Letter: Newscasters need to pronounce ‘Yakima’ correctly

I have lived in the Tri-Cities for more than 40 years. All my life I have heard Yakima pronounced YAK-uh-maw — where the “maw” rhymes with “paw.”

Now, in the past few years, newscasters are pronouncing it YAK-uh-muh — where the “muh” rhymes with “duh.” It is as insulting to me to hear YAK-uh-muh as it was in the 1970s, when telemarketers pronounced it Yuh-KEE-muh.

Newscasters would show the most respect for the community if they pronounced the name of a city or river the way that the locals pronounce it. Yakima ends with a syllable that rhymes with Ma and Pa, not the “u” sound in “duh,” or “butter.”

This story was originally published March 3, 2017 at 9:26 PM with the headline "Letter: Newscasters need to pronounce ‘Yakima’ correctly."