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Original poster

How do you pronounce Beatrice?

59 replies

Difficultchoice · 16/11/2015 10:12

beer-triss or bee-a-triss

Or some other way?

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IoraRua · 16/11/2015 16:24

If you pronounce

ThenLaterWhenItGotDark · 16/11/2015 16:22

Bee and beer do not sound the same, of course they don't. One has one syllable and the other has two.

But Beer-triss and Bee-a-triss do. Unless the OP is pronouncing that middle A like the A in cat. Which I doubt.

timelytess · 16/11/2015 15:47

Bee and Beer do not sound the same. Lancashire born and bred.
You can drown your sorrows by swallowing beer. Swallowing a bee is a whole different ball game.

MitzyLeFrouf · 16/11/2015 15:45
Hmm

The whole bloody point is that 'bee' and 'beer' don't sound the same to everybody. They may to you, they don't to me.

ThenLaterWhenItGotDark · 16/11/2015 15:41

They do sound the same because they are the same!

Hipotle · 16/11/2015 15:40

I know of a Beatrice in a Scandinavian country who gets called Bay-a-treece. It sounds lovely when you hear it!

MitzyLeFrouf · 16/11/2015 15:35

I know!

You said 'What exactly would be the difference between beer-triss and bee-a-triss?' implying they both sound the same to you.

ThenLaterWhenItGotDark · 16/11/2015 15:33

But rhotic accents don't add a R where there isn't one! They just pronounce one where there is! /car/ /bar/ as opposed to a non-rhotic /ca:/ /ba:/ etc.

timelytess · 16/11/2015 15:18

beer-triss or if I'm being careful, bee-triss.
the r is for the a in bea.

if it were my girl, I'd want her to be Bee-triss not Beer-triss.

if Beatrice is Bee-triss, why is Beata 'Bay ah tah'

SevenOfNineTrue · 16/11/2015 15:17

Bee-a-triss

MitzyLeFrouf · 16/11/2015 15:16

You asked 'What exactly would be the difference between beer-triss and bee-a-triss?'. I've tried to explain that there's a big difference for people with rhotic accents.

Beer-triss sounds nothing like bee-a-triss in my accent.

BBQsAreSooooOverrated · 16/11/2015 15:16

Bee a triss

ThenLaterWhenItGotDark · 16/11/2015 15:14

"Exactly. That's why 'beer-triss' makes no sense to me."

Which is why I asked what the difference was between the two in the OP Grin

MitzyLeFrouf · 16/11/2015 15:14

But I know that people with non-rhotic accents don't pronounce the r in 'beer', hence posters saying they pronounce Beatrice as beer-triss.

ThenLaterWhenItGotDark · 16/11/2015 15:13

In fact, the only variation I've ever heard (obviously apart from actual foreign pronunciations like the Italian one above) have been in the final syllable where some pronounce it /tris/ and some with a slightly more neutral schwa sound.

MitzyLeFrouf · 16/11/2015 15:12

'As there is no (letter) R in Beatrice, no-one is going to add a /r/ sound surely?'

Exactly. That's why 'beer-triss' makes no sense to me.

ThenLaterWhenItGotDark · 16/11/2015 15:11

(no letter R in the first syllable, clearly, even us northerners can see the one in the second Wink)

ThenLaterWhenItGotDark · 16/11/2015 15:10

I'm not from the south-east either.

As there is no (letter) R in Beatrice, no-one is going to add a /r/ sound surely?

IoraRua · 16/11/2015 15:01

I'm Irish, I'd pronounce it Bee-a-triss. Or Bee-triss, possibly.

MitzyLeFrouf · 16/11/2015 14:50

Like a Worzel?

Or maybe an Irish person, a Scottish person, an American person.........

Not everyone is from the South East of England! Some people are quite fond of pronouncing their 'r's you know.

Sunshine511 · 16/11/2015 14:50

Well I'm Scottish and beer-triss and bee-a-triss sound very different, I suppose it depends on the accent.

I would say bee-a-triss Smile

mirren3 · 16/11/2015 14:49

I have an aunt Beatrice, we all call her Beet-ris. No "r"or "a" in the middle, don't know if it makes any difference, but we're Scottish.

ThenLaterWhenItGotDark · 16/11/2015 14:48

What exactly would be the difference between beer-triss and bee-a-triss?

Unless we are pronouncing "beer" like a Worzel?

PrimalLass · 16/11/2015 14:42

Bee-a-triss

Reiltin · 16/11/2015 14:35

Bee-a-tris

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