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Original poster

Opinions on Sorley?

168 replies

DoveDave · 25/04/2017 19:59

Thanks!

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florascotianew · 26/04/2017 14:55

Anyone still struggling, try this:

Sohrr-uh-lay or Sohrr-uh-lee

The 'uh' is a a tiny pause or breath rather than a sound.

TroysMammy · 26/04/2017 14:46

No especially if you are in the habit of referring to family members as 'r' Peter, 'r' Steve, 'r' Sorley.

Sophronia · 26/04/2017 14:42

Yes, even with a rhotic accent I can't understand the difference?

Ontopofthesunset · 26/04/2017 14:18

But if you live in the SE and several other areas you don't roll your rs so you don't pronounce them in the middle or at the end of words. Sawley, sorely and Sorley are all pronounced exactly the same way if you have my accent, just like paw and poor or raw and roar. I can make a rhotic r sound but I still don't understand the difference between Sorrrley and Sorrrely.

NataliaOsipova · 26/04/2017 14:09

I'm struggling with this too and I'm considered to be pretty much "RP" in my speech. I can only get Sorrly to sound radically different from "Sore-lee" if I attempt a poorly executed Scottish accent,,,,!

YNK · 26/04/2017 14:03

They sound nothing like each other if you're talking properly!
I honestly think some of you must struggle to be understood!

Sophronia · 26/04/2017 11:59

Sorrlee and Sorely sound the name to me too.

MaroonPencil · 26/04/2017 11:43

See for me with my Essex accent Sorrlee sounds exactly the same as Sorely. I regret my lack of Rs but I simply can't make them happen.

Choccyhobnob · 26/04/2017 11:41

I think the problem definitely stems from whether or not you have a rhotic accent. I can't seem to pronounce it any other way than rhymes with Crawley/sawley no matter how many times it's been explained it's apparently different?? I'm in the southeast and saw and sore are pronounced the same.

NannyR · 26/04/2017 11:31

It's not difficult to understand that things may be pronounced slightly differently in different accents, especially names that may be common in one area and unheard of in another.
I live near a town called Morley, pronounced more-ly so having never met someone called sorley (or heard it pronounced) I would assume it was pronounced similarly.

YNK · 26/04/2017 11:19

It is a place name too - Sorley Square in Portree, Skye.
Pronounced Sorrlee. Why is that so difficult?

Lindy2 · 26/04/2017 11:11

I still can't work out how to pronounce it. It definitely doesn't work well with a Home Counties accent. Poorly Sorely Confused.
I actually didn't spot that it was in baby names at first and opened the thread to find out where in the UK Sorley was. It sounds like a place name.

Nellooo · 26/04/2017 10:56

Sorry, Sorley sounds like the name of a grey, depressing mid-sized market town.

FeedTheSharkAndItWIllBite · 26/04/2017 10:56

Maroon

Yes, DH is also able to roll the r the right way (I actually do roll my r but it's a throaty one... R's are complicated things....)

BUT; according to some sources Somerled is apparently not related to the name Sumarliði and I maybe therefore have no good reason to just be like... "eh, I use a modern Scandi/Swedish pronunciation"? huh. confusing stuff. (the namebook we have from MIL would contain wrong infos, in that case Wink)

MaroonPencil · 26/04/2017 10:46

I don't know! I might have to get Scottish DH to read it, I don't have the "R"s.

user1483387154 · 26/04/2017 10:41

awful, sounds like they are in pain

FeedTheSharkAndItWIllBite · 26/04/2017 10:40

Maroon

Would you pronounce Somerled the "Scottish way" or with a (admittdely modern) Scandi/Swedish pronunciation? I love the name and this thread seems to suggest that it isn't this out there... (But the Scottish pronunciation is a tongue breaker for me personally...)

MaroonPencil · 26/04/2017 10:35

Thank you Yes, good to know before I come to read the book to my children! (Camerons at the Castle - Somerled is a hunky young red-haired Laird as far as I remember.)

user1471456357 · 26/04/2017 09:04

Absolutely love it, I'm Scottish thoughGrin

Bathshebaneverdene · 26/04/2017 09:02

I guess it depends where you live? I'm in Scotland but have never heard the name.

FamilySpartan · 26/04/2017 08:32

Sounds like an affliction where you're sore and poorly. Sorry.

YesILikeItToo · 26/04/2017 08:28

maroon - it's pronounced sorr-lay like all these other names. It goes with Chummly and Fanshaw (which I won't be trying to spell out) in my head, although not from the same places.

flumpybear · 26/04/2017 08:25

What about Sorrel?

Aquamarine1029 · 26/04/2017 08:24

It's awful. 'You're sorely mistaken' is all I can think about. It's just a negative word.

FeedTheSharkAndItWIllBite · 26/04/2017 08:02

YNK or actually. I think it depends. Seeing as the name is Norse in origin I (Swedish is my dad's first language) kind of automatically used that pronunciation when I saw the name for the first time (some time ago now, in a baby name book we got from MIL.) but I guess one could still use the pronunciation of Sorley?

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