How to pronounce "viran"??!!

[AyrshireKaty]

Have just bought ORT Time Chronicles for the boys to read - but we're arguing over how to pronounce "viran"! I reckon "vir" as in "virus", they say "vir" as in "virulent"! Any thoughts?!

[bamboobutton]

i would say it

vi to rhyme with eye

[AyrshireKaty]

That's what I thought too.

[koalalou]

can you give a context to the word? is it a name? if so, what nationality would you say is most likely?

[EdithWeston]

Neither - I'd read it as "VEER-an" (Russian and Latin influences at work).

[blackeyedsusan]

long I because there is only one r ..

[mrsbaffled]

I think it's Vi (rhymes with eye) - ran...

[Bourbonchops]

Oooh we've been reading one of those this evening!! (far too excited...)
I just pronounced it Vyran. I didn't even imagine that would be incorrect actually.

[newtermnewname]

Call him Keith instead

[rabbitstew]

For a person's name, I'd pronounce it Veeran, for some reason - nothing to do with Russian or Latin influences, it just somehow feels more like a person's name if it's Veeran... V-eye-ran sounds too much like a pharmaceutical company and "virulent" Viran doesn't have enough emphasis to it... Or maybe it's Viraan! Yes, perhaps I favour Viraaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhnnnnnnnnn.

Frankly, what a stupid name to call someone in a reading book for children! What's the point in learning to mispronounce an uncommon name? Or are they supposed to read it phonically?......... The mind boggles.

[Bourbonchops]

Well in the book they are a group of ''baddies'' - the Virans, so not somebody's name as such but a collection of people.

[rabbitstew]

Definitely V-eye-rans, then - they sound bad!

[Tinkerisdead]

I knew an asian guy called viran. It was vi (like vick) ran.

[RueDeWakening]

What TheDoctorsWife said! I figured it would be an asian name (Indian probably). Probably influenced by friends with somewhat similar names who are Indian.

[sjuperwolef]

i read it as viran - veerin

but i have never heard it out loud so am prob wrong ..

[omnishambles]

Its Vi as in vinegar and then just run but not pronouncing the r so much so it all goes together and the run is sort of crossed with ren. Its a very common Indian boys name - theres a few in ds' school. The emphasis is on the first syllable.

[Badgercub]

Google?

www.forvo.com/word/viran/

[rabbitstew]

But I thought it had been established it isn't a person's name in the book - it's the name of a group of baddies. Are we to suppose they all share the same name, their leader has that name and narcissistic tendencies, and/or that they are fighting a group of goodies called the Sanjeevs, or the Michaels? Or could we suppose that in this context, the name is not connected to an Indian boy at all? Maybe AyrshireKaty could let us know whether the leader of the baddies looks Indian, as that would be a clue... Or perhaps we should contact the authors and ask them what on earth possessed them to choose that word in the first place.
ps I wonder if we could rustle up the existence of the same name, pronounced differently, in another country? Perhaps it's a common name in Romania, only there it's pronounced "Roger."

[AyrshireKaty]

Tee hee, haven't checked in for a few days but I'm having such a giggle reading these posts! Thanks everyone! For those who haven't had the delight of reading the Time Chronicles, the Virans are indeed a race of baddies who are trying to destroy history and actually, in the illustrations, they look like Frankenstein's monster, only with white faces and no dodgy stitching or neck bolts!!!