Wow. I'm the only guy who pronounces it "ky-oat." I think it's a regional thing; people in my area actually have to deal with coyotes, so we just kind of treat the "e" as silent at the end to save time, I guess. I'm guessing the "Yotes" in the fandom (and I think there are multiple "Yotes") are "yotees," not "yoats."
The three syllable version is probably closer to the original Spanish; but even the native Spanish speakers in the region (American Southwest, so a lot of native Spanish speakers, actually) refer to the animals with the two syllables. A good regional, furry example of two-syllable coyotes is John R. Erickson's "Hank the Cowdog" series. Erickson has recorded audio books for the series (seriously furries, if you can find this stuff, it's good, even with the mostly regional humor. I actually recommend the audio books over the written books; Erickson is an amazing voice actor); Hank frequently runs into coyote brothers Rip and Snort, who frequently sing the "coyote national anthem and sacred hymn" Me Just a Worthless Coyote. Since the word is sung, the fact that it has two syllables rather than three is important.
Actually pretty important to me; a screenplay I wrote and plan to work on this year features coyote characters who, as part of their regional dialect, refer to themselves with two syllables. This poll pretty much shows that this needs to be pointed out specifically, or potential readers and such will miss it. I was unaware just how regional the two syllable pronunciation was!
Wow. I'm the only guy who pronounces it "ky-oat." I think it's a regional thing; people in my area actually have to deal with coyotes, so we just kind of treat the "e" as silent at the end to save time, I guess. I'm guessing the "Yotes" in the fandom (and I think there are multiple "Yotes") are "yotees," not "yoats."
The three syllable version is probably closer to the original Spanish; but even the native Spanish speakers in the region (American Southwest, so a lot of native Spanish speakers, actually) refer to the animals with the two syllables. A good regional, furry example of two-syllable coyotes is John R. Erickson's "Hank the Cowdog" series. Erickson has recorded audio books for the series (seriously furries, if you can find this stuff, it's good, even with the mostly regional humor. I actually recommend the audio books over the written books; Erickson is an amazing voice actor); Hank frequently runs into coyote brothers Rip and Snort, who frequently sing the "coyote national anthem and sacred hymn" Me Just a Worthless Coyote. Since the word is sung, the fact that it has two syllables rather than three is important.
Actually pretty important to me; a screenplay I wrote and plan to work on this year features coyote characters who, as part of their regional dialect, refer to themselves with two syllables. This poll pretty much shows that this needs to be pointed out specifically, or potential readers and such will miss it. I was unaware just how regional the two syllable pronunciation was!