Tim, I don't think you have been mispronouncing Hardy's Oxen.
English 'coomb' or 'combe' (from OE cumb) is pronounced, as a word on its own, with the vowel sound of too according to the COD and my own experience. However, it has the sound of the modern Welsh 'cwm' when in combination, such as nearby Babbacombe, Hollicombe, Widecombe (of Fair fame) and so on. Ultimately from post-Roman proto-Welsh 'cwm', but I don't know how that was pronounced.
Last edited by Jerome Betts; 08-06-2011 at 12:27 PM.
Reason: Typo
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