Talk:Faneuil Hall/Archives/2017

Pronunciation and pitfalls
The real pitfall in the following discussion is that it's based almost entirely on original research, which Wikipedia expressly discourages to avoid these kinds of he said she said exchanges. What's needed is a reference to a reputable article in an established publication. 2600:1008:B14B:42D1:DF41:B620:C357:75E6 (talk) 08:44, 8 August 2015 (UTC)

Here's an example of the pitfalls of Wikipedia ...

The proper pronunciation of Faneuil Hall is has long been a subject of discussion in Boston. I was born in Boston, and have lived in the Boston suburbs all my life. I have always rhymed it with "panel", and was taught to do so by my mother, who was born in Cambridge and has lived almost all of her life in the suburbs. Both of her parents, born in Boston, rhymed it with "panel." Veteran newsreaders in Boston, including Natalie Jacobsen, Chet Curtis, and Tom Ellis on television and Gary LaPierre on radio, as well as Frank Avruch, Boston television personality, all rhyme it with "panel".

This pronunciation is considered by many to be the only correct one, but younger people often disagree. For a lifelong resident of Boston to claim to have never even heard this older pronunciation, in view of its prevalence among older media announcers and other public figures, would seen to indicate that they have not been observant enough to be credible on the subject. And to completely delete any reference to the long-preferred pronunciation is absurd; it smacks of petty wikivandalism.

The answering machine at Faneuil Hall Marketplace's phone number rhymes it with "Daniel," not "manual," and clearly not "Manuel." Rhyming it with "manual" is uncommon among native Bostonians, but not unheard-of, but claiming that Bostonians rhyme it with "Manuel" is absurd.

Here's someone who agrees: " ... every Bostonian knows it's fannel like flannel ... and no Bostonian would ever pronounce it wrong." http://www.davidalexandersmith.com/movies/QuiAme030416.html Not decisive, but still, evidence that the "panel" pronunciation should be mentioned.

Yes, I am a native Bostonian, and have done business as a customer at Faneuil Hall Marketplace, and I have done business inside Faneuil Hall itself on several occasions.

I have fixed the IPA, but I'm not sure whether the French pronunciation should be:
 * [faˈnøjl]
 * [fa.nøˈil]
 * [faˈnøɥl]
 * or something else...

Can someone

Dave 17:15, May 25, 2005 (UTC)


 * It would be [faˈnøj]. An older pronunciation, now dialectal, would be [faˈnøjʎ].  Kostaki mou (talk) 22:47, 14 April 2017 (UTC)

Why is this linked to South Street Seaport? Besides being touristy waterfront projects, the two don't have a whole lot in common, design- or function-wise. MMZach 12:44, 17 October 2005 (UTC)

I agree with the guy below me entirely. I've lived outside Boston for my whole life and I've always heard it refered to as ['fænˌju.əl] hall (rhymes with manuel), so I'm thus going to change it accordingly. Retroviseur 22:29, 17 August 2006 (UTC) Edit: I think the correct French pronunciation is [fã'nøj].


 * It is quite obvious that a native Bostonian did not write this entry. I am born and raised in Boston, and have never in my life heard the pronounciation "Fanel Hall." The pronounciation used most frequently is a combination of rhyming with Daniel and manual. In fact, it is not only the most common, but pretty much the only way it is said by anyone, be they Bostonian or out of towner.


 * I lived in Winthrop most of my life, and actually worked in Faneuil Hall at the defunct Strawberries in the North Market building. All workers there that I knew, as well as security guards, pronounced it rhyming with "manual." I resent that someone stated pronouncing it this way in the article was clearly a non-Bostonian. Because the statement is not neutral and is in fact biased towards one pronunciation, I will remove it.


 * Although rare, some people in Boston do pronounce it "Fannel". This might have been closer to the original French pronounciation but I'm not sure. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Tjcoppet (talk • contribs).

The problem with the suburban gentlemans opinion is, he is suburban. I am a fifth generation inner city Bostonian and have also worked in Faneuil Hall- The majority of Bostonians pronounce it rhyming with manual. This is not to say that it is the correct pronunciation, just to settle the argument on how most natives pronounce the name. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 141.154.238.18 (talk) 14:09, 10 November 2007 (UTC)

Not that my memory is any sort of legit source these days, but it is burned pretty deep in there that we once had a map of Boston, and underneath "Faneuil Hall" it had "(funnel)" or "(fannel)" (I forget which, but my memory says the former), as they did for help with pronunciation on other things on the map. But for all my life I've generally heard it as "Fan-yule". Doconeill (talk) 20:28, 20 October 2015 (UTC)