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I'm grateful to the colleague who yesterday drew my attention to the official ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ guide to pronunciation. It's part of the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳'s labyrinthine internal website and I had never known that just by typing in "Launceston," for exampe, I could hear a speak-your-weight machine telling me the correct way to say it when reading the news (my query had been prompted by a newsroom discussion over Kabul. Is it Ka-bull, or Kar-bull? The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ says it's Kar-bull.)

The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳'s recommended pronunciation of Launceston is "Lawn-sun" which came as something of a surprise because I've always called it "Lawn-stun" although I know many locals who call it "Lan-sun."

I once followed the Mayor of Launceston to Launceston in Tasmania for a story about local car parking (regional media had bigger budgets in those days) and was amused to discover that our cousins Down Under call it something else - "Lawn-cess-ton." I wonder if Cornish settlements around the world actually now have more authentic pronunciation of our towns and villages than we do?

I now look forward to hours of harmless fun typing in words to the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳'s pronunciation guide. Suggestions please.