Why Minneapolis is pronounced differently from Minnetonka


Although I've never been purified in the waters of Lake Minnetonka, I did grow up in Minneapolis. I lived not far from where the Artist Formerly Known as Prince lived, near the lake formerly known as Calhoun. And just in case you're wondering what "Minneapolis" means, it's a combination of a Sioux word for water and a Greek word for city. Minne is used a lot where I grew up, just a block from Minnehaha Creek. Yes, that means "laughing water". I really don't recall ever visiting Lake Minnetonka, but I'm sure I did, it wasn't really all that far from my neighborhood. Hang on, I'll see if I can find what the "tonka" in Minnetonka means. Here ya go:

"Minnetonka is in Hennepin County Minne (also spelled mini) is the common Dakota word for water, and tonka (also spelled tanka) is likewise their common word meaning big or great, but the name thus compounded seems not to have been used by the Dakota till Ramsey coined it for the lake."

Since I grew up in Minneapolis, I have the typical Twin Cities accent, which I call "the man on the six o'clock news", which for no reason that I can imagine is considered the "no accent" American accent. Every radio announcer all over the country sounds like me, and it's not to be confused with a rural Minnesota accent, which sounds much more Canadian, the most famous line being, "I guess that was your accomplice in the wood chipper?", from the movie "Fargo". Prince did not talk like that, nor do I.

And today as I was saying "Minneapolis" and "Minnetonka" to myself, I found myself using an EE sound for Minn-e-apolis, and an "Uh" sound for Minn-uh-tonka, which I'd never noticed before. And the only reason I can say is that's how they seem to roll off the tongue.

Actually, I lived near Lake Nokomis!

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