Missouri

[kahunabean]

Why is Missouri pronounced 'missourah' ?

[5029]

I've always heard it pronounced with an I at the end, as its spelt

[andjac]

so have I

[honkytonkman]

I would have thought that Missuor-ah is just a Deep South accent thing, ie dog = dawwg, ,my= mah...

[mikewith]

Agree with honkytonkman - you'd hear that pronunciation locally but not in the Northern USA - and suggest it's also a throwback to a pre-literate society when the regional accents were if anything stronger than they are in modern, homogenised (?) USA. Just as Alabama gets Southernified into 'Alabamee'. It's a folk memory to pronounce them other than as they're spelled.

[xyzzyplugh]

What about Arkansas pronounced 'arkanzaw' ? same thing accent..

[Shatnerfan]

I would prononce it with an 'ee' ending. Grandpa Simpson pronounces it Missourah. Maybe therein lies the conflict.