To Prance Or Not To Prance?

With the aim of making the BBC's news and current affair shows more accountable to the viewer, NewsWatch is designed to connect programme editors with viewer questions of all kinds.

One item I found interesting from this week's show was the issue posed regarding the pronunciation of Port-au-Prince. In light of the devastating earthquake there, the place name has been said many times. But, is it Port au Prance, or Port au Prinss?

Well, it seems the BBC has a BBC Pronunciation Research Unit, and according to their website,

"Our aim is to ensure that pronunciations used on the BBC are accurate and consistent, and our advice is free of charge to independent programme makers producing BBC programmes as well as BBC staff."
So, here is their answer on How to Say: Haiti and Port-au-Prince

"In the case of Haiti and Port-au-Prince, we recommend the established anglicisations HAY-ti (-ay as in say, stressed syllables in upper case) and PORT-oh-PRINSS (-i as in pin)."
So, there you have it! I don't really know why that interests me, but it just does.