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Original poster

Who actually pronounced the last syllable in Eleanor like -nor?

166 replies

misslucy92 · 09/01/2023 14:15

This is mainly for people in the Uk and Ireland (or outside of the Us) as I know that in the Us -nor is used.

But I often read that in the Uk people say -na. I don’t know if I can explain it well but I mean -nor vs -na (sort of like Elena is said sometimes). But I only like -nor, personally.

So could I get away with naming her Eleanor and saying -nor in the Uk? Do some of you pronounce it -nor?

Does Elinor change anything?

sort of wondering if I could use -nor or whether I should look for a new name. I like both spellings Eleanor and Elinor.

Also name your region or where you are approximately (only if you feel comfortable).

Thanks.

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TheBirdintheCave · 10/01/2023 17:59

@ZoyaTheDestroyer Ok. So... the word 'nor' is pronounced 'naw' (agreed as I say it like that too).

What do the people who say Eleanor with a 'nah' ending say for the word 'nor'? 🤷🏻‍♀️

Surely if it was an accent thing then that word and ending would be pronounced the same however you say it in your accent. E.g. if you say it with a 'nah' ending then that should be how you pronounce the word 'nor' too, yes? Otherwise it's just a choice and not an accent thing?

I think that is what the person who originally brought that up was referring to.

ZoyaTheDestroyer · 10/01/2023 16:10

@Purplemagnolias here you go. Watch the first ten seconds.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=klmsCRxWYNs

ClaudiaWankleman · 10/01/2023 16:04

Purplemagnolias · 10/01/2023 15:42

You say Neither Naw (to rhyme with Saw) for Neither Nor?

Yes. Do the tiniest bit of digging around in your brain and you will have come into contact with someone who pronounces it like that.

ZoyaTheDestroyer · 10/01/2023 15:52

Purplemagnolias · 10/01/2023 15:42

You say Neither Naw (to rhyme with Saw) for Neither Nor?

Yes. Have you never heard an RP English accent?!

Purplemagnolias · 10/01/2023 15:42

You say Neither Naw (to rhyme with Saw) for Neither Nor?

JoyPeaceHealth · 10/01/2023 15:42

A lot of people do not grasp that the r is pronounced in most of the world.
They will attempt to spell out a name phonetically and insert an r where there isn't one!

ZoyaTheDestroyer · 10/01/2023 15:40

Purplemagnolias · 10/01/2023 15:37

Are we still not grasping the concept of rhoticity in regional accents?

So non rhotic speakers pronounce Nor as Nah?

Neither Nor becomes Neither Nah ConfusedConfused?

No, 'naw', to rhyme with 'saw' or 'claw'.

I do not understand the MNers who insist on pretending that they do not know how most of England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand speak. I am not Scottish and do not live in Scotland but I understand what the accents sound like.

Purplemagnolias · 10/01/2023 15:37

Are we still not grasping the concept of rhoticity in regional accents?

So non rhotic speakers pronounce Nor as Nah?

Neither Nor becomes Neither Nah ConfusedConfused?

ZoyaTheDestroyer · 10/01/2023 15:32

TrashyPanda · 10/01/2023 09:34

Agree it is “nor”.

there is an R - it’s not there for artistic purposes - it has an actual function.

Scotland.

Are we still not grasping the concept of rhoticity in regional accents?

Please do tell us how you pronounce 'knight', 'wrap', and 'debt'.

Suedomin · 10/01/2023 15:00

I'm from the midlands and would pronounce it Elen Nur. Unless the person said they pronounced their name nor then I would use that

ShutTheFrontDory · 10/01/2023 14:35

Eleanor with the NOR. But then I'm Italian and we pronounce the name like that. I have no idea how anyone can think it's pronounced like Elena...

Ladyofthelake53 · 10/01/2023 14:25

I get called Helen, Helena, Elaine

hippoherostandinghere · 10/01/2023 12:55

I'm Northern Irish and would pronounce it with an -er ending: el-n-er but then we have a hard r sound here in NI.

ZZTopGuitarSolo · 10/01/2023 12:35

We have an Eleanor in our family. DH and I pronounce it ‘nuh’ at the end and our kids pronounce it ‘nor’.

No one gets arsey about it. We just have different accents.

Purplemagnolias · 10/01/2023 11:48

Elenah like Susannah or Savannah etc

Purplemagnolias · 10/01/2023 11:47

Maybe those who prefer the -nah pronunciation should spell it Elenah?

Stinkycarseat · 10/01/2023 10:24

I’m from Newcastle - If I was reading it out loud I would naturally say it ‘nuh’. But if the person was introduced as ‘nor’ I was say that.

PAFMO · 10/01/2023 10:07

TrashyPanda · 10/01/2023 09:34

Agree it is “nor”.

there is an R - it’s not there for artistic purposes - it has an actual function.

Scotland.

Only in rhotic accents. As has been said a thousand times. Scottish accents are rhotic. The R is pronounced.

What about the G in dough? The L in salmon? The H in hour?

PAFMO · 10/01/2023 10:06

Consufed · 09/01/2023 23:10

ELL-en-uh.

The 'nor' sounds odd to me. Most people say TRACT-uh (or TRACT-errr if they have a rhotic accent). I don't know anyone who'd say TRACK-tor where tor would rhyme with more.

That's because the stress in tractor is on the first syllable, so even if the R was pronounced it wouldn't be "tracTOR" any more than it would be "EleaNOR" It's just that the R would be pronounced as an /r/ and not as a schwa.

Purplemagnolias · 10/01/2023 09:54

there is an R - it’s not there for artistic purposes - it has an actual function.

This

TrashyPanda · 10/01/2023 09:36

A friend called Eleanor moved to England hated the way her name was pronounced so much that she changed it to Elle.

when we met again, after many years, she said it was fine for me to still use Eleanor, bcos I pronounced it properly!

Leafer · 10/01/2023 09:34

Ell-eh-ner with main emphasis on first syllable.
from Ireland

TrashyPanda · 10/01/2023 09:34

Agree it is “nor”.

there is an R - it’s not there for artistic purposes - it has an actual function.

Scotland.

Purplemagnolias · 10/01/2023 09:29

I say El-eh-nor for Eleanor

El-eh-nor-ah for Eleanora

goldfootball · 10/01/2023 08:57

also, there have been many MN threads about this since I’ve been on here and people get arsey about how people say it. And that happens in real life too.