成人X站

When the robot voice pronounces the names of local communities in the Puget Sound area correctly, it鈥檚 because human hands and ears are at work 鈥渂ehind the sounds.鈥�

You might remember a big storm a few weekends ago. On Saturday, Aug. 17, the Puget Sound area experienced gusty winds, thunder and lightning, and a lot of rain. It was relatively unusual for mid-August.

 

Anyone who tuned in and listened that night to NOAA Weather Radio 鈥� an automated, 24-hour-a-day service broadcast on a special radio band 鈥� heard the NOAA robot voice giving current conditions and the forecast. But, because of that odd August storm, the broadcast also included a series of warnings about heavy precipitation and possible flooding in specific areas.

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The warnings spoken by the NOAA robot included a long list of local communities in the south part of Puget Sound, including many in Pierce County, Thurston County, and Lewis County. Any regular NOAA Weather Radio listener might have noticed many names of communities not regularly mentioned on non-stormy days and nights.

And a few of those names probably didn鈥檛 sound quite right to most Western Washington residents.

鈥淣AY-puh-veen鈥� instead of the correct 鈥淣A-puh-vine.鈥�

鈥淭uh-NEE-no鈥� instead of the correct 鈥淭uh-NEYE-no.鈥�

鈥淓lb鈥� instead of the correct 鈥淓L-bee.鈥�

It was, for those sitting indoors and glued to their weather radios, as unsettling as the August storm that was raging outside. After all, this is the same talented NOAA robot that routinely pronounces 鈥淧uyallup鈥� and 鈥淪equim鈥� as properly as a retired geography teacher.

A phone call to the at Sand Point on Lake Washington helped reveal the secret. Refreshingly, that phone call was answered by an actual human being who listened to the question, and who then quickly summoned forecaster Johnny Burg.

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Burg told 成人X站 Newsradio that the Seattle Forecast Office has a computer interface on-site for making adjustments to the otherwise automated local weather radio system. As it turns out, helping the NOAA robot 鈥渓earn鈥� to say place-names correctly is a straightforward and simple process.

鈥淏asically, I would just go into the system and I’d go into the dictionary,鈥� Burg said, explaining how the interface includes a place-name database where he can add custom pronunciation information.

鈥淭hen, I would put in an entry and say, 鈥極kay, here’s the word 鈥淣apavine,鈥濃�� and I鈥檇 have it spelled out the way it is, how appears in the text,鈥� Burg continued. 鈥淎nd then I would go into another box, and then try to (spell it) phonetically to try to (help the robot voice) pronounce it correctly.鈥�

Burg says it鈥檚 been about five years since he鈥檚 made any changes or additions to the place-name dictionary for the weather radio system that broadcasts in the Seattle area. He confirmed that the heavy rain and flood warnings issued on Saturday, August 17 are pretty rare, and that many of the communities name-checked by the robot don鈥檛 often come up in regular broadcasts.

Having been alerted to this serious mispronunciation issue, how long might it take for Johnny Burg to help the robot more accurately pronounce Napavine, Toledo and Elbe?

鈥淲ell, I have it written down right now, so I think that’s what I will probably try to do today,鈥� Burg said, clearly aware of the impactful information he now possessed. 鈥淣ow, I know 鈥楴apavine鈥� and I know 鈥楾enino,鈥欌�� he continued, correctly saying both. 鈥淣ow 鈥楨lbe鈥� 鈥� I always wondered if it’s 鈥楨lb鈥� or like 鈥楨l-bee.鈥欌��

鈥淎s you can tell,鈥� Burg said, 鈥淚鈥檓 not from here originally.鈥�

For anyone who wants to go even deeper into local place-name pronunciation, the go-to resource remains the guide originally produced at Washington State University in the 1960s by the late Hugh Rundell.

to download you own PDF copy, and be sure to share with your friends in Napavine, Tenino and Elbe 鈥� or Puyallup and Sequim.

You can hear Feliks every Wednesday and Friday morning on Seattle鈥檚 Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O鈥橞rien, read more from him鈥�here, and subscribe to The Resident Historian Podcast聽here. If you have a story idea or a question about Northwest history, please email Feliks鈥�here.