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Espeland Posted 18 years ago
Speech & Pronunciation

The word "Greenwhich"

Hello !

There's a question in my mind since ages: Why do you pronounce "Greenwhich" not like "green witch" but like "grannich" ? In other words: why is the w silent and the wide -ee- turned into a "closed" e ?
  

Top answer

It's spelled "Greenwich" (well, the ones I know are anyway). I'm from England, and I pronounce it "Gren-itch", with the first "e" pronounced as in "met". Some people in England say "Grin-itch", the "i" as in "bit".

— Mr Wordy

  • It's spelled "Greenwich" (well, the ones I know are anyway).
  • I'm from England, and I pronounce it "Gren-itch", with the first "e" pronounced as in "met".
  • Some people in England say "Grin-itch", the "i" as in "bit".
  • I suppose I can just about visualise someone with a rural British accent saying "Gran-itch".
  • I'm not qualified to advise on US or other pronunciations.
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7 Answers
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It's spelled "Greenwich" (well, the ones I know are anyway).

I'm from England, and I pronounce it "Gren-itch", with the first "e" pronounced as in "met". Some people in England say "Grin-itch", the "i" as in "bit". I suppose I can just about visualise someone with a rural British accent saying "Gran-itch". I'm not qualified to advise on US or other pronunciations.

As for why
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EspelandWhy do you pronounce "Greenwhich" not like "green witch" but like "grannich" ? In other words: why is the w silent and the wide -ee- turned into a "closed" e ?
I'm sure you realize that this is not an isolated example. Many, many words in English are likewise not pronounced the way it seems they should be pronounced from the spelling. The pronunciat
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CalifJimI'm sure you realize that this is not an isolated example.

But the fact that the "w" is not pronounced. I cannot think of any other English word with a "w" which is not pronounced...why is Greenwhich an exception ?
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The word is usually spelled "Greenwich", not "Greenwhich". Unless you are thinking of a particular example that you are sure is conventionally spelled "Greenwhich", you should stick with the usual spelling.

There are a number of English place names like this: "Harwich", "Woolwich", "Berwick" and "Warwick" are examples. There are also surnames such as "Beswick" (variously pro
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Uk place names often have 'odd' pronounciation.

Here's a good link for you: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A16352381

on place names (including wich ones).
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Mr WordyOffhand I can't think of any examples that aren't proper names (apart from words like "who", "***", "wring", "wrap" etc., but I assume you're not talking about those). That doesn't mean there aren't any, of course.
"Answer".

Duh.
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