Talk:Launceston, Tasmania

"mispronounced"?

Launceston (/ˈlɒnsəstən/ ^ⓘ, often mispronounced /ˈlɔːnsəstən/ ^ⓘ) is a city ...

Is pronunciation really so militantly uniform in Australia that an alternative pronunciation is said to be mispronounced? My American ears can hear VERY little difference between the "correct" and "mispronounced" pronunciations given in this article—certainly not enough difference to label one of them as mispronounced. I'd think just the slight differences in pronunciation by people in the same family could allow for such a slight variation as this. Would it offend Australian sensibilities just to give them as two possible pronunciations, not one that's right and the other wrong? At what point does the mispronunciation of a word happen so often (as the article says this one does) that it can be considered an alternative pronunciation as opposed to a wrong pronunciation? —104.244.192.86 (talk) 01:20, 9 July 2017 (UTC)

The pronunciation of place names is quite another matter from the pronunciation of common nouns (and other words, of course). It is generally assumed that the "correct" pronunciation of a place name (in the common language of its inhabitants) is what the inhabitants call it. It is a standing joke/irritation among the people of Launceston (to be fair most of us, most of the time, probably don't care that much) that other Australians - even some other Tasmanians, mispronounce the city's name. Whatever an American might think, to a person from Launceston the difference in the way the first syllable sounds can produce the (momentary) illusion that it is another place altogether that the speaker is talking about. Just to compound the issue - an English person would elide the second syllable entirely, after the usual pronunciation of the name of the Cornish town. I can quite understand that this is a complete non-issue to an American reader, who is likely to pronounce our city's name in various creative and interesting ways. --Soundofmusicals (talk) 04:06, 9 July 2017 (UTC)

haha - we of the southern and western (Tasmanian) heritage tend to reduce it all to lonnie whichever way you want to read that.

For very strange misusages - try working out correct usage of western australians with the northern port of Derby, Western Australia JarrahTree 04:42, 9 July 2017 (UTC)

Not going to get into the Derby/Darby one (lol). The first syllable of "lonny" (very commonly used here, too) is the same as the first syllable of the proper name of the city, which may prove a useful way of remembering for a speaker of a non-Northern Tasmanian dialect. -Soundofmusicals (talk) 04:59, 9 July 2017 (UTC)

In Queenstown pubs in the mid 1970s (sic) the place up the hill was Gormy and they were situated in Queeny... JarrahTree 06:07, 9 July 2017 (UTC)

Difference sounds huge to an Australian SpaceInnovader (talk) 16:11, 18 February 2018 (UTC)

Requested move 23 April 2025

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: not moved. It has not been shown conclusively that the Tasmanian city is the primary topic. Arbitrarily0 ^(talk) 22:32, 30 April 2025 (UTC)

---

• Launceston, Tasmania → Launceston
• Launceston → Launceston (disambiguation)

– The City in Tasmania appears to be the WP:PrimaryTopic [1] [2] which meets WP:NCAUST criteria that states; "the name of a city or town may be used alone if the place is the primary or only topic for that name" Servite et contribuere (talk) 13:17, 23 April 2025 (UTC)

• Oppose there is a Launceston, Cornwall that recieves 80 page views per day. While less than the 297 page views for the Tasmanian city, this is not insignificant and I think most people in the UK would associate Launceston with the town in Cornwall first (and the UK has 4 times the population of Australia). There is also an English football team Launceston F.C..

Furthermore, per the very well articulate argument by Innesw at Wikipedia:Australian Wikipedians' notice board#Requested moves per WP:NCAUST and WP::PRIMARYTOPIC, there are discrepancies between WP:NCAUST and Project Australian places in how we should apply naming conventions. We need to resolve this discrepancy through consensus over a consistent application before moving any more articles which for now is only creating an inconsistent mess! Dfadden (talk) 21:29, 23 April 2025 (UTC)

2.5 times the population, to be precise.--Grahame (talk) 07:06, 24 April 2025 (UTC)

Dfadden I am aware of this problem. I think it could possibly be my fault. Almost 2 months ago (Might be exactly 2 months know) I started a bunch of RMS on Northern Sydney Suburbs (Most article on suburbs I opened the RMS on are located in the catchment area of the North Sydney Bears) and I think it resulted in another editor being inspired to do the same, but unfortunately didn't do them separately. Something I basically always do to avoid WP:Trainwreck. Servite et contribuere (talk) 21:36, 23 April 2025 (UTC)

Dfadden The UK does not have 4 times the population of Australia. 27 Million to around 67 million. Did you mean something else? Like adult population only? Servite et contribuere (talk) 10:14, 24 April 2025 (UTC)

Nope, for some reason i was thinking the UK was over 80 million. I am sorry my maths were out, but it makes no difference to my rationale. Dfadden (talk) 11:00, 24 April 2025 (UTC)

• Oppose as not being the primary topic per Dfadden. I say this reluctantly, since the Tasmanian city is my birthplace. StAnselm (talk) 23:13, 23 April 2025 (UTC)
• Oppose. No primary topic. Launceston, Tasmania has not eclipsed its namesake of Launceston, Cornwall in the same way that, for example, Boston has eclipsed Boston, Lincolnshire. A slight lead in pageviews does not a primary topic make. The current disambiguation page at Launceston is appropriate per WP:NOPRIMARY. Tomiĉo (talk) 00:33, 24 April 2025 (UTC)

  Oppose, primary topic in Australia, but not globally. So no primary topic applies. Minxlyn (talk) 00:40, 24 April 2025 (UTC)

  Oppose, as per the arguments by Tomiĉo. Dan arndt (talk) 01:48, 24 April 2025 (UTC)

• Support, Launceston, Cornwall is a very small town, whether you consider it part of England or the world. I don't really understand the argument that the English are very sentimental about it and we should take note of this sentiment.--Grahame (talk) 08:30, 25 April 2025 (UTC)
• Oppose. Launceston, Cornwall, may be a pretty small town, but it is also pretty significant historically. It is pretty rare for a New World town to eclipse its Old World namesake to the extent where it becomes primary topic. Boston is a rare example. I'm not really even sure about Perth, although we do make the Australian city the primary topic. -- Necrothesp (talk) 14:23, 29 April 2025 (UTC)

I've been to all 6 locations and I'm sure that Boston, Mass, is much more interesting than Boston, England, Perth, WA, is much more interesting that Perth, Scotland and Launceston, Tas is significantly more interesting than Launceston, Cornwall.--Grahame (talk) 04:34, 30 April 2025 (UTC)

First, being "interesting" is not a relevant criterion. Second, whilst I would agree with you about Boston, I would not about Perth or Launceston. -- Necrothesp (talk) 14:04, 30 April 2025 (UTC)

Necrothesp I would strongly disagree on Perth and Launceston actually. Perth in Western Australia is like the second fastest, maybe even fastest growing city in the country. Perth, Scotland in Scotland only has about 47 thousand people compared to the 2 Million in Perth, WA. Launceston, Tasmania has around 90 thousand people compared to the 10 thousand of Launceston, Cornwall. Looking at your user page, my assumption is that you are from the United Kingdom, specifically England. Now you might say; "But you are Australian, you must be being biased" but I would never say that Newcastle, New South Wales is the WP:Primarytopic over Newcastle upon Tyne. I would even argue the latter is the WP:Primarytopic. Thank you Servite et contribuere (talk) 14:23, 30 April 2025 (UTC)

Yes, I'm perfectly aware that they're much larger, but that's not the criterion for notability. Yes, I am English. In fact, I grew up near Launceston, Cornwall! However, I would likewise never say that Boston, Lincolnshire, is primary over Boston, Massachusetts (or that the latter isn't primary). It's not a case of national bias. It's a case of the relative historical significance of the towns. Perth, Scotland, and Launceston, Cornwall, both have many centuries of history behind them. Perth, WA, and Launceston, Tasmania, simply do not. I'm willing to accept that Perth is primary (although, as I said, I'm not actually sure I agree), but the only argument for Launceston, Tasmania, appears to be "it's bigger"! Note that currently neither Launceston is primary and that's the way it should stay. Neither is especially well-known outside their respective countries. -- Necrothesp (talk) 14:37, 30 April 2025 (UTC)

Necrothesp In terms of historic significance, there probably is no WP:Primarytopic, but Perth was notable for an immigration port. I feel like that for Perth, in the Modern 21ST Century, there is a clear WP:Primarytopic that is becoming more clearly the WP:Primarytopic. Of course, we should be reminded that these are not official, and people could have different (Non Biased) views on these. Thank you Servite et contribuere (talk) 14:46, 30 April 2025 (UTC)

Launceston, Cornwall is mostly notable for its remains of a ruined castle. In 1963 when I first passed through it, it was notable for its traffic jams, but they built a bypass. There is more to notability than history.--Grahame (talk) 14:51, 30 April 2025 (UTC)

Grahamec If we are of completely different ages (Which it appears we are) surely we can agree that around the 2000s and 2010s in New South Wales, the term "Bradfield" usually referred to either the Division of Bradfield or John Bradfield (engineer), 50 years ago, it might have also referred to the suburb of Bradfield, New South Wales (1924-1977). Over long term significance, it is pretty clear that the primary topic will become the new city of Bradfield. Personally disappointed that the name Bradfield is not being reserved for the North Shore, but Western Sydney is a fast developing region and Mr John Bradfield truly did pave the way for Sydney to be what it is today. Servite et contribuere (talk) 15:01, 30 April 2025 (UTC)

There is more to notability than history. Of course there is. But there is also more to notability than picking the biggest place by that name and automatically assuming it's the primary topic! Many towns are not especially well-known outside their respective countries. This is the case with both Launcestons, which is why retaining the status quo is appropriate. -- Necrothesp (talk) 15:19, 30 April 2025 (UTC)

Necrothesp I am aware that it is more complicated than that. There are factors like history, population, tourism, iconic landmarks, notable moments, and many more to name. Obviously I am not going to be able to name every single thing. Servite et contribuere (talk) 15:36, 30 April 2025 (UTC)

For instance, if you asked a group of British people to name a town in Tasmania, I would suspect that most people wouldn't be able to name one! A few might get Hobart. I suspect almost none would get Launceston. That's probably the case with any group of people surveyed outside Australia itself. And most people outside the UK have probably never heard of Launceston, Cornwall. Most people I speak to in the UK have, although most are thrown by the correct pronunciation of its name (Lanson), which they've never heard before! -- Necrothesp (talk) 15:58, 30 April 2025 (UTC)

Necrothesp Most people I speak to in the UK have (Heard of Launceston, Cornwall) (Unless you mean on Wikipedia) counts as original research and thus is not verifiable. Also, I don't think Launceston in Tasmania or Cornwall are notable outside of their respective countries. Thank you Servite et contribuere (talk) 16:34, 30 April 2025 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.