How do you pronounce "Santa Fe"?
In
MURRY county (and Marshall too of course) it's pronounced "
FEE".
Also, there's a big town in NM, where it's "
FAY". I was born out there because of the USAF. Bernalillo County. I say "Fee" for Tennessee and "Fay" for reference to out West or the RR.
As with all names, local usage is proper in my book. At some point most of those place names were the names of people, and people pronounce the same spellings differently in the same language. This is largely determined by location and how the name was know when that person was yet around, or his/her family.
edit: I had to learn the local pronunciations of several roads and crossroads of Cannon County when I moved here. The old timers helped me out. Now I pass along the help. Of note: Readyville, Geedesville/Geedsville (depending on the map), Basham, Sheybogan, Curlee, and a few others.