Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask how you would pronounce this name?

647 replies

Notss · 18/09/2018 15:45

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?

OP posts:
Fresta · 21/09/2018 13:54

So how do you pronounce Sian Seeing or naan (bread) in a scottish accent?

YeTalkShiteHen · 21/09/2018 13:55

N-aaaa-n bread (longer aaaa sound not actually as long as I’ve written)

Actually that’s a good analogy because naan and Sian have the same aaaa sound the way I say them (Scottish)

EthelThePiratesDaughter · 21/09/2018 14:03

mostly in some parts of England

Most parts of England TBH.

I do not have an unusual accent in any way. Quite the opposite.

CountFosco · 21/09/2018 14:56

Those that roll the r are in the minority aren't they?

All the Scots, all the Irish, all the Americans, all the Indians, 70 years ago the rhotic map of England suggestes large areas of England. MOST English speakers pronounce the letter 'r', not pronouncing the 'r' is a regional dialect from the SE of England that has spread north over the last 100 years. I suspect the teaching of phonics in English schools has accelerated that spread. It's cultural imperialism!

Seeingadistance · 21/09/2018 15:06

@Fresta

What YeTalkShiteHen said. Shan and naan rhyme when I say them.

Fresta · 21/09/2018 15:07

So you are telling me that most people in England pronounce roll the r in words like barn etc. Bollocks!

Fresta · 21/09/2018 15:10

Seeing, so you do you pronounce shan as 'shaan' or is it that pronounce naan as 'nan'?

parkermoppy · 21/09/2018 15:15

I'm not sure there can be such a thing as a silent R? In a word with no R in it, and no R when it's pronounced - then surely the R doesn't exist?

Seeingadistance · 21/09/2018 15:16

@Fresta

Shan, naan and nan - all the same.

Seeingadistance · 21/09/2018 15:19

I'm not sure there can be such a thing as a silent R? In a word with no R in it, and no R when it's pronounced - then surely the R doesn't exist?

You'd think that, wouldn't you? But apparently that silent R must be inserted where it doesn't actually exist, just so that some people know not to pronounce it. Or something like that.

LuluJakey1 · 21/09/2018 15:21

Sharn. University flatmate was Welsh, called Sian, pronounced it Sharn.

YeTalkShiteHen · 21/09/2018 15:21

My friend Lorna, who spent a lot of time on the phone with non-rhotic speakers would definitely tell you there is such a thing .

The lack of r in Lorna when said by non rhotic speakers really irritated her.

Fresta · 21/09/2018 15:25

seeing, that doesn't really tell me how you say them though? I really can't imagine how they can all be pronounced the same unless you are pronouncing naan with a short a sound as in cat.

Seeingadistance · 21/09/2018 15:26

A quick google provides maps of England, showing that in the recent past many more English people than now did roll their Rs. Even though that number has reduced, in some areas of England it is still the norm to roll Rs.

CountFosco is correct to say that it is cultural imperialism.

Fresta · 21/09/2018 15:29

Yeah, in some places as said before they roll the r, but not in most places as claimed above.

PavlovaFaith · 21/09/2018 15:29

I had a friend Siân, pronounced Sharn. Lots of people pronounced it Cyan.

Seeingadistance · 21/09/2018 15:32

@Fresta

Yes, I'm pronouncing them with a short a.

Shan, naan, nan, cat, bath. All rhyme.

I'm from South West Scotland.

upnorthwhereitsboringandslow · 21/09/2018 15:33

Sharon

Xenia · 21/09/2018 15:33

Sharn, but people aren't sure so those tend to be the names best avoided.

upnorthwhereitsboringandslow · 21/09/2018 15:33

Grr even Apple an idiot sharn

JamieVardysHavingAParty · 21/09/2018 15:35

Well, Seeing, you may be objecting to cultural imperialism, but I can't see how mispronouncing a Welsh name and boasting about it on t'internet makes you less culturally imperialistic. Wink

Fresta · 21/09/2018 15:41

So seeing, your argument is based on the fact that you just pronounce words wrong then. What a stupid discussion.

JamieVardysHavingAParty · 21/09/2018 16:13

Well, "words" may be a bit strong, Fresta - bath/bahth and so on is normal valid regional variation, but I do think that a Welsh name like Siân is worthy of the same respect and effort as French Jacques, and so on. One's mother tongue or mother accent may make it very difficult to reproduce the vowels/consonants of a second language, but that doesn't make one's own butchering a valid pronunciation.

I apply this rule equally to myself- I struggle very much with the welsh letter ll, but I don't get to say it's an l-sound in any name I like just because my own language and regional accent don't have the ll-sound!

Fresta · 21/09/2018 16:16

Agree Jamie.

Seeingadistance · 21/09/2018 16:32

I've been talking about the extra, but invisible and apparently silent, R that seems to make perfect sense to the English, but no sense at all to pretty much the rest of the English speaking world.

I'm not going to affect a Welsh accent to say Sian, but neither am I going to introduce a superfluous letter of the alphabet to the name.