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How do you pronounce Impala?


invertigo

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That says it best, when GM copyrighted it, it becomes a proper noun and can be pronounced any way you want.... kinda like that british show where the family is "bucket" but they pronounce it bouquet.

That's like the movie Joe Dirt where Joe tries to make it sound nicer by pronouncing it "Deer-Tey"...

The thing is, Chevy has badges of Impalas on the car...That would be like me slapping a giraffe badge on a car and calling the car a giraffe but pronouncing it "Guy-Rafe-ee"

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oh, come on...obviously I'm exaggerating :P

But it is similar in that they are both pronounced incorrectly...ok, to make it better, how about changing the G in giraffe to sound like G as in "guy" instead of G as in "jar"? Same thing.

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fine, I'll take back my giraffe comments, and instead I'll just quote my previous comment :AH-HA_wink:

The only reason I could understand saying it the wrong way was if they had some southern accent or something to that effect...Personally I rarely ever hear it pronounced the wrong way...I don't even hear the commercials say it the wrong way, but hey, like I said, if you guys want to pronounce it the wrong way then that is your decision...but just remember...it's wrong! :P

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No, Cowger actually is pronouncing it correctly.

No he's pronouncing it his way.The vote here seems to be pretty even. We could go on and on. There are lots of different pronounciations for car names, Hyundai is suppossed to sound like Sunday with a H but lots of people say Hyundi,I've heard Celeeca instead of Celica and lots of people say Neesan instead of Nissan. The U.S. guys here might not know in Canada we say Zed 24 and Zed 28 and not

Zee 24 or Zee 28, but we don't call the Im-pal-ah the Im-pal-eh! :lol:

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From the commercials I hear it is pronounced the correct way, the way most likely all dictionaries pronounce it. The way it is supposed to be pronounced, unlike the mispronounced, yet widely used version which I do tend to hear, and when I do I cringe and it sends chills down my spine :P

Honestly I don't know what is so hard for you people to understand. im-PAL-uh is obviously the incorrect way to pronounce it, no matter how many people do pronounce it that way, even if GM pronounces it that way, it is still incorrect. The correct way is im-PAUL-uh...I don't care how you guys pronounce it...I could honestly care less...just admit you're saying it the incorrect way and I'll be happy. It is a proven fact but you guys seem to refuse to acknowledge it. :AH-HA_wink:

It's all about proper english.

Edited by Nick
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I don't care who says it how. I don't care if the creator of the impala at the time pronounced it incorrectly, I don't care about any of that. The fact of the matter is, he pronounced it incorrectly. People pronounced it incorrectly then, and they pronounce it incorrectly now. Just because GM says it incorrectly doesn't make it right just because it is their car. They named it after the animal using the exact same spelling. There are no 2 ways around it. Im-PAL-uh, while it may be pretty widely accepted as the correct pronunciation is in fact incorrect. Say it however you want, just know if you pronounce it im-PAL-uh, it is still incorrect no matter how many times you hear/heard it pronounced that way, no matter who you heard it from.

Correct way: Im-Pah-luh

Incorrect way: Im-Pal-uh

And that's the end of that.

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Who the hell cares how you pronounce it anyway?

If Chevrolet says its "Im-PAL-luh" then that's what it is --- after all, it's only the most successful passenger car nameplate in American automotive history.... They can pronounce it any damned way they please...

I'd much rather concentrate on the car....

It needs to be bigger, on the Lucerne/DTS frame...

It needs an egg-crate grille, some chrome on the bumpers and sides, and three round taillights on each side...

It needs a first class cabin, with a true heritage instrument panel, like from the best Impala ever, the 1962....

It needs 3 models only: SS, LT and LS...

Do these things, and this car sells 400-500,000 units per year, guaranteed, at $20-28K per copy, and GM is back, baby!!

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Another regionalism I've noticed is that pretty much everyone in the biz I know pronounces the Java computer language as 'JAH-VUH' while the Canadians I work with all pronounce it 'JA-VUH'.. ('JA' like in 'Jack')....

(more useless trivia).

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Im-pal-uh. Or Im-pale-uh. Either way, one of the best American cars and values now, with pretty decent inoffensive looks and needing only a few adjustments to make it perfect as-is.

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  • 6 years later...

I've stuck w/ Im-PAL-ah, Bon-UH-vill, and Mon-uh-coh

Exactly, I am from Chicago and that's the way they are pronounced there...POIFECT!

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How'd I ever miss this thread?

So I have to ask, does anyone have an audio clip of the name in the original Zulu?

Language evolves.

Language is regional.

That's really the long and short of it.

Being honest, I think that I have heard (and used) both Im-pah-luh, and Im-pal-uh.

My guess would be that the former can be traced to the Brits interpreting the Zulu, and that the latter is American in origin.

So, you tell me what's "right".

Edited by Camino LS6
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Welp... a cursory search shows that the proper Zulu pronunciation would be [im'pa:la], with the I pronounced as "ee" and the two As pronounced identically, except that the first A is elongated. Also, Zulu has no schwa sound, so the English "im-PAH-luh" would sound markedly foreign compared to "eem-PAAAH-lah."

But borrowings are almost never phonetically/phonologically identical from source to target language.

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Locals get annoyed when outsiders say LANcaster instead of the proper LANCaster. From what I understand, locals say "NAWLINS" instead of "New Orleens". So when Chevrolet invents the most popular fullsize family sedan in history, I defer to their "locality" and say "imPALuh".

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Locals get annoyed when outsiders say LANcaster instead of the proper LANCaster. From what I understand, locals say "NAWLINS" instead of "New Orleens". So when Chevrolet invents the most popular fullsize family sedan in history, I defer to their "locality" and say "imPALuh".

And Brits would probably pronounce it 'LANK-ester'. Then there is Baltimore which locals call 'BALLmer' I've heard...

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It's amusing because when I looked at this thread, I saw "Im-Paula" and I was thinking, "Who on earth would ever pronounce it like that?!" Then I read another comment on it depends on the region, and I realized being a New Yawker, people probably aren't saying "Im-Pawluh" like my brain is thinking...

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  • 7 months later...

I try to say it with a Michigan accent to be more authentic. Im-PAALLLA.

I love John McElroy from Autoline Detroit, especially when he says "Autoblog." OWTO-BLAAAAAAAAAAG.

Or Ford Flex: "FORD FLECCCKS!"

Tik-NAAAAAAAL-logi.

Edited by pow
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It tells me that the SS is destined for a limited run. They wouldn't put the Impala name on such a thing. I don't think the Impala name is going anywhere, but clearly, SS is a test of waters.

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