I have tended to think of myself as something of an expert on the pronunciation of the name ‘Shrewsbury’, since this was my home town from when we moved there when I was aged 5. But recently I have come to feel that my old rules of thumb (based on where the speaker came from and what their social class was) don’t seem to work any more. I used to find that people who didn’t know the place often pronounced it /ʃruːzbri/, but when it was pointed out to them that the “correct” pronunciation was /ʃrəʊzbri/ they accepted this and adopted it instead. British broadcasters would sometimes “correct” each other if one of them used the /uː/ pronunciation. People claim historical evidence in support of the /əʊ/ pronunciation: I have a copy of Christopher Saxton’s 1577 map of Shropshire where you can see that the spelling of his time was Shrowesburye, but this fact, though interesting, is of little or no use in deciding what is the contemporary pronunciation.
I found it interesting to read the Wikipedia article on Shrewsbury. In the opening paragraph it gives the two pronunciations (citing the /əʊ/ pronunciation before the /uː/ one), but also gives a link to a very interesting article that appeared in in the Shropshire Star a few years ago – you can find it here. Apparently there was a big argument on Facebook at the time, which I clearly missed.
One factor that does still seem current is that local people at the lower end of the social scale tend to omit the /r/ in ‘Shrew-’ and pronounce the name /ʃuːzbri/. This is mentioned in the Talk page (under ‘Pronunciation') of the WP Shrewsbury article here.
Recently I have had comments, when I have used the /əʊ/ pronunciation, from people who find my version funny. When I protest that I grew up there, I find that that doesn’t cut much ice, and I’m told that “nobody says /ʃrəʊzbri/ any more”. I realize that the situation is quite similar to that of Marlborough. Traditionally, the pronunciation of this town in Wiltshire is /mɔːlbrə/. If you look at the Wikipedia article on Marlborough you will find the two pronunciations /mɔːlbrə/ and /mɑːlbrə/. As long as I can remember, I have known that the “correct” pronunciation is the one with /ɔː/, yet I have always felt reluctant to use that because it felt to me old-fashioned and posh. I realize that /ʃrəʊzbri/ has become the old-fashioned and posh pronunciation, too.
One factor that does still seem current is that local people at the lower end of the social scale tend to omit the /r/ in ‘Shrew-’ and pronounce the name /ʃuːzbri/. This is mentioned in the Talk page (under ‘Pronunciation') of the WP Shrewsbury article here.
Recently I have had comments, when I have used the /əʊ/ pronunciation, from people who find my version funny. When I protest that I grew up there, I find that that doesn’t cut much ice, and I’m told that “nobody says /ʃrəʊzbri/ any more”. I realize that the situation is quite similar to that of Marlborough. Traditionally, the pronunciation of this town in Wiltshire is /mɔːlbrə/. If you look at the Wikipedia article on Marlborough you will find the two pronunciations /mɔːlbrə/ and /mɑːlbrə/. As long as I can remember, I have known that the “correct” pronunciation is the one with /ɔː/, yet I have always felt reluctant to use that because it felt to me old-fashioned and posh. I realize that /ʃrəʊzbri/ has become the old-fashioned and posh pronunciation, too.
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