Definitive pronunciation of Macoun (apple variety)

[Fat Guy]

Is it ma-coon, ma-gowan, or what?

[weinoo]

I always thought it was the first.

[rotuts]

http://www.cooldictionary.com/say.mpl?phrase=macoun&voice=male&q=aa.wav

there are better pronunciation dictionaries but they didnt turn up this time!

Edited September 30, 2011 by rotuts (log)

[slkinsey]

William Tyrrell Macoun, after whom the apple is named, was Irish-Canadian of relatively recent extraction (his father, the famous naturalist John Macoun, was born in Ireland).

"Mah-cowne."

Edited September 30, 2011 by slkinsey (log)

[djyee100]

"The Best Apples To Buy and Grow," by the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (2005) says McGowen.

[Fat Guy]

For what it's worth my wife reports that she asked a farmer at an apple orchard in Connecticut today and he said what slkinsey said.

[janeer]

I have said ma-coon all my life, as did my grandmother born in the 1890s. I have never, ever heard "mc-cowne." Sort of like Green-wich versus Gren-ich. Depends where you live.

[liuzhou]

According to the Oxford English Dictionary it is [məˈkuːn], so ma-coon with the stress on the second syllable.

[Country]

I have said ma-coon all my life, as did my grandmother born in the 1890s. I have never, ever heard "mc-cowne." Sort of like Green-wich versus Gren-ich. Depends where you live.

Ma-coon is the way it's pronounced in Maine, including by the owner of the orchard where I get my apples.

[slkinsey]

This is where "definitive pronunciation" gets to be a bit tricky.

The Macoun apple was developed by the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in 1923 and named after Irish-Canadian horticulturalist and apple expert, William Tyrrell Macoun (1869-1933). We know that his family pronounced the name as "mah-cowne" because his family is still around to tell us that it is pronounced this way (as are organizations such as the Macoun Field Clubs for Young Naturalists in Canada). I imagine that the towns and features in Canada named after John Macoun are also pronounced "mah-cowne." So it stands to reason that the NYSAES also pronounced the apple as "mah-cowne" when they named it in 1923, especially in consideration of the fact that its namesake was still alive. But I suppose the NYSAES would have the definitive answer on that.

If there is any "definitive pronunciation" I think this would have to be it. Nevertheless, it's clear that there is wide variety.

[Fat Guy]

This came up because I always heard "mah-coon" but my wife's family has always said "mac-gowan."

I now support "mah-cowne" as the most compelling pronunciation.

[weinoo]

I'm gonna start eating Gravenstein's.

[Country]

This came up because I always heard "mah-coon" but my wife's family has always said "mac-gowan."

I now support "mah-cowne" as the most compelling pronunciation.

Elitist.

[janeer]

I'm gonna start eating Gravenstein's.

Excellent choice, if you can find them.

Do you pronounce that Grave-insteen, grav-in-steen, or grav-en-stein??