Hi all I also grew up in Bristol in the 50s and it was always (and still is as far as I can tell on my trips back) with a T and pronounced Cabut. I think the French pronunciation Cabo is a red herring. He was an Italian and in Italy he is now called Giovanni Caboto. See the Wikipedia entry for a discussion of where he came from and the derivation of his name; it's not clear-cut and he wasn't called Cabot at the time. As far as I can see he had nothing to do with France and Jean Cabot is simply the French version of his name; I can't think why we would want to take up the French pronunciation. Adrian O Beckenham, Kent ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mike Gould" <mike.gould@ndirect.co.uk> To: <bristol_and_somerset@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, January 31, 2011 10:59 AM Subject: Re: [B&S] Pronunciation of Cabot in Bristol > Hi Josephine & Polly, > > How interesting ! I grew up in Bristol in the '50's and, at that time, > never heard it pronounced without the T. It was always Cabot's Tower. It > was only in later years that I heard it pronounced Cabo, and so assumed > that > some learned person had decided that Cabo was truer to the original > pronunciation. (We also said that Boadicea was the person on our coins, > but > that's another story). > > Best wishes, > > Mike Gould > Leicestershire, but born & bred in Bristol > > -----Original Message----- > From: bristol_and_somerset-bounces@rootsweb.com > [mailto:bristol_and_somerset-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Josephine > Jeremiah > Sent: 31 January 2011 10:30 > To: bristol_and_somerset@rootsweb.com > Subject: Re: [B&S] Pronunciation of Cabot in Bristol > > On Mon, 31 Jan 2011 09:48:14 -0000, Polly Rubery <polly@rowberry.org> > wrote: > >> I have never heard it pronounced with the "T" - it was always Cabo' when >> I was growing up and going to school in Bristol. > > Thanks for this, Polly, because it was exactly what I thought! > > But then I did go to the same primary school as you:-) > > What brought about my query was that I was in Wales yesterday discussing > shopping in Bristol. I said that I had never been to the Galleries in > Bristol and relatives told me about the new shopping centre at Cabot > Circus, which they had visited. The word Cabo' tripped off my tongue, but > they said it was called Cabot with a t. So I began to wonder. Like you, > I'd always pronounced Cabot without the t. > > I realize though, that spelling and pronunciation does change over the > years. (Even the spelling of realize, which I have just used.) > > Josephine > > -- > Josephine Jeremiah > www.ianandjo.dsl.pipex.com > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > BRISTOL_AND_SOMERSET-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > BRISTOL_AND_SOMERSET-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

On Mon, 31 Jan 2011 11:41:15 -0000, Adrian Olsen <adrian1@waitrose.com> wrote: > I also grew up in Bristol in the 50s and it was always (and still is as > far as I can tell on my trips back) with a T and pronounced Cabut. On Mon, 31 Jan 2011 12:38:43 -0000, Dave Napier <dave.napier@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote: > I suspect Cabo had a limited period of popularity in the 50's/early 60's > due to the efforts of a small number of middle class teachers to whom > 'Cabo' > appealed ... On Mon, 31 Jan 2011 14:01:46 -0000, Edna Marlow <liverpud-49@rogers.com> wrote: > "Giovanni Caboto" Venetian navigator & explorer -- why don't we forget > those spellings/pronounciation and call him by the name he was given in > Italy... That would solve it. Adrian, Dave and Edna, thanks for your responses in the Cabot thread. Dave's 'Cabutt' wiv d' T sounded from d' backuv d' froat radder dan d' front of d' mouf wiv d' teeff .. witch was reserved fur d' tower bit' certainly made me smile as I rolled this sentence around my tongue. Josephine -- Josephine Jeremiah www.ianandjo.dsl.pipex.com