This is Mazon Monday post #147. What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:[email protected].
-----------------------------------------------------
Back in the summer of 2022, we received an email from Danita Brandt, Associate Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Michigan State University. She was interested in doing some research into the pronunciation of "Mazon" as in Mazon Creek fossils and from association even Mazon Monday.
Hello, Rich,
I see from the ESCONI website that you are the general contact as well as recently being Club Historian. I'm hoping you can help connect me to ESCONI members (especially "old-timers") who could help me track down the answer to a question that has been bugging me ever since I became a professional paleontologist nearly 40 years ago: why do 99% of professional paleontologists pronounce "Mazon" as "MAY-zon"?!! I grew up in the area and know how we locals pronounce the name of the town, the river, and the fossil beds (as far as I can tell, I'm the only person in that 1% of professionals that does NOT say MAYzon).
I met Jack Wittry at the Paleo Society awards banquet in 2015 when he got the Strimple Award and I asked him if he knew why so many professionals mis-pronounce the name. He said he didn't know, that maybe it sounds "more scientific" ???!!!
Of course, I could just ask my paleontological colleagues, and I intend to, but I'd also very much like to hear what Club members have to say about this--what goes through your mind when 'professionals' mispronounce the name?
I don't know if there is anyone still alive who remembers how Drs. Matt Niteki or Dr. Eugene Richardson pronounced the name, but I suspect they did NOT say "MAY-zon"!
This is something that has been bothering me for years, and before I retire I want to try to set it straight in the paleontological community.
Thanks for any help you can give me. I'd be glad to discuss this with you by phone or zoom (easier than email?!) if you are willing.
Sincerely,
DanitaDr. D. Brandt
Associate Professor (dr/she/her)
Undergraduate Director & Academic Advisor
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI USA
She attended the Mazon Creek Open House held in October 2022. You might have seen her there and hopefully you spoke with her and provided your answer.
She sent us her results. "MAY-zon" was the most popular response to her survey, which was a little surprising. I say Muh-ZAHN. It could be because I grew up in Joliet, IL and spent quite a bit of time with my Grandpa hunting and fishing south of there. We even hunted out around Mazon, IL.
Report to ESCONI
Results of the survey, “How do YOU pronounce “Mazon”?”
Conducted October 16, 2022, at the ESCONI Mazon Creek Open House at Cantigny, by Danita Brandt, Associate Professor, Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI (from Kankakee Co., Illinois)Methods
At the ESCONI Mazon Creek Open House I used two survey tools:1. A questionnaire which I read to folks or they filled out independently. Respondents were folks attending the ESCONI event (not casual Cantigny visitors)
2. A “ballot box” open to all who passed by (including the general public, not just ESCONI members and attendees).Results
1. Responses to the paper questionnaire were very interesting! Most folks who responded (N = 23) learned the “non-local” pronunciation (MAY-zon) and did not know there was another pronunciation. The tally was almost 3:1 for MAY-zon
2. The blue-or-yellow index card ballot survey came out 2:1 for the non-local pronunciation “MAY-zon” (Total number of responses = 29)Conclusions
People who have had no contact with folks who actually live in or near the town of Mazon or in Grundy County (the county seat) tend to pronounce the name with the same emphasis as if the “z” were an “s” (Mason = MACE-on, so Mazon = MAY-zon). This includes 99.9% of professional paleontologists.Future work
I still have no explanation for why the professional paleontology community uses the non-local pronunciation. I have anecdotal reports that Dr. Eugene Richardson used the local pronunciation (Muh-ZON). You would think that his influence, as the leading researcher on Mazon Creek fossils, would have informed the professional community. I’ll continue talking to people inside and outside the professional community to try to get to the bottom of this!PS
I ran the index card survey at the recent Central Michigan Lapidary and Mineral Show here in Ingham County, Michigan, as a “control” group far away from northern Illinois. The results were overwhelming for the non-local “MAY-zon” pronunciation.
Professor Brandt provided us with the video of her AGU presentation, which is very good!
Very interesting... now that I'm aware of this question, it's hard not to notice how someone says it. There isn't really a right or wrong, but it seems the local pronunciation is more correct. Also, who knew there was an Illinois Pronunciation Guide?!? In it, you will hear Mazon pronounced as (muh-ZAHN).
Corollary question... How do you pronounce ESCONI? Is it ES-K-OH-NEE or ES-K-AH-NEE?
