That says it best, when GM copyrighted it, it becomes a proper noun and can be pronounced any way you want.... kinda like that british show where the family is "bucket" but they pronounce it bouquet.

That's like the movie Joe Dirt where Joe tries to make it sound nicer by pronouncing it "Deer-Tey"...

The thing is, Chevy has badges of Impalas on the car...That would be like me slapping a giraffe badge on a car and calling the car a giraffe but pronouncing it "Guy-Rafe-ee"

Guys, there is a world of difference between "Guy-Rafe-ee" and "Im-PAY-la/Im-PAH-la." For real.

Be happy its a real word and not some acronym.

oh, come on...obviously I'm exaggerating

But it is similar in that they are both pronounced incorrectly...ok, to make it better, how about changing the G in giraffe to sound like G as in "guy" instead of G as in "jar"? Same thing.

You're talking about a word that's as much affected by regional dialect as anything else is the point.

fine, I'll take back my giraffe comments, and instead I'll just quote my previous comment :AH-HA_wink:

The only reason I could understand saying it the wrong way was if they had some southern accent or something to that effect...Personally I rarely ever hear it pronounced the wrong way...I don't even hear the commercials say it the wrong way, but hey, like I said, if you guys want to pronounce it the wrong way then that is your decision...but just remember...it's wrong!

hehehe, Nicky boy calls a giraffe a "jerAHF" instead of a "jerAFF" per his logic. You guys are funny.

Who knows....

It's like Aveo... The original commercials were A-vao with a flat sound and now some are A-veo with an "e" sound.

I think I alternate between the two on Impala.

No, Cowger actually is pronouncing it correctly.

No he's pronouncing it his way.The vote here seems to be pretty even. We could go on and on. There are lots of different pronounciations for car names, Hyundai is suppossed to sound like Sunday with a H but lots of people say Hyundi,I've heard Celeeca instead of Celica and lots of people say Neesan instead of Nissan. The U.S. guys here might not know in Canada we say Zed 24 and Zed 28 and not

Zee 24 or Zee 28, but we don't call the Im-pal-ah the Im-pal-eh!

I think it depends upon where you grew up. I grew up in Mass, and I pronounce it "Im Pah la".

62.......how are you pronouncing that "A"?  and certainly you aren't trying to say that every syllable is stressed....right?  that's what the caps are used for...for indicating stress...

im- PAL (as in buddy)-luh

Just like they do on the commericials....

Jeez...

From the commercials I hear it is pronounced the correct way, the way most likely all dictionaries pronounce it. The way it is supposed to be pronounced, unlike the mispronounced, yet widely used version which I do tend to hear, and when I do I cringe and it sends chills down my spine

Honestly I don't know what is so hard for you people to understand. im-PAL-uh is obviously the incorrect way to pronounce it, no matter how many people do pronounce it that way, even if GM pronounces it that way, it is still incorrect. The correct way is im-PAUL-uh...I don't care how you guys pronounce it...I could honestly care less...just admit you're saying it the incorrect way and I'll be happy. It is a proven fact but you guys seem to refuse to acknowledge it. :AH-HA_wink:

It's all about proper english.

Edited November 10, 200520 yr by Nick

The imPALuh guys are correct because that is the way the creator, Chevrolet, pronounces it. STEP ASIDE, son! :AH-HA_wink:

Yeah, Nick!

How come we fight over how to pronounce Impala yet Rendezvous is relatively easy?

I don't care who says it how. I don't care if the creator of the impala at the time pronounced it incorrectly, I don't care about any of that. The fact of the matter is, he pronounced it incorrectly. People pronounced it incorrectly then, and they pronounce it incorrectly now. Just because GM says it incorrectly doesn't make it right just because it is their car. They named it after the animal using the exact same spelling. There are no 2 ways around it. Im-PAL-uh, while it may be pretty widely accepted as the correct pronunciation is in fact incorrect. Say it however you want, just know if you pronounce it im-PAL-uh, it is still incorrect no matter how many times you hear/heard it pronounced that way, no matter who you heard it from.

Correct way: Im-Pah-luh

Incorrect way: Im-Pal-uh

And that's the end of that.

Seriously, Nick...you make this site worth reading.

We are def gonna hang out at LAIAS.

I thought with 1 L it would have the pal sound and with 2 Ls it would have the all sound, just like every other word in English. Think of the difference between call, and cal, all, and al. Do you live in Caulifornia? No, its Cal, as in pal, and Impala.

I've always pronounced it ... well, the way they pronounce it at Encarta: http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_/impala.html

My wife pronounces it "Im-PAL-uh" and insists I'm pronouncing it wrong. Just wait til I show her that link.

I thought with 1 L it would have the pal sound and with 2 Ls it would have the all sound, just like every other word in English. Think of the difference between call, and cal, all, and al. Do you live in Caulifornia? No, its Cal, as in pal, and Impala.

Exactly.

How do you go from Pahla to Paula?

The PAL being one L logic sounds good, except the word is not an English-originating word; it is Zulu in origin.

The PAL being one L logic sounds good, except the word is not an English-originating word; it is Zulu in origin.

I though Impala zulu iwas in origin too

I though Impala zulu iwas in origin too

pardon?

Who the hell cares how you pronounce it anyway?

If Chevrolet says its "Im-PAL-luh" then that's what it is --- after all, it's only the most successful passenger car nameplate in American automotive history.... They can pronounce it any damned way they please...

I'd much rather concentrate on the car....

It needs to be bigger, on the Lucerne/DTS frame...

It needs an egg-crate grille, some chrome on the bumpers and sides, and three round taillights on each side...

It needs a first class cabin, with a true heritage instrument panel, like from the best Impala ever, the 1962....

It needs 3 models only: SS, LT and LS...

Do these things, and this car sells 400-500,000 units per year, guaranteed, at $20-28K per copy, and GM is back, baby!!

Another regionalism I've noticed is that pretty much everyone in the biz I know pronounces the Java computer language as 'JAH-VUH' while the Canadians I work with all pronounce it 'JA-VUH'.. ('JA' like in 'Jack')....

(more useless trivia).

pardon?

After reading my post, I dont know either. So yeah, I cant help with that one.

Thank you everyone for the responses! I guess I wasn't expecting such a passionate debate. Certainly it proves that it is primarily a regional thing, and there is nothing wrong with that.

Im-PAW-La, Im-PAH-La, Im-PAUL-la.

Those are the three ways I say it. It depend on mood, I guess.

Bonneville is said "Bonna-vill" where i'm at.

Im-pal-uh. Or Im-pale-uh. Either way, one of the best American cars and values now, with pretty decent inoffensive looks and needing only a few adjustments to make it perfect as-is.

Merriam- webster has an audio link. It actually says 'IM-PAL-AH'.

Depends on where you are from.

I've stuck w/ Im-PAL-ah, Bon-UH-vill, and Mon-uh-coh, though I've heard Im-PAHL-uh, Bonnie-vill, and Mo-NAH-coh.

Edited August 17, 201213 yr by Cubical-aka-Moltar

I've stuck w/ Im-PAL-ah, Bon-UH-vill, and Mon-uh-coh

Exactly, I am from Chicago and that's the way they are pronounced there...POIFECT!

How'd I ever miss this thread?

So I have to ask, does anyone have an audio clip of the name in the original Zulu?

Language evolves.

Language is regional.

That's really the long and short of it.

Being honest, I think that I have heard (and used) both Im-pah-luh, and Im-pal-uh.

My guess would be that the former can be traced to the Brits interpreting the Zulu, and that the latter is American in origin.

So, you tell me what's "right".

Edited August 21, 201213 yr by Camino LS6

Welp... a cursory search shows that the proper Zulu pronunciation would be [im'pa:la], with the I pronounced as "ee" and the two As pronounced identically, except that the first A is elongated. Also, Zulu has no schwa sound, so the English "im-PAH-luh" would sound markedly foreign compared to "eem-PAAAH-lah."

But borrowings are almost never phonetically/phonologically identical from source to target language.

Locals get annoyed when outsiders say LANcaster instead of the proper LANCaster. From what I understand, locals say "NAWLINS" instead of "New Orleens". So when Chevrolet invents the most popular fullsize family sedan in history, I defer to their "locality" and say "imPALuh".

Locals get annoyed when outsiders say LANcaster instead of the proper LANCaster. From what I understand, locals say "NAWLINS" instead of "New Orleens". So when Chevrolet invents the most popular fullsize family sedan in history, I defer to their "locality" and say "imPALuh".

And Brits would probably pronounce it 'LANK-ester'. Then there is Baltimore which locals call 'BALLmer' I've heard...

Yeah Moltie, "LANKester" is how we say the name of our town.

It's amusing because when I looked at this thread, I saw "Im-Paula" and I was thinking, "Who on earth would ever pronounce it like that?!" Then I read another comment on it depends on the region, and I realized being a New Yawker, people probably aren't saying "Im-Pawluh" like my brain is thinking...

WOW, All you east coast / mid west people need to learn to speak English! Probably due to the funky accents you find back there!

Here's something that I hope settles this debate once and fer all:

All I learned from that video is the proper way to pronounce "coupé."

I've always pronounced it #2, Im-paula but unfortunately the Im-pal-a side is winning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_p-Am92fkx0 - old impala commercial

I try to say it with a Michigan accent to be more authentic. Im-PAALLLA.

I love John McElroy from Autoline Detroit, especially when he says "Autoblog." OWTO-BLAAAAAAAAAAG.

Or Ford Flex: "FORD FLECCCKS!"

Tik-NAAAAAAAL-logi.

Edited March 30, 201312 yr by pow

He is geek personified. He's SOOOOO into it. He does a good job.

Does it really matter how one pronounces it as long as all love it?

The SS really should have been the Impala with it's more sporty yet luxurious personality. The new Impala should have been called Caprice.

It tells me that the SS is destined for a limited run. They wouldn't put the Impala name on such a thing. I don't think the Impala name is going anywhere, but clearly, SS is a test of waters.