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POLL: How do you pronounce portage?

How do you pronounce portage?

  • pȯr-ˈtäzh

    Votes: 28 51.9%

  • ˈpȯr-tij

    Votes: 26 48.1%
  • Total voters
    54
Pseudonym

Pseudonym

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Pretty simple question: How do you pronounce portage?

I've used Merriam Webster as the source for the phonetic spelling of the two most common pronunciations. I tried to embed the audio of each pronunciation example from m-w.com directly in this post but couldn't figure out how to do so, despite ChatGPT's best efforts to help me. For reference, you can find those audio pronunciations here:

www.merriam-webster.com

Definition of PORTAGE

the labor of carrying or transporting; the cost of carrying : porterage; the carrying of boats or goods overland from one body of water to another or around an obstacle (such as a rapids)… See the full definition
www.merriam-webster.com www.merriam-webster.com
 
Last edited:
Pseudonym said:
That's how I learned to say it as a boy in Maine.

In deference to its French derivation, and our friends up north, I placed the "long-a, soft-g" version first in the poll.
Click to expand...

I completely missed that this was a poll. I've now cast my vote.

Alan
 
I prefer to use Adirondacks terminology and use the word "carry" rather than "portage". If I do use it, I say POUR-tij, your second choice.

I also note that dictionaries must now use the syllabic stress apostrophe differently from the way they did 70 years ago when I learned about it. The apostrophe always used to be placed at the end of the stressed syllable, whereas it is now apparently placed before it.

Please ignore my tan-JAHNT . . . and portage on with the topic.
 
Glenn beat me to it. In the Adirondacks any and all such overland movements between paddleable waterways are always called "carries" by residents in the know.
 
Pseudonym said:
Pretty simple question: How do you pronounce portage?

I've used Merriam Webster as the source for the phonetic spelling of the two most common pronunciations. I tried to embed the audio of each pronunciation example from m-w.com directly in this post but couldn't figure out how to do so, despite ChatGPT's best efforts to help me. For reference, you can find those audio pronunciations here:

www.merriam-webster.com

Definition of PORTAGE

the labor of carrying or transporting; the cost of carrying : porterage; the carrying of boats or goods overland from one body of water to another or around an obstacle (such as a rapids)… See the full definition
www.merriam-webster.com www.merriam-webster.com
Click to expand...
In the Adirondacks it’s pronounced, carry
 
My early learning was mostly YouTube, and mostly Canadian paddlers. Portahj has stuck with me, but only when referring to a canoe carry. Locations and such are Portij. I've recently begun referring to portages as carries, probably because I've been watching a lot of ADK paddling content.
 
PaddlingPitt said:
I grew up in Sacramento, California, and I knew that the cloth item that one put on their lap was a napkin. When I moved to Vancouver, BC, I learned that it was a serviette.
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Around here a serviette is paper and a napkin is cloth as in "I can't afford to eat there, it's a cloth napkin joint" (in the food service trade "fine dining).

When you pull a section of Paper Towel off the roll, if you fold it and place on the table it becomes a serviette.
 
In West Virginia and the Carolinas, it was normally "carry".

Now that I'm listening to myself, I'm confused. Port-taj? Port-aj? Por-taj?
 
I've used all three options for when you run out of paddle-able water and need to walk your gear overland. It all depends on where I am at the time. In the Adirondacks, it's always a carry. Outside of the region, it depends on which side of the border, or what the locals say when they refer to bringing their gear overland when the paddle-able water runs out!

That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.

snapper
 
Not like a French speaker. But I did learn the word in Ontario.
 
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