Barclay's Bank
I heard an interview with the CEO of Barclay's last night. He pronounces the name as written, with the last syllable rhyming with daze. I have alwas pronounced Barclay like Berkeley (Square, not University), with the last syllable of Barclay's rhyming with seize, and that's how the interviewer from the BBC pronounced it.But the CEO should know, right? Perhaps even the CEO should determine the pronunciation. If he says Bar-clay, is that how it should be said?
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Barclay is a common surname in north east Scotland. I have some in-laws by that name. How their pronunciation would sound to you would depend on how strong their accent was, which might vary depending on the situation.Sometimes it might sound like Bar-clay , sometimes like Barkley. The latter is more common.
As I've suggested before, there's not much difference between the sounds in everyday spoken Scots.
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Berkeley, Barclay, same thing, different spellings, at least in Britain. It's unclear whether the Barclay surname is for Berkeley in Glos or for Berkley in Somerset, though it's entirely possible it arose more than once and both are commemorated. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan_BarclayIncidentally, the group/bank is called Barclays with no apostrophe.
Which CEO was it? They have several for different bits. The Gp Ch Exec is Antony Jenkins http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antony_Jenkins who comes from Stoke-on-Trent, so what you might be hearing is hint of a regional accent. SoT is on the edge between the West Midlands and the NW, and I can certainly imagine a West Midlander saying Bark-laze. If it turns out he is actually posh, or poshified himself at Oxford, then it might be some Sloanish drawl.
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(Hi VinniD, sorry to barge in but can't send you a pm so would the moderators please let this through - I sent him on an unsuccessful chase after a story about battleships, and now I found it and here it is: http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/ev-1880s/ev-1889/sam-hur.htm) Thank you.10
VinnyD I will continue the threadjack and note that that old restaurant spam thread appears to have disappeared, so the makeshift pm system is down. I am now in the area until Monday, and may be reached via the mail that is not merely warm.Back to the topic, lest we stray too far. I'm pretty sure I go back and forth between a "fees" and a "phase" ending, never quite settling on one or the other. I mainly say and hear the word when traveling in Africa, and imagine that has a significant influence on my pronunciation.
I don't pronounce the first syllable quite as emphatically as in some of the examples I found online, for instance here or here, let alone this jarring contribution.
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