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[Opinions] Elmira is el-MY-ra
in reply to a message by Julia
That's the only way I've ever heard it - A actually does have a point, but you do as well. The way Americans look at names has changed dramatically as immigrants have poured into the country changing our language and the way we pronounce things.
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Really?Whoops, my mistake! Sorry!
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At least in my area.I've known a few elderly ladies who went by that. It's the same way, though, as pronouncing Nina NINE-a.
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Forgive me but I am a bit confused. I've never heard Nina pronounced NINE-ah, so are you saying that it's sort of a regional thing/alternate pronunciation like NINE-ah? I'm not sure what you meant by "the same way".
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It's not regional, it's the way things were done in the pastA 100 years ago Nina would have been NINE-a, Maria ma-RYE-a, Elmira - el-MY-ra, etc. Now it's neen-a, ma-ria, el-mir-aSorry, should have been clearer on those points.
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AhThanks, that makes sense!
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Me either.Never heard it as NINE-ah, but I like that better than NEE-na. *Shrugs*But I don't get why, just because some people might pronounce a name differently half the time, it's such a big deal to correct them and that's the end of that. Or why it changes your (not yours, Julia, but -=A=-'s) opinion of the name. Hardly anyone ever gets my name right the first time (and it's not really that hard imo) and correcting it is automatic, absolutely NOT a big deal to me. Only freaking idiots continue to call me the wrong name after I correct them. Like my professor, but that's a different story.For the record, when I see Mira I think MEE-ra about 80% of the time and MY-ra 20%, but if you correct me I will never call you the wrong thing again.

This message was edited 3/27/2008, 8:47 PM

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I pronounce Nina as NEE-nah, but my friend says she had an aunt Nina that was pronounced NINE-ah. So, I guess it is pronounced a couple of different ways.
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