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Help[Opinions] Re: WDYTO Clara?
in reply to a message by Serafina Starstrider
In the US, the Lara with a C pronunciation is unusual and sounds a bit pretentious, unless you've got a European accent of some kind.
I don't like Clara, because it feels like a maid's name, but it is more spirited than Claire. Claire is weak and watery and pale, but Clara has a bit of a spring in her step.
"It's one thing to be open-minded and quite another to be so open-minded your brains fall out."--Dear Abby
"Let other people push you around, and you deserve whatever bad things happen after that."--Lauren Bacall
I don't like Clara, because it feels like a maid's name, but it is more spirited than Claire. Claire is weak and watery and pale, but Clara has a bit of a spring in her step.
"It's one thing to be open-minded and quite another to be so open-minded your brains fall out."--Dear Abby
"Let other people push you around, and you deserve whatever bad things happen after that."--Lauren Bacall
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I can definitely see why some people would find that pronunciation of Clara pretentious. I think it is slightly less common of a pronunciation in the US. With the Claire pronunciation being more common. Every time I've seen a version of The Nutcracker with narration they pronounce her name CLAHR-ə / CLAR-ə. I maybe have once heard them pronounce it differently. So as a kid my first introduction to the name was the CLAHR-ə pronunciation.
Truthfully I love both pronunciations. I was hoping that Clara CLAHR-ə wouldn't seem too pretentious since Lara usually seems to be most often pronounced LAHR-ə. Well most Lara's I have met pronounce it that way. Also I see Sara pronounced SAHR-ə / SAR-ə about equally often as SER-ə.
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Truthfully I love both pronunciations. I was hoping that Clara CLAHR-ə wouldn't seem too pretentious since Lara usually seems to be most often pronounced LAHR-ə. Well most Lara's I have met pronounce it that way. Also I see Sara pronounced SAHR-ə / SAR-ə about equally often as SER-ə.
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This message was edited 9/18/2016, 10:33 AM
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In the US, the Lara with a C pronunciation is unusual and sounds a bit pretentious, unless you've got a European accent of some kind.
This is making me think that I misunderstood how the OP is pronouncing Lara. I pronounce Lara so that the A in the first syllable is the same as the A in "cat." So I pronounce Clara like Lara that way with a C in the front, and that's the only way I've ever heard any American pronounce it. If Lara instead is pronounced so that the first syllable rhymes with "car", and thus Clara is also pronounced with the first syllable rhyming with "car", then I agree with you.
This is making me think that I misunderstood how the OP is pronouncing Lara. I pronounce Lara so that the A in the first syllable is the same as the A in "cat." So I pronounce Clara like Lara that way with a C in the front, and that's the only way I've ever heard any American pronounce it. If Lara instead is pronounced so that the first syllable rhymes with "car", and thus Clara is also pronounced with the first syllable rhyming with "car", then I agree with you.
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queenv I did mean rhymes with car. Sorry for the confusion.
I was thinking that Lara only had three pronunciations but it has at least four: 1. LAHR-ə / LAR-ə first part rhymes with car in the US, 2. LAWR-ə identical to Laura, 3. LAH-rah seems to be common in Europe and is similar to 1. but has different emphasis, 4. LER-ə first part rhymes with Claire and sounds the same as an animal lair.
Most Lara's I've met pronounce their name like 1. but I have also meet a fair amount of people who pronounce it like 2. just as an alternative spelling for Laura. I assumed people would know that I didn't mean the Laura pronunciation and that 3. is uncommon in the US. I completely forgot until queenv mentioned it but I did meet a person once who used pronunciation 4. She implied that most people aren't expecting that pronunciation. She told me she has to explain her name a lot to people. I mean it is not that confusing and shouldn't be unexpected since it is like one of the Clara pronunciations only without the C. Also A's often make that sound in the English language. I was tired last night so I forgot that Lara could be pronounced like LER-ə.
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I was thinking that Lara only had three pronunciations but it has at least four: 1. LAHR-ə / LAR-ə first part rhymes with car in the US, 2. LAWR-ə identical to Laura, 3. LAH-rah seems to be common in Europe and is similar to 1. but has different emphasis, 4. LER-ə first part rhymes with Claire and sounds the same as an animal lair.
Most Lara's I've met pronounce their name like 1. but I have also meet a fair amount of people who pronounce it like 2. just as an alternative spelling for Laura. I assumed people would know that I didn't mean the Laura pronunciation and that 3. is uncommon in the US. I completely forgot until queenv mentioned it but I did meet a person once who used pronunciation 4. She implied that most people aren't expecting that pronunciation. She told me she has to explain her name a lot to people. I mean it is not that confusing and shouldn't be unexpected since it is like one of the Clara pronunciations only without the C. Also A's often make that sound in the English language. I was tired last night so I forgot that Lara could be pronounced like LER-ə.
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This message was edited 9/18/2016, 10:35 AM
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