I tend to say "kah-YO-tee" after Wile E. Coyote of Bugs Bunny fame. I've also heard "KAH-yoat", and out west, there seems to be some preference for "KAH-yoot".
How does everyone else pronouce it, and can we figure out if there is a geographical pattern to the favoured pronunciation?
everyone in these here parts says it the first way.
i think the only place i've ever heard it the other way is in movies, usually uttered by the stereotypically tangle-bearded shotgun-totin' tobasco-spittin' mountain men.
In eastern Canada I have only heard the first pronunciation, while in British Columbia (west coast) it was close to 50-50.
i had absolutely no idea there were tangle-bearded shotgun-totin' tobasco-spittin' mountain men in Vancouver. neat!
Dear bridget96: do your mountain men use tabasco on mountain oysters?
mountain oystersdear bill:
i feel confident in assuming that's some sort of ribald play on words, but as usual i'm too feebleminded to grasp the meaning. please, explain?
~b
Oh, b96... you clearly don't know what you've gotten yourself into...
[bowed-head-shaking emoticon]
Oh, b96... you clearly don't know what you've gotten yourself into...
Well, in order to get Dr Bill's mind on a higher plane, let's switch subjects. Let's talk about orchids! Orchids derive their name from - oh, nuts! We're right back in the gutter!
Having loved in the Southwest in times past, I often heard the word pronounced just as it's spelled, i.e. Koy-Oat-Ay, which is probably closer to the Spanish pronunciation.
Oh, b96... you clearly don't know what you've gotten yourself into...just in case anyone's tempted to explain, please note that i've already received numerous PM's... and i'm most definitely wishing i hadn't asked! yuck
hoosh is sounding tastier by the minute....
Having loved in the Southwest in times past
too much information, Geoff.
Oops, there's a typo - or maybe a Freudian slip - in my last post. I meant to say, "Having lived," not having loved!
I need a proofreader!!! Or a girlfriend. Or a shrink. Or a brain...
Orchids on the table in the center piece. A nice avocado salad for starters.
Bridget,
Actually, they latte sucking granola crunchers.
latte sucking granola crunchers
But if they're drinking breve grandes they get points for oxymoronicity.
In Michigan, it's "ky-YO-tee."
I think i would say Kigh (to rhyme with high) yoat (to rhyme with goat)
but I might sometimes say kigh yoat ee -- I am not sure which i would say-- i think it might be "reflective" and I might mirror what is being said to me. Its not often some one in NY would need to generate a sentence with Coyote in it -- but there was a big news story 2 years ago, when a coyote from upstate came down to visit the big city-- he was found in one of the local parks..
Several Native American Nations call Coyote "The Trickster"
The posts above confirm my respect for the Native Americans' insight.
wow
And no matter how you pronounce it, they have spread very widely in the past fifty years, becoming a problem for people who have pets and livestock killed by them. An animal control officer told my wife that only a few hundred yards from her sheep fold there was a coyote den, with over a dozen pet collars outside it. But since they also eat the mice that are part of the Lyme Disease chain, they are not all bad.
"Several Native American Nations call Coyote 'The Trickster'"
Certain Native American *anthropologists* may call him "Trickster;" one Native American nation called him "coyotl."
Coy, but true.
Hmm. French version
COY (as in the yiddish OY with a C)
otte (pronounced like the word ought)
Did Tony Hillerman get it wrong then?
wow