The Carnegie Center in Lexington celebrates its 25th anniversary this year as a literacy and learning hub. But even after all of these years, there remains only a shaky consensus as to how to pronounce the center’s name. Is it CAR-nuh-ghee or Car-NAY-ghee?
As the current director of the center for the past six years, I have learned that no one has the authority to settle this question.
The arguments on both sides are compelling. The building is named in honor of Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919), the steel baron-turned-philanthropist who donated money to build 1,609 public libraries in the U.S., including the one on Gratz Park in Lexington. The Scottish-born Carnegie pronounced his name Car-NAY-ghee.
During Carnegie’s early and mid-life, few cared how to say his name. But then, in the 1880s, he donated the money to build Carnegie Hall in New York City.
Without radio and television to inform the public of the Car-NAY-ghee pronunciation, the building became known – first in New York and then nationally – by its Americanized version: CAR-nuh-ghee. Today, virtually everyone agrees that when you ask, “How do you get to Carnegie Hall,” the accent in Carnegie is on the first syllable.
But that’s not the last word. When the Carnegie Corp. was established in 1911 as a philanthropic organization, officials insisted on the Scottish pronunciation. And they still do. Those who listen to National Public Radio often hear the Car-NAY-ghee version in a listing of NPR’s sponsors.
But friendly debates continue at Carnegie Mellon University, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Carnegie Institution for Science – and, yes, at Carnegie libraries like ours.
I look at it this way: If you pronounce Versailles, Kentucky, as Ver-SAYLZ, you probably should be consistent and Americanize Carnegie (CAR-nuh-ghee). If you use the French version of Versailles (Ver-SEYE), then Car-NAY-ghee is for you.
Neil Chethik, aka the Grammar Gourmet, is executive director of the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning (www.carnegiecenterlex.org) and author of “FatherLoss” and “VoiceMale.” The Carnegie Center offers writing classes and seminars for businesses and individuals. Contact Chethik at neil@carnegiecenterlex.org or 859-254-4175.