7. Places Ending In "Ham"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXqnNokcxlE&feature=youtu.be "Ham" is a common ending in place names, which isn't surprising since it means "village" in Anglo Saxon. Chippenham was the example used in this linguistic trap, but there are plenty of other locations with that suffix. Birmingham for a start. For this word ending, the "h" is omitted entirely and the "a" becomes more like a "u". As a result, the spoken form is more like "um" than "ham". Actually, the way to say Chippenham doesn't stop with the ending. The start of the word has its own peculiar flavour too, just for good measure. Depending on the part of the country in which the word is being said, a tourist might hear "Chipnum" or "Chipenum". Visitors don't stand a chance, do they? Here's a video of the pronunciation used by people in the south of England. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOJKD-c1cow
Mike Morgan
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Mike has lived in the UK, Japan and the USA. Currently, he is based in Iowa with his wife and 2 young children. After working for many years as a writer and editor for a large corporation, he is now a freelancer. He has been fortunate enough to contribute to many books on Doctor Who over the last 20 years and is now concentrating on original sci-fi & fantasy short stories, with recent sales including Flame Tree, Uffda, and The Martian Wave. Also, look for his contribution on Blake's 7 to "You and Who Else", a charity anthology to be released later this year.
You can find him on Tumblr at https://www.tumblr.com/blog/culttvmike
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