Pronunciations? (Elgin, Howe, Buda: authority, best, rain)

[calel]

Elgin - The g is hard (like the g in gimlet) unlike the soft g (gin, like the liquor) for the famous watch brand.

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by Danbo1957

OK.

MYOU-ler, not MIL-er

Well, THIS one continues! I'm a MILL-er speaker; although, I actually believe it's closer to MULL-er.

BUT...

Even the current TV ad clearly pronounces it: MILL-er

[kiacook]

I don't even know what this is supposed to be:

Bull-VULR-dee

what's the real spelling?

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by Danbo1957

OK.

Bull-VULR-dee

Say what?

[atxcio]

I think it's Bulverde, the major street in San Antonio.

This video has the guy pronouncing it a bunch of times.

Boardwalk on Bulverde - San Antonio's Food Trucks - YouTube

You wouldn't figure on the long E at the end.

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by 10scoachrick

Well, THIS one continues! I'm a MILL-er speaker; although, I actually believe it's closer to MULL-er.

BUT...

Even the current TV ad clearly pronounces it: MILL-er

I'm afraid that TV ads are not a good guideline any longer. Not since I saw one that repeatedly encouraged people to come to their business on "the 183". Don't have a "the 183" here. It's 183, period. (Like fingernails on a blackboard to me, that one is. Needless to say, they never got my business.)

The real authorities on how the airport name referred to above should be pronounced are the family it's named after. Which is as it should be.

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

I'm afraid that TV ads are not a good guideline any longer. Not since I saw one that repeatedly encouraged people to come to their business on "the 183". Don't have a "the 183" here. It's 183, period. (Like fingernails on a blackboard to me, that one is. Needless to say, they never got my business.)

The real authorities on how the airport name referred to above should be pronounced are the family it's named after. Which is as it should be.

Agreed...my understanding is that the Mueller family pronounced it 'miller'; otherwise, it likely never would have been 'mal'-pronounced to start with. As I've mentioned before, on ONE bike ride to Mueller, we had three different pronunciations by three Austin 'natives'(or almost native for one....25+ years).

[Danbo1957]

It is not, never has been, and never will be MILL-er Airport.

Bulverde has interesting word pronunciation. Out in the Hill Country, you'll hear it said by Germans with two "L"s (like my grandmother, native of Comfort), the second "L" softly noted before the "r", almost oriental like: Bull-VULR-dee. Native whites who live in north San Antonio drop the "L": Buh-VUR-dee.

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by Danbo1957

It is not, never has been, and never will be MILL-er Airport.

Apparently, not everyone agrees: (a variety of discussions on the matter...)
It was always Miller, which is very close in pronunciation, with the exception of the final letter R, to the German M-U.with.an.umlaut-L-L-E-R. When a German word with an umlaut comes into English and is spelled without the umlaut, the spelling is the vowel followed by an E (example, Goethe)
Rantor [rantor cxe rantomat punkto com] • 2007.03.09

Rantor, even if the German ü in Müller is in theory a pretty close phonetic cousin to the English short i in Miller, I don't believe English speakers really hear them as particularly close. The former is a close front rounded vowelnear-close near-front unrounded vowel, which means that the two are actually different on all three axes of the vowel chart.

The Catellus site says the airport was named after a prominent businessman and politician who died in 1926. It wouldn't surprise me if his family anglicized the pronunciation of their name as "Miller" while retaining the alternate German spelling "Mueller". Maybe the pronunciation was chosen because to somebody's ear Müller sounded like Miller, or maybe it was chosen because Müller means miller.
Prentiss Riddle [riddle cxe io punkto com] • 2007.03.09

You're certain correct concerning the nonexactness of congruency in pronunciation, but let's just say that Miller is much closer than Mewler and that the surmise about retaining the spelling and using the Miller pronunciation may very well be correct. There was once a miller, or more than one miller, in nearly every earlier community and that's why it's such a common name. Many Smiths began as Schmidts and many Snyders were once Schneiders (or eventually became Taylors).
Rantor [rantor cxe rantomat punkto com] • 2007.03.10


If you’re unsure how to pronounce Mueller Austin, things may have just become a little more complex now that Betty is in residence. She’s the Magnetic Cow from the Austin Cow Parade, and she is grazing on the plaza outside the developer’s information center - by the Browning Hangar and Lake Park. Maybe we should be saying “Moo-ller” now too.

When I first moved to Austin many years ago, I realized that the airport SHOULD be pronounced "Miller" because I have known some "Mueller" families, who all pronounced it that way. But I quickly learned that Austinites (like most Americans who confront the name) pronounced the name "Myooler." So I pronounced it that way. (Of course, in those days, RMMA was usually refered to in Austin simply as "the airport." so it's not like Austinites went around pronouncing it every day.

When we first contracted at Mueller, I assumed the pronunciation was "Myoo" because of local convention. Then I read the blurb about Catellus agreeing with the Mueller family to pronounce it "Miller." Since then, I have tried to force myself to say "Miller." But when talking to people outside the neighborhood, I find myself gravitating back to "Myooler" so they will know where the heck I'm talking about. (In particular, it's easier to explain that I live on "Tom Miller Street" in "Myooller" than try to explain that I live on "Miller" with an "i" in "Miller" with a "ue.")

Arghh. Sorry for the vent, but this has been driving me nuts. Someone please decide it, and if it's going to be "Miller," please tell the rest of Austin.

P.S. On the suggestion for asking a German native, our own resident native German, Hennig, has already weighed in on this thread to say that "Miller" is closer to the actual German pronunciation

And another list:
Austin Pronunciation Guide

[Danbo1957]

Sorry, born annd raised here since 1957. Mueller, the English written version of the German Müller is pronouced MUEH-ler (with no "y" sound). Anywhoo, no Austinite has ever said "Miller Airport", it's silly just saying it.