As a kid, we use to laugh (behind their backs, of course) at how visitors to my hometown pronounced it. I always knew it as ba-vi-na - kind of turning that long 'o' into a short 'a' and using the long 'i'. It also is often pronounced with the long 'o' in the first syllable - bo-vi-na. This latter pronunciation comes closest to the pronunciation of bovine. Both of these pronunciations put the emphasis on the second syllable.
Visitors often would pronounce it as bo-vee-na. I strongly suspect that some of the other Bovinas around the country use this pronunciation. As to the tennis player, Elena Bovina, I have no idea how she pronounces it.
So my two cents for today. I head to Bovina tomorrow for an overnight stay - my first in about 7 weeks. However it's pronounced, it's always nice to come home again......
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment