Saoirse - How to pronounce?

[Deathraystare]

My friends in bookclub were discussing how to pronounce this name. We had just seen little women and were talking about the actress. One of the bookclub ladies is Irish but was no help! Also one of my colleagues on reception but she is not around at the moment so can't ask her.

Does it rhyme with Scorcher? What does it sound like?

Apologies if this has been asked before and if so does anyone have a link?

Thanks!

Ser-sha

Ser-sha

The first syllable is sort of halfway between Seer & Ser and second syllable is sha.

You have two options depending which part of Ireland you are from

Seer-sha
Sayr-sha

In both cases the stress is on the first syllable so the final a is a really a schwa.

Ser-sha or Seer-sha

I think the Saoirse Ronan pronounces it more like Ser-sha.

Ooh that was quick! Thank you lovelies!!

Ser -sha

m.youtube.com/watch?v=znCXvlhYV-Y

Audio of the pronounciation above

If you break it down to the phonetic pronunciation of each letter, and say it's quick, then it's easy to pronounce imo

S-A-O-I-R-S-E
S-ay-or-ee-r-sh-eh

S followed by broad vowel (a) = Soft S sound

Saoirse Ronan herself pronounces it with quite a thick Dublin accent - so it sounds like Sur-sha when she pronounces it.

S followed by slender vowel (e) = Hard S sound - like -sh

Gosh - what a jumble I've made there. *say it quickly

Second last sentence should be last sentence.

Ser-sha

Audio of the pronounciation above

The easiest way to describe it is Say-eer-sha

It's not quite Sersha as some have stated. But you'd need to be able to pick up on nuances in language to notice it.

I also struggle with Clodagh (sp?)

I also struggle with Clodagh

It rhymes with soda.

Depends what part of ireland you're from really.
I'm from n.i and I've heard it pronounced
Ser-sha
Sayr-sha
Sur-sha
It certainly depends on dialect but none of them are wrong as such.
Clodagh is simply clo-da

Search for saoirse Ronan pronounces her name, there's a fabulous clip of her singing it! I can't link it, sorry

Clodagh is Clo-da
Seir-sha.

Sear sha

From an online Irish dictionary, with audio of the three dialects: www.teanglann.ie/en/fuaim/saoirse
However, Saoirse Ronan pronounces her name ser-sha so if you're referring to her it's fine to say either: www.dailyedge.ie/saoirse-ronan-pronounce-2537487-Jan2016/

Cheers all (from one that used to say Siob-Han!)

"Saoirse, it's like inertia," - according to Saoirse Ronan.

The way she pronounces it is not how an Irish speaker would pronounce it. She pronounces it with a Dublin accent. Her pronunciation bears no relation to the correct pronunciation. But it's her name, so she can pronounce it however the fuck she feels like.