02 May 2017

How To We Say It Here: KUM-BEE

One of my favorite books is Correct Mispronunciations of Some South Carolina Names by Claude and Irene Neuffer. The WTOC Channel 11 news anchor this morning surely could benefit by reading it. He butchered one of Beaufort’s boundaries, the Combahee River. It is not pronounced in three syllables as Kum-ba-hee! This is one of my major pet peeves.

COMBAHEE
KUM-BEE
Spelling to the contrary, Combahee has long been pronounced as two syllables by folks in these parts.
It may be an Indian word meaning small risings. The Combahee River is formed by Salkehatchie and Cuckold creeks (the second later called Chee-Ha and now Chehaw River) and flows between Colleton and Beaufort counties into St. Helena Sound. (p. 38)

Pick up a copy of Correct Mispronunciations of Some South Carolina Names by Claude and Irene Neuffer from one of our branch libraries today and learn how to properly say things as we natives do.

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