The relationship between the English spelling and pronunciation of the word "Prague" is abominable. What is, I assume, a wonderful city has been defiled by it's abhorrent naming and spelling in the English Language.

Firstly, it is pronounced "/prɑːɡ/". This is direct violation of the usual English pronunciation of syllables ending with "ague", which is usually \ preɪɡ\, seen in words such "plague" and "vague".

Now an argument I have met is that the Czech must want is pronounced that way, as "/prɑːɡ/". The word "Prague" is, however, not spelled nor pronounced the same in Czech as it is in English. It is in fact Praha, pronounced  [ˈpraɦa]. Neither the spelling nor pronounciation of "Prague" in Czech remotely coincide with those in the English Language. And unlike in English, the spelling and pronunciation make sense altogether.

Another argument that I may refute is that it is too hard for English-Speakers to say "Praha" and the English version of the city's name must have been changed to "Prague". Although this may be very well and true, this does not explain why there is such a discrepancy between the spelling and pronunciation of the word. The spelling has been borrowed from French, a language in which the spelling of "Prague" perfectly coincides with the pronunciation of the word in it's respective language. This is seen in words such as "boudrague" and "trague", which both end with "ague" and are pronounced the same as Prague within French (similarly to the English /prɑːɡ/). However, when looking at this word there is no reason why it should be pronounced the same as it is in French as there are a multitude of words that originate from French and have been adapted suitably to the English Language and the respective spelling and pronunciation rules (abandon, bronze, culprit, etc.). 

Lastly, I would like to bring up another renowned city that has had its name changed due to the English language, which is "The Hague". This wonderful Dutch city is called "Den Haag" in Dutch, pronounced [dɛn ˈɦaːx]. This was too difficult to pronounce for the chaps across the channel and hence it was renamed "The Hague". The Hague also ends with "ague" but instead of being called "/häg/" it is pronounced "/ˈheɪɡ/". There is therefore absolutely no reason why "Prague" should therefore be pronounced differently than "Hague".

I am hence petitioning to either change the spelling of the word "Prague" to something more sensible like "Praag", or to change the pronunciation of "Prague" to  \ preɪɡ\, like the words "vague", "plague" and "Hague".