Did you know it's SHEE-uh, not SHAY?

[Deborah]

Yep. I have a number of missionary friends who regularly work in Ghana among several different tribal groups. I asked one if she used the shea (shay) butter for her hair or skin. She just seemed confused. I explained what it was, and a light bulb went on. She laughed and said, "Oh, you must mean shea (SHEE-uh) nut butter. Everyone over there loves that stuff."

Once I thought about it, it made sense. The word 'shea' to us seems like the same word as is used in the name 'Shea Stadium'. But Shea Stadium is named after a person, so it is a person's last name. It is probably Irish or Scottish in derivation, and is unrelated to anything African. So when someone wrote 'shea', they were just spelling it phonetically, 'she-a', which is easier for us to grasp when shown as 'SHEE-uh', as the accent is on the first syllable, and an 'a' alone has more than one possible pronunciation.

Anyway, this may bore you to tears,:thud:but I found it quite interesting. (I'm easily entertained. :rolleyes:) They also say 'shea nut butter' over there, rather than 'shea butter', probably because the fruit is called a 'shea nut', not just a 'shea'.

So, there you have it. :) I hope someone (besides me) liked learning this little tidbit. :o

[LittleOrca]

Interesting, though I am not too surprised. People in the US say things differently and mispronounce stuff all the time. The one that makes me go :justy:is the name of the native woman who helped Lewis and Clark, Sacajawea. Most people pronounce her name "Sack-a-ju-wee-ah" which is incorrect, it's "Sa-cag-a-way-a." It never bothered me before until a native friend of mine told me, now it seems to bug the crud outta me lol.

[RancheroTheBee]

:lol: I was calling it "shee-uh" all along.

[Jeni]

huh, interesting. I love random facts!

[EvaSimone]

I used to call it Shee-uh. Then someone told me it was really Shay-uh.

Liar.

:lol:

[cobblersmaid]

I knew that, but I always say words wrong in my head. :justy:

[Carolyn]

That's very interesting. I love words! I'll never remember to pronounce it the correct way :D

[purplebubba]

There's at least one commercial I've heard recently for a skin lotion or some similar product that pronounced it shay.

[annielauri]

DANG IT!! My mom was right all along??? I have been laughing at her and correcting her for months now.

[berr]

If you think that's bad just compare the way arkansas is pronounced differently (as in the arkansas river) between kansans and people from arkansas.

From wiki: The name Arkansas derives from the same root as the name for the State of Kansas. The Kansas tribe of American Indians are closely associated with the Sioux tribes. The word is a French pronunciation of a Quapaw (a related "Kaw" tribe) word meaning "land of downriver people" or "people of the south wind". The pronunciation of Arkansas was made official by an act of the state legislature in 1881 after a dispute between the two U.S. Senators from Arkansas. One wanted to pronounce the name /ɑrˈkænzəs/ ar-KAN-zəs and the other wanted /ˈɑrkənsɔː/ AR-kən-saw.[4]

[patissegrietje]

:surprise: I always say Shee-uh.
But i'm from the Netherlands and use a lot of dutchisms so everything else i say sounds funny :p

[Chrissy]

I'm surprised Pierre hasn't popped in here. He's great with the language stuff.

[Stacy_E]

Thanks for the clarification. I've been saying and thinking "shay" and I'd much prefer to pronounce it correctly.

[amz1998]

On the same concept, people in the US say bru-shet-ta instead of bru-sket-ta for bruchetta and they say pee-no gree-gee-o instead of pee-no gree-joe. I receive funny looks all the time when I say the latter of each. Servers will say them back to me in the US form, while looking at me like I am crazy. However, listen to a real Italian. You will hear the difference. The ch is usually pronounced as a k and the gio is pronounced as joe. I took a year of Italian with an instructor who was from Rome. This is what he told us.

[Gothic Lolita]

I've always pronounced it the "right" way, but I think that's due to the fact that I'm German and we simply don't have a combination of letters in our language that makes us say "shay".

[Roseate]

Many words get anglicized when they make it into common usage in English- it's not exactly "wrong", it's just language evolving. I mean, when you refer to the French city while speaking in English, you probably call it Par-isss, not Par-eee.

As long as you know how to really say it while speaking French (or whatever African language Shea comes from), I don't see a problem with using the alternate version in English. I've heard both. I think "shay" is gaining popularity, though; as someone mentioned, I've heard it on commercials recently.

[Masara]

It would never have crossed my mind to pronounce it any other way than shee-a. I've never considered pronouncing it shay. I would only think of using an Irish pronounciation on something obviously Irish (O'shea for example) As far as I know, in the UK it is pronounced shee-a, in France it's a totaly different word (karité)

[freznow]

I would have never thought to pronounce it with two syllables. I suppose us Americans just like to shorten stuff. :lol: Shee-uh sounds funny. I'll see if I can get used to it.

[SweetPea88]

You learn something everyday! Now I have to work on getting my brain to think Shee-a...

[Chromis]

Yep, I knew that one!

Coincidentally, Shea Stadium's pronounciation seems odd to me, but I'm not from the East Coast nor am I a sports fan (They play baseball in that one right?). I'm quite puzzled as to how you get SHAY out of Shea, I would think if you were going to butcher it, it would be SHEE

[Forever_Sophie]

Cool, thanks for sharing that!!

[Sissy]

I didn't know that... wow, learn something new everyday :)

[Coriander]

It's very interesting how words have different pronunciations depending on where we are in the world.

Thanks for this :)

[Ndnlady]

Thanks for the info!:) I have been pronouncing it "shay" all this time too!

[Flaxen]

That is cool, and I thank you for telling us! I'll will be adding it to the correct pronunciations of words I've gotten wrong like sauna - it's sow-nuh, not saw-nuh! :lol:

[Aisha25]

That is cool, and I thank you for telling us! I'll will be adding it to the correct pronunciations of words I've gotten wrong like sauna - it's sow-nuh, not saw-nuh! :lol:
No way I always thought it was saw-nuh I never heard that other way before:lol: good to know thanks;)

[rose_in_bloom]

Ahh, thanks for the info! I had being saying it shay all these years. Silly me...:)

[spidermom]

Very interesting. I like to be correct whenever possible. DH and I went to Belize a few years ago. We pronounced it "BAY-leez." The locals laughed at us. They said "Bailey's is a drink!" They pronounce it "buh-LEEZ".

[Flaxen]

No way I always thought it was saw-nuh I never heard that other way before:lol: good to know thanks;)

Ooh, here's another one. Karaoke is not carry-okie, it's cah-rah-okay. ;)
/hijack

[Aisha25]

Ooh, here's another one. Karaoke is not carry-okie, it's cah-rah-okay. ;)
/hijack
Oh my goodness really? I never ever heard the right way then you are blowing my mind today Flaxen:lol:

[Pierre]

I'm surprised Pierre hasn't popped in here. He's great with the language stuff.
I've been at church (though not since the madrugada! I left around 8 or 9).

I've read (I'm not sure where; it's not in Wiktionary or Wikipedia) that it's from a word "shétoulou". In French it's called "karité". I don't remember what language it's from, but it's entirely possible that different languages have different forms of "shétoulou".

Quiztion: what is the most common English word of Wolof origin?

Another word that is commonly mispronounced is "Genghis". The first G is as in "gemstone", not "get". It's a "ch" in Mongolian.

[mira-chan]

Ooh, here's another one. Karaoke is not carry-okie, it's cah-rah-okay. ;)
/hijack
Yup, each letter is pronounced in Japanese. Sake is sah-keh, not saki/ sakee. Kimono, katana, any other Japanese word is the same for single and plural too.

Moscow is actually Moskva. :D

"Genghis" in Russian, an area occupied by Mongols for a while, is pronounced "Chengis Han". G as in gift.

Good to know about Shea. Jojoba is another one I mispronounced for a while too.

[Aisha25]

Yup, each letter is pronounced in Japanese. Sake is sah-keh, not saki/ sakee. Kimono, katana, any other Japanese word is the same for single and plural too.

Moscow is actually Moskva. :D

"Genghis" in Russian, an area occupied by Mongols for a while, is pronounced "Chengis Han". G as in gift.

Good to know about Shea. Jojoba is another one I mispronounced for a while too.
Wow You guys are making me speak correctly now:D Thanks!! I never knew about the Moscow one either

[Deborah]

PHEW! I'm so glad to see that there are others who find this sort of thing interesting. Thanks for responding! :flowers:

[Ash]

Good to know :) I had someone "correct" me to try to get me to pronounce shea "shay" For some reason it nauseates me to pronounce it that way, and I prefer the correct way. Also, the name Rhea isn't pronounced Rhay, so why would shea be different.

[LutraLutra]

Ooh, all interesting stuff. Thanks for posting.

[Wind Dragon]

That is cool, and I thank you for telling us! I'll will be adding it to the correct pronunciations of words I've gotten wrong like sauna - it's sow-nuh, not saw-nuh! :lol:

Heh. That's actually still a not-quite-right approximation to an American ear. Finnish is another one where each letter is pronounced. Slow it waaaay down and you get something more like sah-oo-nah. Then run it together faster and you get how it really should sound.

When I went there in my teens, I remember my host mother having a terrible time with the English word "soup." Pronouce the letters individually the way you do in Finnish, speed 'em up and you get something that sounds more like the English word "soap." :D

[Flaxen]

Slow it waaaay down and you get something more like sah-oo-nah. Then run it together faster and you get how it really should sound.
Yes! That's a much better way of writing it, and it is how I say it. :agree:

[ktani]

It also depends on where you are and who you are talking to. In London England, I went to buy a gift for some friends, who like apricot brandy.

I asked for aapricot brandy at a store. The salesman looked confused until he then said "Oh you mean aypricot" brandy, lol.

[Pierre]

Good to know :) I had someone "correct" me to try to get me to pronounce shea "shay" For some reason it nauseates me to pronounce it that way, and I prefer the correct way. Also, the name Rhea isn't pronounced Rhay, so why would shea be different.
There are moa words where that came from ;)

Heh. That's actually still a not-quite-right approximation to an American ear. Finnish is another one where each letter is pronounced. Slow it waaaay down and you get something more like sah-oo-nah. Then run it together faster and you get how it really should sound.
"sow-nuh" is ambiguous, because you can put seeds in the ground, and a pig's wife can smell them and dig them up. Putting seeds in the ground is /sou/, and the piggess is /sau/ (and is spelled Sau in German). But "nuh" is definitely wrong for Finnish "na". There is no schwa phoneme in Finnish.

[Starr]

Wow, you learn something new everyday!:p

[Loviatar]

I have been saying shee-uh all along, but a friend told me it was shay-uh. Go figure.

Pierre, 'banana' is a Wolof word I think. That's pretty common!

I am always interested in this kind of thing :)

[Calista]

I say neither "shay" nor "shee-uh", but "Karité". I like how it sounds.

Loviatar, is that a a new avatar pic? Your hair is looking great! :thumbsup:

[Sydney]

I'd like to try some shea butter. Where can you buy it? (I'm in England)

[Loviatar]

Sydney, I got mine from Baldwins online store: www.baldwins.co.uk I think. :) It's made by Laughing Bird.

[Wind Dragon]

"sow-nuh" is ambiguous, because you can put seeds in the ground, and a pig's wife can smell them and dig them up. Putting seeds in the ground is /sou/, and the piggess is /sau/ (and is spelled Sau in German). But "nuh" is definitely wrong for Finnish "na". There is no schwa phoneme in Finnish.

Which of course has everything to do with bathing by sweat. :lol:

Lots of regional variance in word pronunciation, always is, and I don't usually get worked up about however things are said as long as it's communicated, but the shee-uh / shay thing seems really odd. If the former is how it's pronounced where the stuff comes from, how on earth did it take on the second pronunciation before it got to us?

I'm another one who started out saying "shee-uh" and was corrected. :shrug:

[Urban]

I too have always wonder how you get 'shay' from shea. But I guess it depends on what part of the world you're from.

Another one is Shikakai, I hear a lot of people pronouncing it as shi-kuh-keee. It's shi-kuhk-eye, no?

[GlassEyes]

I looked it up online on a dictionary site at one point, and it said it can be pronounced either way.

[Aisha25]

I too have always wonder how you get 'shay' from shea. But I guess it depends on what part of the world you're from.

Another one is Shikakai, I hear a lot of people pronouncing it as shi-kuh-keee. It's shi-kuhk-eye, no?
Shikakai is pronounced shi-kaw-keye so like eye but with a k in front of it:D Its easy

[mooglewoo]

I'll always ponounce it incorrectly because I had a friend who's last name was spelled that way and it was pronounced "shay".

But, I also still prounce jojoba as JoeJoeBah instead of HoHobah. I was raised to say it that way, so that's how I say it.

To top it off, until I heard the White Strip's song about acetaminophen, I thought that was pronounced asseytaminoffen, so I'm not the best at phonetics. LOLZ

[Aisha25]

I'll always ponounce it incorrectly because I had a friend who's last name was spelled that way and it was pronounced "shay".

But, I also still prounce jojoba as JoeJoeBah instead of HoHobah. I was raised to say it that way, so that's how I say it.

To top it off, until I heard the White Strip's song about acetaminophen, I thought that was pronounced asseytaminoffen, so I'm not the best at phonetics. LOLZ
You mean its not joejaba?? Good thing I never asked anyone if theyve heard of it:o

[adiapalic]

I find things like that very interesting. I've always went back and forth saying "shay" and "shay-uh." Perhaps I'll try to start saying Shee-a out of respect to the origin of the butter. :)

[ClareDee]

So it wasn't an invention by some O'Shea family? No way! Next you'll be telling me O'Bama isn't Irish either.
:hmm:
This reminds me of how my mum thought cous cous was pronounced "koo koo" -- you know, with the fancy silent French 's' -- until some people at a deli corrected her. I still call it koo koo around her to be annoying. :)

[mooglewoo]

So it wasn't an invention by some O'Shea family? No way! Next you'll be telling me O'Bama isn't Irish either.

Totally off subject, but I was once at an Irish pub (it was in California) and there was an area called "Patti O'Dining" because it was all outside seating. LOLZ (Patio Dining) for a minute I was wondering maybe it wasn't just a play on words and Ireland was where "patio dining" originated! I;m such a goober.

return to regularly scheduled replying!

[ClareDee]

:D Well I haven't heard that one, but I did once see an ad for some Patty O'Furniture... Considering our rainfall, Ireland is probably the last place patio dining would come from ;)
I'd like to see an Irish pub in the US someday. Is that weird? Like an American person coming over here to have a hotdog? Lol. Maybe that makes me a goober too :p

Anyway, sorry, back on track!

[mooglewoo]

Still OT:
haha You can at least tell us if our perception is accurate!
I have relatives in Ireland and someday I'll go visit. I'd even like to move there, but I don't talk about it anymore, because my family thinks it's crazy. Yes, dreams are totally crazy and should never be pursued :P
/OT