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Help[Opinions] Ra-fa-EL
in reply to a message by Ismene
I feel strongly about this. Never ra-fee-el ... that is just wrong.
Stress the final syllable, but not too strongly.
I know a white American child named Rafael. He's my son's closest friend.
Rah- more like bar, but sometimes like bat, whichever - there's room for accent and preference there, in American English.
Fah- like in bar. No option to pronounce it FEE
(y)EL - a small Y sound appears between the vowels in American English.
American English can also make the name sound more like Rah-FELL and almost like Ra-FILE ... it's actually Rah-(fa)EL but without the Y sound, so the second A gets left out more.
I hear people call him Roffy-Yell often, and it bugs me. It bugs him, too - he is learning Spanish so he's aware there is no way there can be an EE sound in his name.
Rafe (RAYF) to me is a cooler Ralph, and has nothing whatsoever to do with the name Rafael. Annoyingly artificial as a nickname (please just name him Rafe, it's a full name). Rafi (rhyme either coffee or taffy) works. Raf would work.
I prefer Rafael but Raphael is nice.
- mirfak
Stress the final syllable, but not too strongly.
I know a white American child named Rafael. He's my son's closest friend.
Rah- more like bar, but sometimes like bat, whichever - there's room for accent and preference there, in American English.
Fah- like in bar. No option to pronounce it FEE
(y)EL - a small Y sound appears between the vowels in American English.
American English can also make the name sound more like Rah-FELL and almost like Ra-FILE ... it's actually Rah-(fa)EL but without the Y sound, so the second A gets left out more.
I hear people call him Roffy-Yell often, and it bugs me. It bugs him, too - he is learning Spanish so he's aware there is no way there can be an EE sound in his name.
Rafe (RAYF) to me is a cooler Ralph, and has nothing whatsoever to do with the name Rafael. Annoyingly artificial as a nickname (please just name him Rafe, it's a full name). Rafi (rhyme either coffee or taffy) works. Raf would work.
I prefer Rafael but Raphael is nice.
- mirfak
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Replies
I was just going by the pronunciations this site provides and by what I myself have heard the most. Of the 3 pronunciations the site shows, 2 have the "fee" sound there
But this is why I worry about it's use IRL, no one can agree on a pronunciation!
I like Rafe fine on its own too, but with my SO's last name the FN/LN combo sounds a bit like "refried beans" ...ok not literally but close enough to where my mind goes there immediately
But this is why I worry about it's use IRL, no one can agree on a pronunciation!
I like Rafe fine on its own too, but with my SO's last name the FN/LN combo sounds a bit like "refried beans" ...ok not literally but close enough to where my mind goes there immediately
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lol, refried beans!
Wow, didn't see that BtN had the bad (IMO) pronunciation there.
I think you're right, it is a little bit of a problem using it in real life. But it's not so big that it should stop anyone from using the name, IMO.
Wow, didn't see that BtN had the bad (IMO) pronunciation there.
I think you're right, it is a little bit of a problem using it in real life. But it's not so big that it should stop anyone from using the name, IMO.
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