wuputah.musings

Here’s the problem with posting this in text: ˈwoŏpətä. You all know IPA, right? Me neither. Let me try to break it down:

• The first syllable, woŏp, is like whoops, but it shouldn’t rhyme with hoops.
• The second syllable, ə, is a very common vowel sound in English, and is pronounced like uhh as in cup. I also sometime pronounce this syllable as ɛ, which is closer to ehh, as in bed.
• The third syllable, tä, is pronounced as in the first syllable in ta-ta!

Emphasis is on the first syllable, so it’s WHOOP-uh-ta.

You’re doing it wrong if:

• You pronounce utah, as in the state.
• The first syllable doesn’t include the p, and hence sounds like woo-poo-tah.