HOW DO YOU PRONOUNCE CAPERCAILZIE?

Capercailzie/Capercaillie

In older books on ornithology, you may find reference to the capercailzie (Tetra urogallus) but, when you hear it pronounced, you may wonder somewhat whether the speaker is mispronouncing it when he leaves out the zee.

In fact, this zee in capercailzie is no ordinary zee.  In Scots in days gone by there was a peculiar letter called yogh, pronounced more like Y, but looking like Z.  This was adopted into modern Scottish writing as Z, but in fact it should be left unpronounced.  Therefore the bird's name should be pronounced kapperkaylee.

In more modern books it is spelled capercaillie which obviates the problem.

The word comes originally from Gaelic capall coille, which means, surprisingly, 'horse of the woods'.