and just downright unrealistic. –  Sep 02 '12 at 15:11
  • @Roaring Fish It's lucky that ignorance can be remediated by research and that dissembling remarks can be outed. "Fred and Netherlands are proper nouns, a type of noun that refers to a specific person, place, or thing (Evelyn, Cairo, Saturday, etc.) Common nouns refer to classes of things (cat, trash, stone, etc.) rather than particular ones. All nouns that are not proper are common." "Calliope: 1. capitalized: the Greek Muse of heroic poetry. 2. a keyboard musical instrument resembling an organ." We were talking about the keyboard, not the goddess. –  Sep 02 '12 at 15:15
  • http://www.polysyllabic.com/?q=navigating/nounphrase/proper http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/calliope Both definitions edited because of space limitations. That should have been "not the Muse". –  Sep 02 '12 at 15:21
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    @BillFranke ~ first you said "Just because it isn't the way you pronounce it in your idiolect doesn't mean that it's wrong. Thinking that it does is unmitigated arrogance". Now you say "I'd assume it was a pronunciation problem, would provide the correct pronunciation". You are contradicting yourself. If there is a "correct" pronunciation, there must be a wrong pronunciation. As for the steam organ, do I have to spell out how it got its name? BTW, bragging online is deeply uncool. – Roaring Fish Sep 02 '12 at 15:55
  • From here you will find that both the godess and the organ have the same pronunciation, not surprising when one is named after the other. Confirmed here. You were right. Ignorance can be remediated by research. – Roaring Fish Sep 02 '12 at 16:04
  • @roar I was being ironic, Roaring Fish. I think you have a reading comprehension problem. As to the number of pronunciations of the word, there seem to be different authorities with conflicting truths. If that is the case, then there is no definitive answer. In Beijing, the number 2 is pronounced to rhyme with English "are"; in Taiwan, it's pronounced to rhyme with English "er" (as in "purr" and "cur"). Both are Mandarin Chinese. Which is correct? Only my name (and everyone else's) has a "correct" pronunciation, if you can produce it. If you can't, I won't scorn you. –  Sep 02 '12 at 16:18
  • @BillFranke ~ so, when you are teaching and your student says 'ron' or 'ren' instead if 'run', I take it that you don't correct them, because only names have "correct" pronunciation, and to say 'ron' and 'ren' were wrong would be unmitigated arrogance. – Roaring Fish Sep 03 '12 at 09:39
  • @r I teach them my pronunciation (isn't that always the correct pronunciation?) and hope they can say it. My Taiwanese wife of 12 years always said "ape-ell" instead of [æ pl]. She just couldn't do it. Should I have stopped talking with or listening to her because she couldn't say it right even though I knew what she meant? This discussion is now closed. SE doesn't like long discussions. I don't like fruitless ones. –  Sep 03 '12 at 15:54
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    This is indeed getting autoflagged now for its length. I'd suggest you use our chat instead. Thanks. – RegDwigнt Sep 03 '12 at 16:05

11 Answers11

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According to the section labelled "pronunciation" on Wikipedia, the musical instrument is pronounced /ˈkæli.oʊp/ and the Greek Muse is /kəˈlaɪ.əpiː/.

Oxford disagrees, listing only the latter pronunciation (or something approximating it). Merriam Webster lists both pronunciations for the musical instrument.

Decapitated Soul
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  • Hmm, I saw the IPA at the top of the Greek muse Wiki page, but there was none for the musical instrument. I didn’t think it might be present later in the article (I have only ever seen it at the top, but I guess if the pronunciation is noteworthy, it would have its own section). I’ll chalk it up to there indeed being two pronunciations (though all the sites I checked only listed one). – Synetech Sep 02 '12 at 04:09
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    Ask someone in a traveling circus what it's called. Then find one of the few remaining passenger steamboats on the Mississippi and ask their crew what it's called. You will get two different answers. (And, IIRC, the two instruments are different in some significant ways.) – Hot Licks Sep 23 '18 at 12:27
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I would have said (cal-ee-ope) was the correct pronunciation in English. The Greek goddess would be (call-I-oh-pee) but the pronunciation of the original root isn't a good guide to how to pronounce it in English.

According to Steam Boats, this rhyme is supposed to help, but I don't see how - since you can rhyme it with either me or hope!

Proud folk stare after me,
Call me Calliope;
Tooting joy, tooting hope,
I am the calliope.

Decapitated Soul
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mgb
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    It's supposed to rhyme with both. It rhymes with me in the second line and hope in the fourth line. It's a mnemonic device to help you remember the difference. – Jim Sep 02 '12 at 04:21
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    @Jim, mgb probably meant that because the poem's rhyme scheme is not explicitly specified, it could be abba instead of aabb. – James Waldby - jwpat7 Sep 02 '12 at 04:52
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    Nah, Abba never wrote anything as poetic as that! –  Sep 02 '12 at 07:36
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    @Jim - good point, hadn't read the lyrics in detail – mgb Sep 02 '12 at 15:26
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This is not a regional pronunciation issue, rather it is a professional one. Those who played the steam whistle organ patented by Joshua Stoddard in 1855 - and those who worked in proximity to it, generally referred/refer to it as cal-ee-op (long o). Whether this originated in a mispronunciation of the Greek muse's name or not, it has become the standard pronunciation among circus, carnival and steamboat workers/enthusiasts.

John Shepherd
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    Thanks for your contribution. Could you edit your answer to cite or link to an external source for future reference? – choster Nov 07 '13 at 15:34
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    It's not a mispronunciation, it's a shibboleth. – Gossar Jan 03 '18 at 05:07
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    @Gossar This is the first time in my life I saw someone use the word "shibboleth" in its original meaning. – RedSonja Jan 22 '18 at 09:33
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    @Gossar I agree this is a Shibboleth. In New Orleans, "calliope" is deliberately pronounced "cal -ee - ope" to weed out the non-natives. In the same way, "Chartres Street" is pronounced "char-TER" and "Carondolet" is pronounced with a hard "T" and Esplanade rhymes with Lemondade! – Erin John Levins Sep 11 '18 at 22:03
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I invite your attention to the two pronunciations listed at Merriam-Webster. Unfortunately, I cannot clarify the usual pronunciation of this word in the southeastern U.S., as I did not hear it spoken in 11 years in that region (TN, SC and NC), to my recollection. Nor do I recall having heard this word spoken on the west coast (20 years) or the midwest (10 years) of the United States. I do not think this is a "usual word" in the southestern U.S.! I suspect among music scholars/enthusiasts it is not rare. Is it common in your corner of the english speaking world or do you have more knowledge of musical instruments than others in your region?
I'm sure I've seen the word before, and mentally I pronounce it like the people on your program, but I have never spoken nor heard this word. In looking up the word, I am surprised to learn it is of Greek origin, it looks Italian or Spanish to me. Perhaps it is lack of familiarity with the word that results in the pronunciation listed second in the reference I included...it is also quite possible that I misinterpreted the second phonetic transliteration to be what you describe. We are all the product of our experience, or lack thereof. I see nothing correct or incorrect about that.

Mike
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    I didn't see the 2 pronunciations until I read your answer. Thank you for that. I always pronounce it as if it were the name of the Muse (mid-Atlantic: NJ, NYC). I can't remember hearing anyone in Atlanta using the word while I was there (3 years). I'm not mortified to know that I've been mispronouncing it all these years. If I still were pronouncing subtle as [s^b tl] (I was 9 or 10 then) instead of [s^ tl], though, I'd be downright erythematous with shame. –  Sep 02 '12 at 15:36
  • @BillFranke I had never bothered to look up the word until this question was brought up. It's very interesting to me how we develop our pronunciations. I recall as a child the sense of wonder when I saw in print a word that I'd heard or said before, particularly if the spelling was less phonetic. Likewise I recall the sense of wonder when hearing a word for the first time which I had previously only seen in print. Thank you for the feedback. – Mike Sep 03 '12 at 02:48
  • That’s strange. I too only saw one pronunciations when I first looked at the page. o.O Thanks for pointing it out. – Synetech Sep 04 '12 at 00:25
  • I’ll add myself to the list of people who’s never heard this word pronounced (that I can recall), nor said it myself. I had to look it up to pinpoint what kind of instrument it even is (not a piano? Not a trumpet? Not a drum? Right, that’s about the extent of my knowledge of musical instruments exhausted!). I am surprised at both pronunciations, though—they are quite atypical. I have always mentally pronounced both the Muse and the instrument as [ˌkæli.ˈəʊpiː], retaining the final -η (as is common with feminine names from Greek mythology), but not inexplicably lengthening the i. – Janus Bahs Jacquet Nov 07 '13 at 15:37
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If you look up the pronunciation as is listed in the Webster AND Oxford dictionaries, which are the standards for the English language, they are pronounced --kəˈlaɪ.əpiː/ (call-I-oh-pee)--

I agree with the original posting. The woman from the museum mispronounced it and then the host of the show repeated it, either to be polite or because he didn't know either. It's not a word that you would use very often, it's easy to make the mistake if you guess simply by looking at the world as written. The professional calliope repair man, surprisingly, didn't say a word--- (at least on camera!).....

Also I live in Atlanta and coincidentally in the music business, and I never heard any alternate pronunciation, so I very much doubt it is a local pronunciation.

user67509
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The pronunciation in New Orleans is Cal ee ope....I was schooled when I moved there that Calliope Street was not Ca li o pee...of course they pronounce Burgundy Street as Bur gund e with emphasis on the gund....so I guess we cant use this city as a good example for any correct pronunciations! LOL

Carol Milano
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The OED (updated 2016) has

Pronunciation:

Brit. /kəˈlʌɪəpi/, or /kaˈlʌɪəpi/

U.S. /kəˈlaɪəpi/, or /ˈkæliˌoʊp/

Edit to add Lord Kennet's poem that has a parallel with Calliope

I live in hope some day to see

The crimson-necked phalarope;

(Or do I, rather, live in hope

To see the red-necked phalarope?)

Greybeard
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The story I once heard (from an authority on the devices): "Cal-ee-ope" is used for the instruments on boats (the devices were once quite popular on steamboats in the US), while "call-I-oh-pee" is used for instruments in circuses. This is a long-standing tradition.

I'm sorry, I do not have a link for this distinction, but, as I recall, the topic was raised when the calliope was restored on the old Belle of Louisville steamboat. This would have been back ca 1965. (And reading that article reminds me that a distinction of sorts exists between air calliopes and steam ones. Virtually all circus calliopes run on air, but the traditional steamboat ones run on steam. I don't know if this detail figures into the pronunciation difference.)

Hot Licks
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I have to interject here, this is what makes Calliope a Calliope Word, in the sense that it is more commonly read than heard, and reading it leaves you uncertain how to pronounce it.

Francis Norton
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Hi this is a really old thread but I was looking up the name and this popped up. English anglicizes names and words all the time, without any regard to the actual pronunciation. My Godmothers name is Calliope and it's pronounced : Cahl ee o pee

That's the original ethnic pronunciation and apparently the way the folks in the show were pronouncing it, which is correct.

user401352
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  • Unfortunately, the way one person pronounces their name cannot be taken as a general guide to the way all people pronounce the name, nor, in this case, the goddess'/muse's or the musical instrument's. – Greybeard Dec 11 '23 at 10:38
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There was an American tank used during WWII called the T34 Calliope, which was named after the musical instrument and is correctly pronounced "cal-ee-ope" as that's a common pronunciation for the instrument in America.

Outside of those usages, it should be pronounced "cal-i-oh-pee".

T34Calliope
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  • Erm...the American T34 Calliope was "a tank-mounted multiple rocket launcher" fitted to a Sherman M4 tank, not a tank in and of itself. It could be compared to the Katyusha rocket launcher i.e. "Stalin's organ". The actual T-34 tank with its 76.2 mm main gun was a fearsome Russian beast designed by Mikhail Koshkin and introduced to the Western battlefield in 1940. Panzer drivers (I-IV) were terrified of them. – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ Feb 15 '21 at 19:09