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Original poster

How would you pronounce Emer?

87 replies

D0ni · 19/07/2016 08:33

How would you pronounce the Irish name Emer?

Just wondering if it would be mis pronounced a lot from the spelling?

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DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 19/07/2016 12:02

Ee-mur

Mov1ngOn · 19/07/2016 12:01

You're missing the point of the thread flogging. People from different regions will pronounce an unknown word differently. So the question wasn't "how is it pronounced?" obviously E-mur but how would you, not having seen it before, pronounce it.

Floggingmolly · 19/07/2016 11:58

It's Ee-mur. And it's not "how would you pronounce" (Emma, seriously?!), that's how it is pronounced.

Sophronia · 19/07/2016 11:55

Eee-murr

squoosh · 19/07/2016 11:15

To rhyme with............

How would you pronounce Emer?
PamBagnallsGotACollage · 19/07/2016 10:04

The 'er' in emergency, obvs!

(Must complete thoughts before posting!)

PamBagnallsGotACollage · 19/07/2016 10:03

Also...I would say the last syllable of Emma and Emer the same way but differently to Emergency.

PamBagnallsGotACollage · 19/07/2016 10:01

And most names will be pronounced differently depending on the speakers accent.

PamBagnallsGotACollage · 19/07/2016 10:01

2nd, the 'ma' of Emma and the 'er' of Emer would be pronounced the same in many English accents.

Why do people find it so hard to understand that not everyone has the same accent as them?!

Knowing it was an Irish name my guess would have been Ee-Muh (with my English pronunciation- not pronouncing the /r/ sound and with a Schwa on the end). But if I hadn't known it was Irish I would have thought it might be an invented spelling for Emma. With the 'Em' from Emma and the 'er' or Schwa sound from teacher or brother.

Emma as a pronunciation for Emer actually makes a lot of sense but it's not the only pronunciation that makes a lot of sense. There are plenty of names that have different pronunciations depending on accent: Michelle, Elaine. And plenty that have multiple spellings: Aaron, Aren, Arun.

Mov1ngOn · 19/07/2016 09:45

I'd pronounce Emer, Emma and emer(gency) all the same.

Mov1ngOn · 19/07/2016 09:44

Yup the way I'd say Emma is emmer which is how I'd say emergency. The "ma" here is the same as "mer". So yes I'd say emmagency. Hope that helps!

It would be easier if we were all sat hearing the sounds as it is hard to write what you say when it seems obvious to you!

DoinItFine · 19/07/2016 09:43

No, a fada would make it Aymer.

Anyway, Emer is not in written in Irish.

It's in English, using English letter sounds.

Like Kevin.

LokisUnderpants · 19/07/2016 09:41

Jaysis Émer not Émet...

LokisUnderpants · 19/07/2016 09:40

If you're going to spell it Emer you need the fada over the first e. Émet to make it eeemer otherwise it's em mer.

2nds · 19/07/2016 09:39

My question was would you say EMMAgency? Lots of people are saying that they would pronounce the name as Emma yet Emer is closer to the emer at the start of emergency and I've never ever heard anyone say Emmagency, so surely the ma part of Emma wouldn't even come into it, besides Emma is a different name.

disappoint15 · 19/07/2016 09:38

The confusion is because the first e can be pronounced two ways. It is a short eh sound in Elaine ( it's not Ee-lane) and Elizabeth and emergency.

I didn't know Emer was Irish, thought it was a Turkish boys' name (don't know why) and that therefore the English rules wouldn't apply. Actually if I'd known it was Irish I would not have applied English pronunciation rules either, though they are inconsistent anyway as the examples above show.

Primaryteach87 · 19/07/2016 09:36

^pronounce not province!

Primaryteach87 · 19/07/2016 09:36

Okay I see what you're saying about the magic e. It's a nice name and I'm sure Irish people will province it properly! Us English types might get it wrong, so you'd need to (patiently) correct us. If you don't mind doing that, it's a pretty name.

gingerboy1912 · 19/07/2016 09:31

Em er

ExcellentWorkThereMary · 19/07/2016 09:31

I would pronounce it Ee-mur but if spelled Eimear I would say eye-meer as I've never seen that before.

Mov1ngOn · 19/07/2016 09:30

Emma = emmer in my southern accent so yes emmagency is emergency. Can't at the moment think how to say it differently!

I can say eee mur rather than emmer/Emma so once corrected I'd know.

Natsku · 19/07/2016 09:23

I'd pronounce it Em-er but clearly I'm wrong.

CodewordRochambeau · 19/07/2016 09:23

would you say Emmagency instead of emergency?

Um, yes. I know how to pronounce Emer but that is close to an RP pronunciation - more like 'eh-MERgency'.

RastafarianTargaryen · 19/07/2016 09:20

Emma Confused Hmm

It's Eee-mur. I would spell it Eimear though.

NeedACleverNN · 19/07/2016 09:15

Ee-mer here too.

Soon as I saw it and I'm in Lincolnshire

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