View Message

[Facts] Aine - a pronounciation, spelling question
Ha ha, I noticed another Alyson posting who spells like me! Weird. For clarity's sake, I'll post as Dixie Alyson.ANYWAY, I was asking about the name Aine on the other board, but I do have a pronounciation question. Someone told me that as Aine, it was awn-ya, whereas Russian Anya was Ahn-ya. So I said these outloud a few times and I was pretty stumped as to how these are different. I would use Aine, but I had always just said it AHN-ya. Am I saying it wrong?Also, should we spell it with the accent on the first syllable in the legal spelling or just not worry about using the accent in the speling? Is using it just ASKING for trouble or would we be spelling in incorrectly if we DIDN'T?Thanks in advance, all.
vote up1vote down

Replies

Áine is just about always pronounced [AWN-yuh].It is the accent that makes the [aw] sound, versus the unaccented [ah] sound.Even when the fada is not written, most know to pronounce it [AWN-yuh] by tradition's sake.That said, don't worry about the accent for official documentation in the U.S. I have a Gaelic surname and most every database I've ever encountered wouldn't accept accents (Social Security, schools, etc.). Though, I did get it on my degree and other odds & ends.
vote up1vote down
Well, the AWN in AWN-yah would be like in the name Dawn. The AHN in AHN-yah would be like in the name Donna. If you'd pronounce those the same way, just tell me, and I'll come up with some other examples.As far as the accent--I'd leave it off. if you have to press the "alt" key on a keyboard to get a letter, it's generally not worthwhile to use it in America. But that's just my opinion.Array
vote up1vote down