With the history of Latin America, Native American tribes and American expansion converging in Denver, the street names reflect different languages and cultures that have come through here. Most Denver locals agree on how to say "Alameda" or "Wynkoop," and they can argue all day about how they should be saying "Galapago" or "Zuni." At the end of the day, though, most of us are probably still saying Denver's street names wrong...or at least not the way they were originally pronounced.
Here is a list of Denver street names that locals might be pronouncing wrong:
Kalsmath, Lipan, Zuni and Elati
In Denver, the first few streets west of Broadway bear the names of Native American tribes, which was the idea of Howard Maloney, a bookkeeper credited with designing the city's modern grid, according to author Phil Goodstein in Denver Streets: Names, Numbers, Locations, logic.West Denver neighborhoods close to Broadway share streets named after well-known tribes like the Navajo, Cherokee and Inca, and after lesser-known tribes like the Acoma, Zuni and Pecos. Goodstein notes that ever since Maloney chose those names in the 1890s, "Denverites have developed their own distinctive accent in pronouncing many of the Indian streets," in particular for the lesser-known tribes.
"While the Acoma Indians of New Mexico pronounce their name Awk-cuh-muh, with the accent on the first syllable, locals call the street Uh-comb-mah, with the accent on the second syllable," Goodstein wrote in his book. "Similarly, Zuni (Zoo-nyee) becomes Zoo-nigh. There is no agreement as to whether Pecos Street is Pay-cos or Pee-cos."
No one in Denver is still saying "pee-cos," hopefully, because the tribe pronounces its name "pay-cos," and similar examples exist throughout west Denver.
According to the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas, the tribe pronounces its name "Lee-pahn," but Google Maps and Denver locals say "Lie-pahn." A block east of Lipan Street runs Kalamath Street, which bears a misspelling of Klamath, a Native American tribe based in Oregon that pronounces its name as "Kla-muhth."
And then there's Elati Street, named after a part of the Cherokee Tribe from the eastern part of the United States. According to the Denver Public Library, the proper pronunciation is "Ah-lah-dee," so don't let your friend get away with saying "Ee-lah-dee."
Galapago
According to Goodstein, when naming Denver's streets after Native American tribes, Maloney couldn't think of any tribes that started with a G, so he named a street after the Galapagos Islands.Charles Darwin's study of the island for his groundbreaking theory of evolution made the South American archipelago famous. Today, that's how most people know about the islands, which are named after a Spanish word for tortoise pronounced "Gah-lah-pah-go." Most Americans refer to the islands as the "Guh-lop-ah-goes."
Because it's named after the archipelago, the street should be pronounced either like the Galapagos Islands or the Spanish word, but many Denver locals call the west Denver street "Gal-ah-pay-go."
Wynkoop
One of Denver's nicest downtown streets is named after Ned Wynkoop, first sheriff of Arapahoe County and organizer of the Denver Town Company that helped found the Mile High City.He pronounced his name "Wine-koop," but his descendants pronounce his name "Win-koop," according to Goodstein. Denver locals often call it "wine-koop," including Senator John Hickenlooper, who used to own the Wynkoop Brewing Company.
Alameda and Mariposa
Denver has a funny relationship with the Spanish language. According to the City of Denver, over one-third of its 700,000-plus residents are Latino, and the city has a rich Chicano history; but not all Latinos speak Spanish, and that disconnect is written into Denver's street and neighborhoods.La Alma should be El Alma, at least according to the rules of Spanish grammar that slipped by the Chicano activists who renamed it. Similarly, Denver locals have their own way of pronouncing Spanish words used in various street names.
Even if you're bilingual, it would feel too forced to use the Spanish pronunciation of "Ahl-eh-meh-dah" instead of the generally accepted English pronunciation "Al-ah-mee-dah" for Alameda Avenue. The street is named after the Spanish word for a street lined with trees that, in turn, comes from an Arabic word.
Plenty of English speakers know "Mariposa" means "butterfly" in Spanish, but in Denver there's no problem saying "Mary-posa" or "Mare-ee-posa." In Spanish, the first syllable should rhyme with "car."
