Pronunciation of Argyll

[OC Richard]

American English doesn't have many words in which the last syllable is stressed, as in the case of Argyll.

Gaelic nearly always has the stress on the first syllable of two-syllable words. The stress is on the second syllable of Argyll because it's not a Gaelic word, it's two Gaelic words.

In these compound names the stress is often on the second word.

English likewise nearly always has the stress on the first syllable of two-syllable words, except in the case of borrowed words, and they eventually "go native".

Americans tend to pronounce words borrowed from French closer to the French original than the English do, putting the stress on the second syllable cf US garAGE (with the French soft "g") v English GARRidge, US baLAY v English BALee, US bufFAY v English BUFFee etc etc.

(I was at a loss when, in a Glasgow restaurant, the waiter asked me if I would like the "buffy". He had to point to the word on the menu for me to get the notion that he was talking about the buffet.)