Toronto

Toronto is Canada's largest city and the provincial capital of Ontario. Toronto's population is 2,518,772 (Statistics Canada, 2004); that of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is 5,203,686 (Statistics Canada, 2004). Residents of Toronto are called Torontonians (in French: torontois). The city is part of the Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario--a densely populated region of around 7 million people. Approximately 23% of the Canadian population live within the Golden Horseshoe region, and about one-sixth of all Canadian jobs lie within the city limits.

Pronunciation of "Toronto"

The stress is on the second syllable.

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Locals sometimes pronounce the city's name as "Toronno" or "Tronno", "Tronto", "Toranna", "Taranna", "Chronno" (with ch as in chime, not chrome), "Chranna" or even "Terawhnna" ({{Audio|en-CA Toronto (contracted).ogg|listen to an example}}). However, this is merely a reflection of the varieties of Canadian pronunciation and does not represent a unique pronunciation for the city name itself.

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For instance, many Canadians pronounce the number "ninety nine" as something between "9-D-9" and "9-E-9", whereas many Britons or East Indians will distinctly pronounce "9-T-9". Thus while it is natural that many Canadians will say "Toronno", speakers whose dialects pronounce the "T" distinctly in words like "ninety nine" should do likewise when pronouncing "Toronto". In each case, the speaker merely pronounces "Toronto" in the way that is most natural in his or her dialect. Some Torontonians would often identify a local if he/she says "Toronno".

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Even for Canadian speakers it is never outright incorrect to pronounce distinctly the second t in Toronto, and some local pedants do so. However, pronouncing it "Tor-on-toe" (with equal stress on each syllable) in casual speech is usually seen as a sign of someone who is not a native of the city. Canadian francophones pronounce it, "To-ron-to", in three syllables, with the french nasal on on the second syllable, and the accent on the third syllable.

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