What is the correct pronunciation of Lerwick ?

My friend’s grandmother came from Lerwick and she always pronounced it Lurwick when reminiscing about her life there.

I've always said Lurwick

I live in Glasgow and I pronounce it Lerwick, sounding all the letters. Also I have heard a BBC Scotland newsreader pronouncing it, Lerick.
What we need is a native of Lerwick to advise us. I wonder if there is anyone here on GN?. ?

I would say Lurwick too, but the local pronunciation may be different. Berwick is pronounced Berrick, so he may have been matching it to that, but he should have made up his mind which to use and stuck to it.

I thought this site might be useful, but it doesn't have much detail on pronunciation. www.shetlandamenity.org/about-place-names.

Later - Struck gold - www.dictionary.com/browse/lerwick- a recording, however, the speaker sound a bit "English"

Its a bit like Shreewsbury and Shrowsbury. No one seems to be able to make a decision. I thought the Beeb had decided on Shrowsbury but then Shreeewsbury popped up again.

There is a village in Devon called Aveton Gifford. No-one seems to know whether the G is soft or hard. The general rule in English pronunciation is that if G is followed by an e, i, or y it should be soft. But of course there are always exception, e.g. give, giggle, gigabyte, girl. It's a minefield!

In Wikipedia, it is phonetically written as "/ˈlɜːrwɪk/; Norwegian and Norn: Leirvik", and the key to the phonics describes "ɜːr" as sounding like "NURSE, blurry, Ernesto, foreword" so I would say that Lurwick is the right way to pronounce it (unless a Shetlander tells us otherwise!)

The same page tells us that "Lerwick lies 211 miles (340 km) north-by-northeast of Aberdeen; 222 miles (357 km) west of the similarly sheltered port of Bergen in Norway; and 228 miles (367 km) south east of Tórshavn in the Faroe Islands" - as near to Norway as to Scotland!

@NfkDumpling I live near Shreeewsbury. This is the correct one for me.

Common pronounciation in Scotland including radio and tv announcers is Lerwick but locals and anyone with a connection would definitely say Lerrick. Have close friends from Orkney and they speak with the same dialect.

I have always pronounced it Lerwick but I have never lived there and no longer live in Scotland.

I was born in Kirkcaldy but it is pronounced Kircoddy.

Anybody from Milngavie?

Aveton Gifford is pronounced Aughton Gifford with a hard 'g'.

One of the actors in Shetland is a native, how did he pronounce it in the TV series?
The one who plays Sandy.

Daddima, !

I'm sure I have heard Dougie Henshall pronounce Lerwick as Lerrick, but then again, I may be wrong! I often am.

What about Greenock, being pronounced as Grenock, by newsreaders?

Newsreaders will be saying Grenwich, therefore Grenock.

Charleygirl5 When I lived in Kirkcaldy (1950s) it was more like Kirka'dy. Kirkoddy was a wee bit posher and used by those who had aspirations to talk proper. That recitation about the endless train journey rhymes it with haddy -

Boy looking forward to his tea at Gran'ma's -
"What’ll I hae for my tea the nicht?
A herrin’, or maybe a haddie?
Has Gran’ma gotten electric licht?
Is the next stop Kirkcaddy?"

Here is the rest of it - www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/boy-train/

An uncle visiting from the far south of England did ask seriously in advance whether he should pack his electric razor.

I thought it was Lurwick but will obv. defer to any local. Had a brilliant trip to the Shetlands inc. Lerwick/Lerrick with my mother about 20 yrs ago.

My favourite in the pronunciation stakes is the North Devon one - Woolfardisworthy, pronounced Woolsery!

I've always heard it as Lerwick, but if you use the analogy of Berwick, then you'd think Lerrick would be the correct pronunciation.

I think natives pronounce it Lerrick and others pronounce it to rhyme with Berwick. So I understand from several visits and from having family who stayed in Shetland for some time.

The thing that Northern Islanders find annoying, I believe, is when people say The Orkneys and The Shetlands, when the correct names are Orkney and Shetland.

Daddima, I lived in Bearsden for 40+ years and was always glad I lived in Bearsden rather than “Mulguy” every time I had to give my address to a non-Scot!

There is a fairly douce suburb of Glasgow called Bearsden (pronounced as if bears live there) One day on a radio music programme I heard the compere announce a request for someone in what he clearly thought was a very upmarket area called Bee-arse-den. He may have been related to the car GPS speaker woman who once guided us past that other "upmarket" area, Glen rothes (to rhyme with Glen clothes)

Crossed posts, Niobe!

It also jars when I hear Bearsden pronounced with the emphasis on the first syllable. I wonder how it got the name in the first place. I don't think there have been bears in Scotland for many centuries, if ever - and certainly no 'den'.

Our local one is Coalsnaughton which thankfully is a peaceable place and seldom on the news. Anyway, older local people usually refer to the village as Calibar because most of the residents were miners in the days before pithead baths or PC language