To ask how you would pronounce this name?

[Notss]

Hi all,

Sorry if this is the wrong place:

My little sister is expecting her first child and if it is a girl wants to call her “Sian”.

She sent it to me in a text and I replied “What - like See-Ann?” And she told me I was being daft.

So how would you pronounce such a name?

@tillytrotter I was thinking of a Siobhan story too!
A teacher I know was reading the register and read Siobhan as “Sha-vorn” but nobody answered. At the end of the register, a girl at the back hadn’t had her name called and said she was “Sigh-oh-ban” - it seems when naming her, her parents had seen the name Siobhan but never heard it pronounced and decided to pronounce it themselves as “Sigh-oh-ban” but by secondary school she’d never come across the “Sha-vorn” pronunciation.

Aha, I know no-one cares, but I've remembered what other major spelling change happened because of the introduction of the printing press!

It was the phasing out of œ and æ (if anyone's web browser doesn't display the symbols, those symbols are a conjoined oe and a conjoined ae. The techy jargon for those symbols is ligature). Various Greek origin were customarily written with ligatures, as in phœnix and encyclopædia. However, what was an easy stroke of the quill for a scribe was far more troublesome for the early printers, because œ and æ were so rarely needed that they wouldn't have gone to the expense of getting plates for such symbols when they set up their business. When it did come up, they just made do with ordinary oe and ae instead.

And that's yet another way in which the printing press led to spelling reform!

Jassy Thank you very much!

This thread would be two posts long if people knew - and were easily able to type - the IPA, and I don’t mean the ale. International Phohetic Alphabet, a great invention used for example in pronunciation dictionaries, where each sound regardless of accent or language has the same consistent symbol. ‘Sian’ is most commonly pronounced /ʃaːn/. Long s stands for ‘sh’ sound, and : indicates a long vowel. Slashes are just brackets.

Of course, then the thread wouldn’t be nearly as entertaining.

Yes! Someone else who's with me!

I suggested that, too, Suspiciously. The idea hasn't taken off yet, oddly.

I also thought it was see-Ann when my friend had a baby but yes it’s Shhaarrrnnn.
X

I don’t think it’s daft not knowing. There’s loads of names that are pronounced nothing like they’re written. I have 2 friends whose children are both called neve. One is spelt neve & the other is Niamh

Niamh is an Irish name and is pronounced exactly as it’s written, for Irish (as in Gaelic/Gaelige) speakers (not Irish people speaking English).

JamieVardys, I care very much - spelling is fascinating!

Exactly, well said Anousagusaris. People tend to forget that Irish Gaelic and Welsh are languages as linguistically different from English as, say, Russian. And Welsh and Irish names don’t have ‘weird’ spellings - they have perfectly sensible Irish and Welsh spellings.

Yes. I’m Welsh, and it is much easier to pronounce welsh words than English ones once you understand the alphabet. No stupid things like Loughborough ...

I’m intrigued by those who say they pronounce it “Shan”

Clearly all the sharn shahn & shaan people are pronouncing it the same, but surely “shan” doesn’t sound the same in any accent. Does it?

It's pronounced 'Shan' not Sharn!!! There is no 'r' sound in the name in Welsh/Gaelic!!!

Yep, wonderfully phonetic. I have the equivalent of a grade C in GCSE Welsh which means I understand nothing except how to say my name, but I can pronounce it (very badly).

In Welsh, you don't have to suddenly drop everything to explain to your newly independent reader that heart isn't pronounced like hear-t, or why there is a silent -b on lamb.

Not much difference between Shan, Shahn and Shaan in my accent. Last one is very slightly longer.

lilly RTFT HTH
It doesnt rhyme with Can or dan or pan does it

Welsh and Irish names don’t have ‘weird’ spellings - they have perfectly sensible Irish and Welsh spellings

I don't know about welsh, but Irish is actally more phoentic language than English. Most of the words are spelt exactly how they sound!

Its just knowing the phonics that the letter sounds make.

So what if you thought it was See - Ann ?
Why is everyone so self conscious and needy these days ?
It's a Welsh name.....nobody cares if you didn't know how it was pronounced.
It's not the end of the world.

I don't think you're silly but I am surprised you haven't come across any Sians before. I must have known five or 6 and grew up in England. None had Welsh blood as far as I'm aware.

Just call her Myfanwy, save any arguments over pronunciation.

lilly RTFT HTH
It doesnt rhyme with Can or dan or pan does it

In a Scottish accent it does, yes.

My niece is called Sian pronounced Sharn.

However, I'm not sure that is really her name since the vicar christened her Sean!

It's not that uncommon! I'm a welsh speaker, it's not exactly like Sharn but that's how most English people say it and it's close enough. The /a/ sound is more nasal and high pitched, the sound doesn't exist in English.

Needs a little 'hat' on the /a/

Clearly all the sharn shahn & shaan people are pronouncing it the same, but surely “shan” doesn’t sound the same in any accent. Does it?

In my accent there isn't really a long A and a short A sound. Pam and palm sound identical to me.

Posted too soon!

So I'd guess all the people saying 'Shan' are probably similar? No real concept of a long A in their everyday speech.

So how do you pronounce "car"?

So how do you pronounce "car"?

Just exactly as it's written. Short A sound I suppose? But then everything I say with an A in it has a short A sound!