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Mairi Kathleen

34 replies

Shenton · 16/12/2014 13:43

How would you pronounce Mairi, just want to make sure I've got it right. Thank you

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OHolyShite · 16/12/2014 13:44

I would pronounce it like Mary.

Lovely names Smile .

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MrsPresley · 16/12/2014 13:48

Is Mairi a different spelling of Mhari?

If it is then I would pronounce it Marry

How do you want to pronounce it OP?

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Shenton · 16/12/2014 13:49

Like Mary ... I was hoping that was right

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petitdonkey · 16/12/2014 13:50

I would say My-ree based on the spelling but that is because I have never seen it before.

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MakeMeWarmThisWinter · 16/12/2014 13:51

Mairi should be pronounced

'Maah-ree'

Anything else is wrong, sorry

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bluetrain · 16/12/2014 13:54

Marry. Same as Mhairi. Different from Marie or Mary.

The Mairi's that I know pronounce it Marry.

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bluetrain · 16/12/2014 13:56

Marry = mah-ree incase anyone pronounces that differently.

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TobyLerone · 16/12/2014 13:57

Mahree

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mawbroon · 16/12/2014 14:03

Mairi = Mah-ree. Definitely.

Mhairi is often used as an alternative spelling, but to be correct it should be pronounced Vah-ree.

I know there is something in the Gaelic grammar that means you use one form of the name sometimes and the other at other times, but I can't remember what it is......

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treaclesoda · 16/12/2014 14:04

I would pronounce it 'Marry'. Based solely on the fact that the only person I know who is called that pronounces it that way.

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MokunMokun · 16/12/2014 14:07

Mairi is the correct written form.

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MakeMeWarmThisWinter · 16/12/2014 14:40

'Mh' in Gaelic is a v sound. I think it's the affectionate way to say Mairi, if you're addressing her and want to be kind? But often also given as a proper name too.

It's not 'marry' as that implies a short 'a' sound where it should be longer and more like the 'a' sound in 'far' not 'cat'. Halfway between the two sounds really, same as 'Glasgow' although many English people give the 'a' in Glasgow an overly bright and short sound.

'Maah-ree'

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weegiemum · 16/12/2014 14:45

I'd say "maah-ree"

Mhairi is the ?vocative? Version. Someone is called Mairi but depending on the grammatical situation could be called Mhairi (like other words beginning with M).

My dc are native Gaelic speakers - that's where this comes from! (Don't speak a word myself, apart from spotting the naughty words!!).

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SomeSunnySunday · 16/12/2014 16:32

Mah-ree ("Marry", only with more of an "aah" sound instead of the "a")

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northernlurker · 16/12/2014 16:35

I would go for Mah-ree too. Very pretty name. I must suggest it to my sil.

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florascotia · 16/12/2014 17:17

Agree with weegiemum, MakeMe and Mokun. The habit of putting 'h' after many consonants in Gaelic to soften them is called 'lenition'. It is triggered by a wide variety of grammatical circumstances. Hence Gaelic words change beginnings as well as endings to reflect their usage. As above posters have said, 'Mairi' is the name someone would call themself, but it becomes 'Mhairi' when that person is being spoken to.


Traditionally (and grammatically) Mairi was the name written on a birth certificate. However, there is a modern fashion to put Mhairi www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/files2/stats/popular-forenames/2013/babiesnames-2013-t4.pdf Perhaps Mhairi will eventually become a separate name, in the same way that Hamish (also a vocative form) has become distinct from Seamus?

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myotherusernameisbetter · 16/12/2014 18:33

Love Mairi - that's what my boys would have been called. (If the had been girls obviously :o )

I also know a Varry which must have come from Mhairi.

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Northumberlandlass · 16/12/2014 19:09

My name is Mari , pronounced by my English friends as Mah-ree and by my scottish friends as Marry

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QueenMartha · 16/12/2014 19:25

I know a Mhairi pronounced Vah-ree, a Mhairi pronounced Mah-ree, a Mairi pronounced Mah-ree and a Marie pronounced Mah-ree. It's a minefield.

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Northumberlandlass · 16/12/2014 19:27

I don't mind having an unusual name (I think my parents made up the spelling but knew how they wanted it pronounced) BUT I have spent my entire life telling people how to say it or spell it.

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carbolicsoaprocked · 16/12/2014 21:14

In my part of Scotland Mairi is pronounced like 'Marry' but with an emphasis on the (slightly longer) 'Ma'. Mhairi to my knowledge should be the same but with a V instead of an M, but I know a Mhairi who pronounces it 'Marry'.

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mathanxiety · 16/12/2014 22:22

Nouns including proper nouns change their spelling and pronunciation in Irish and Scots Gaelic depending on grammatical case - nominative, vocative, possessive, etc.

Mairi is the nominative and the correct form of the name, pronounced Maah-ree.
'A Mhairi...' is the vocative form (pronounced 'a Vaah-ree'), and used to address or call someone whose name is Mairi if you are speaking Scots Gaelic or Irish. The vocative form really should not be used as a name as if it was the nominative. It is not the name but the form of the name used in a specific (grammatical) case.

Hamish is not only an instance of use of the vocative as nominative, but the vocative spelling has been anglicised from '(a) Sheumais...' (pr. 'a Hamish') to Hamish. Seumas (pr. Shay-mus) is the nominative. Not only does Seumas get lenited, it gets an added I in the vocative. Mairi doesn't need the I.

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Shenton · 16/12/2014 23:22

I did think by not having the Mh it might be more Mary than Narry but happy either way. ThNk you

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cloggal · 17/12/2014 06:39

Yes to most of the above,
Mairi - Marry
Mhairi - Varry, but now often Marry
Mary - Mary
Marie - can be mareee or marry.

I like Mairi Kathleen with the marry pronunciation, fwiw

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Shenton · 17/12/2014 13:56

I'm pretty happy with it, ticks every box for me

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