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Phonetics meets folklore in the Ice Box of Connecticut

Phonetics meets folklore in the Ice Box of Connecticut

Berkshire Country Store sells shirts with an image of a fork to indicate the most popular pronunciation.

David Carley

NORFOLK — Where names twist, curiosity roots.

There are several ways to pronounce the Town of Norfolk’s name: Nor-folk, Nor-fuk, Nor-fork and others.

There does not seem to be a consensus among residents on the correct pronunciation.

The origin of the name is British, from Norfolk County in England, pronounced Nor-fik, similar to Suffolk County pronounced Suf-fik. The origin, though, has no influence on how it is said in Connecticut.

At this year’s Weekend in Norfolk summer festival, opinions on the matter were shared with The Lakeville Journal. At one tent was Norfolk resident Eliza Little who explained that she is “a bit of a chameleon, it depends who you talk to.” As a volunteer EMT, when she is radioing in, she admitted she says, “something like ‘Nor-fork.’”

Little also shared a short poem about the town, a part of Norfolk’s folklore that could give some insight into the correct pronunciation, it goes: “We don’t drink, we don’t smoke, nor-f**k.”

Passing by the tent was Kim Thorne-Kaunelis, a Norfolkian for 30 years, who said, “If you don’t say ‘Nor-fuk,’ you’re uptight. Think about Norfolk, Virginia. They all say it the same way.”

At the Berkshire Country Store in the center of town at 6 Station Place, merchandise from t-shirts to baseball caps declares the pronunciation to be Nor-fork, indicated by the large fork design.

Ryan Craig, the owner of the store and designer of the merch, said he has sold more than 1,000 of those hats. Craig, from Goshen, pronounces it Nor-folk but says most people born and raised in town pronounce it Nor-fork.

The store’s website berkshirecountry.com can give some answers. Craig is conducting a survey on the pronunciation with seven different options: Nor-folk, Nor-fawk, Nor-fork, Nor-foke, Nor-F**K, Nor-fik and “I avoid saying it at all costs! Better not to make a fool of myself and tarnish the family name.”

With almost 350 respondents as of Aug. 3, 142 replied “Nor-fork,” the easy majority with 41% of the vote. The runner up was “Nor-folk” with 66 votes, just 19% of the vote.

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