How do you pronounce Scioto? Cuyahoga? Bellefontaine?

Do you know how to pronounce Scioto? Coshocton? Bellefontaine? I did not grow up in Ohio, so when I ventured to the central Ohio area for college, there were certainly some place names I had to look up how to pronounce. Scioto…. Cuyahoga….Kirkersville...... the list continues. After a google search

Places to Go

SEE ALL

Discover daily

The 1853 Vote That Set Central Park in Motion

Discover daily

The Disney Destination That Turned Evenings Into an Attraction

Discover daily

Why Sea Venture's Name Still Echoes in Maritime History

What is the story about?

Do you know how to pronounce Scioto? Coshocton? Bellefontaine?

I did not grow up in Ohio, so when I ventured to the central Ohio area for college, there were certainly some place names I had to look up how to pronounce.

Scioto…. Cuyahoga….Kirkersville...... the list continues.

After a google search of Scioto pronunciation

I’m left with skee-o-to. As most Columbus residents will quickly tell you − that is wrong.

Looking to hide the fact that you didn’t grow up pronouncing Cuyahoga? Or do you need a refresher on how to pronounce that town with a few too many sounds to say with confidence? Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism has a pronunciation guide for all of Ohio's towns and cities. The guide was first created in the 1950s.

Here are

some of Ohio’s oddest, or most difficult to pronounce place names, from the perspective of someone whose time as an Ohio resident started not too long along.

First, Scioto, arguably the most commonly mispronounced place name in central Ohio. It’s Scioto (sigh-OH-tuh), despite the word ending with an O. The name comes from the word for deer from the indigenous group Wyandot, “Scionto.” The name ended up being shorted to Scioto.

Do you know what the first capital of Ohio was? Do you know how to pronounce it. If you said Chillicothe (chill-uh-KAW-thee) you would be correct. The town is located along the Scioto River, or the sigh-OH-tuh river.

Despite being the name of a county, a national park and a river Cuyahoga is still often mispronounced. The pronunciation guide says, Cuyahoga (kye-uh-HOE-guh), despite some residents of the county saying kye-uh-hoh-guh.

Coshocton (kuh-SHAWK-tuhn) comes from the indigenous word meaning “union of waters.” The Walhonding River (wahl HAHN ding) and the Tuscarawas River (tuss kuh RAW wuss) meet in Coshocton to form the Muskingum River (muhs KING uhm).

Bellefontaine is pronounced behl-FOWN-tuhn, or simply bell-fountain, despite the name's French origins. Similarly, Versailles is pronounced ver-SALES.

Olentangy is pronounced OH-lehn-TANGE-ee, don’t add the word tangy to the end of this river. And Lancaster (LANG-kuhss-tur) is not land-caster.

Other commonly mispronounced places may need a check −or two. This list of trickier towns and places was gathered by The Dispatch from the Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism pronunciation guide.