Name for a snow baby

But she is telling the 'ei' is wrong. that the 'ei' i use as a first language welsh speaker from a welsh speaking part of the country carmarthenshire) is wrong. I accept the 'ai' is probably anglicised thing from the area I currently live in (south wales, near swansea), but I don't accept at all that 'ay/ei' are in anyway wrong, or that Hay and Hey don't sound the same in my accent. because they do.
I also accept people butcher welsh. Seren as a perfect example of this. but it is ALSO true that the way Seren is pronounced in the north is different to how it is pronounced in the south. neither are wrong.
I also don't especially like being spoken to like an idiot. Mike is not as far as I know The Boss Of Welsh on mumsnet.

Yes, there are regional pronunciations, but on a thread where many people are not Welsh, I don't think it's wrong for Mike to emphasise the standard pronunciation, especially since the 'ai' for 'ei' thing is often an Anglicization.

Also, in the case of a minority language the fact that one parent uses a certain pronunciation doesn't automatically make it correct. Dylan Thomas pronounced his name Dillon, but that doesn't mean I have to accept that as the correct pronunciation of Dylan.

I agree gwen, completely. I'm also a linguistics graduate and what i'm mostly about is mike seeming to think her pronunciation is the only one that exists! it is simple fact that different regions of Wales has variations in accent and pronunciation the same as any other country/language. It's patronising and condescending to insist her way is the only way.

It's pointless to argue about pronunciation in writing unless we're going to use phonetic symbols.

yes! it absolutely does!

TheOriginalEmu, so if you call out "Hey!" to someone, it sounds like "Hay!"? I think not.

Also. as it goes. I personally think Eirwen is a much nicer name than Bronwen. It's almost...ALMOST....as if taste in names is subjective!

well, to me those sounds are the exact same. and to many many other people. as I said, different accents= different variations on a sound. it still stands that some parts of wales say ayv-yon and some say Eyev-yon. the same as some say eye-ree and say ay-ree.

Bronwen is a lovely name.

Eifion doesn't sound like Ayv-yon. The 'ei' is a shorter sound. It's like the 'ey' in Freya.

Bronwen?

Emma

dull I am also a welsh speaker, so i feel I am qualified as both a welsh speaker, and the parent of my child to know how it is pronounced!

Well mike several hundred welsh speakers i know personally wouldn't agree with you! Ay (like in hay) is in the name Eifion for instance. and I would say ay and air are different. Ay= hay, way, say Air=well, Air for fair.
Accents can vary between different towns, unless you've been to every single town in wales, i don't think you are qualified to say it 'doesn't exist'. My grandparents didn't speak english at all until they were in their 30s, they used that sound.

Holly

Robyn

"when I pronounce 'Meurig' (Mayrick)"

Sorry, but Meurig is not pronounced like Mayrick. It's pronounced like the month of May and then rig as in rig a boat.

I can understand people not being able to pronounce 'ch' and 'll' and 'rh' and sounds that don't exist in English, but people failing to pronounce Dewi properly baffle me. There are no difficult sounds in it.

that was a joke tbh...I have lived in Wales for some years and am just now getting around to pronouncing it...

Also I think Mike might be a woman..

the English do mash up perfectly good Welsh names/words though, in general.

For example, I have one acquaintance who insists on saying 'Dowie' for 'Dewi' and another who corrects me when I pronounce 'Meurig' (Mayrick) as she is convinced it is 'Myoorig'.

gah for typos .

I know. Most of my family can though!
What I mean is that I wouldn't presume to know how every dialect of spoken English pronounced different words. No one can no that about their own language unless they are travelling constantly round said county/countries doing research.
mike's comment to TheOriginalEmu is supercilious and insulting. I think she knows how people pronounce her child's name, Mike does not because he isn't there. It's simple.

@ properlavs - that is different.

Honestly the average English person cannot even say ' Llanfair­pwllgwyngyll­gogery­chwyrn­drobwll­llan­tysilio­gogo­goch ' properly!

Ah Ok, I am properlavs I am fluent and native speaker of the english language. I am an expert in my language. I have spoken it all my life and I know better then all you other native english speakers out there. Come to me if you are not sure about how to pronounce things and I will put you right.

yes Mike is the resident Welsh language expert...(also known as a 'Welsh speaker')

mike are you MN residential welsh language expert whose knowledge surpasses all others?

I know a RL Gwenhwyfar. Gaynor/Gaenor is more popular and is a form of Guinevere.

TheOriginalEmu, it's not a regional accent thing. The 'Ay' sound doesn't occur in Welsh.
Who on earth would want their child to be called Airy however it was spelt?