You say lohs FEE-lis. I say lohs fih-LEES. Is there an agreed-upon way to pronounce Los Feliz?
Of course, there’s no one way to say it, and that goes also for San Pedro, and many other cities and neighborhoods in Los Angeles. How we pronounce these places depend on how long we’ve lived in the city, where we come from, and larger cultural trends.
In a 2013 article, a Los Angeles Times reporter noticed a “re-Latinization” of certain L.A. place names, attributing the shift to a growing Latino population, as well as a younger generation of Angelenos who, more mindful of the city’s history, wants to return to more authentic pronunciations.
Guests:
Kyle Fitzpatrick, founder of the blog, Los Angeles, I’m Yours. He also writes for Los Angeles Magazine and his latest piece is titled, “A Local’s Guide to Properly Pronouncing L.A. Places”
D.J. Waldie, social historian, writer and author of “Where We Are Now: Notes from Los Angeles” (Angel City Press, 2004)