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Hello,
I have a conundrum. I need help with the pronunciation of the name/surname Muir. I have always pronounced it MYOOR (rhyming with "pure"). However, my brother and I were talking about John Muir, the naturalist, and my brother (a biologist) said that everyone where he lives and works says it MEER (rhyming with "here"). SO, my question to you is....how do you say it and where are you from? As far as I know the traditional (Scottish) pronunciation is the 1st. And maybe it's only John Muir's name that gets pronounced the 2nd way, too. So if you have ANY info about either, it would be much appreciated!
I hate saying things the "wrong" way! haha
I have a conundrum. I need help with the pronunciation of the name/surname Muir. I have always pronounced it MYOOR (rhyming with "pure"). However, my brother and I were talking about John Muir, the naturalist, and my brother (a biologist) said that everyone where he lives and works says it MEER (rhyming with "here"). SO, my question to you is....how do you say it and where are you from? As far as I know the traditional (Scottish) pronunciation is the 1st. And maybe it's only John Muir's name that gets pronounced the 2nd way, too. So if you have ANY info about either, it would be much appreciated!
I hate saying things the "wrong" way! haha
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Replies
I'm from Canada and I've never heard Muir pronounced as anything but MYOOR. I knew someone named Muir and that's the way she pronounced it.
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thanks! -
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I don't think it's a question of the correct pronunciation, just that the Scots pronunciation of the U sound differs from that of most other English speakers. A Scot would pronounce the name with a U like the French, or like a German U with an umlaut, 'Mür'. The Scot would also trill the letter R in the name, but I don't think they would expect all non-Scots to imitate them.
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