How would you pronounce Maya

[acrossthebay]

Out of interest? I like the name but hear variations in pronunciation.

My ah

I came on to say exactly this.

@acrossthebay the correct pronunciation for Maya is rhyming with papaya or My-uh/My-ah, depending on accent.

It is a very old name, originally from Sanskrit (the ancient Indian language). It means 'an illusion'. Maya would always be pronounced My-uh or similar in India.
It also has Persian and Arabic roots and means 'water' in Arabic and is pronounced just the same as the Indian version.
There is also the ancient Mayan civilisation of Central America, also pronounced My-ahn.

The Maia is a Goddess in Greek mythology and, I think Roman. It is also pronounced My-uh.
Maja is the spelling used in Eastern Europe and is also pronounced My-uh.

My-a is a made up spelling, rather than an old one.

The May-ah pronunciation is, as far as I know, entirely made up by English speakers who see that word 'May' and just assume that Maya is pronounced the same but that is incorrect, in terms of the origins of the name.

Yep to me I first think of Maya/Maia as the Goddess of Spring (the May Queen/Goddess) so the “May-ah” pronunciation is the one that makes the most sense to me and that I personally prefer the sound of. But others will think of Maya Angelou, or the ancient Mayan people and will automatically say “My-ah” . I think in the UK you’ll get 50:50 both pronunciations but internationally it’s generally the “My-ah” one. I agree with those who said it’s like Helena, Naomi, Andrea etc - more than one pronunciation here is the norm so you have to ask.

Confused by the rhyming with fire, so ‘mire’? One syllable?

@Soakinguptherays . fire is 2-syllables usually. Like Fie-uh
fire
[ˈfʌɪə]

Fire pronounced fi-yeh with 2 syllables. Do you pronounce fire with 1 syllable?
This thread has opened my eyes, I genuinely didn't think anyone would say may-ah to rhyme with player (also with mayor) so I stand corrected (Yorkshire accent if that means anything)

My uh

Mayor doesn't rhyme with player @Sparklyhat it's a homophone for Mare

Yes because "my a" and " play a."

Maya = M-eye-uh (eye as in eyeball or the letter I)

I've taught 1000s of kids and young adults now and never met a May-a. I like it the way I've suggested it. May-a sounds exactly like Mayor in my (RP) accent which is off putting to me.

Mia is always Mee-a in my experience.

See also Mila which is Mee-la not My-la

Yet Milo is My-lo!

I’ve been told since this post that some English people can’t say the normal -er ending and pronounce it as -a. This is very odd to me and I’ve been wondering since how they say words like her, rubber, prefer etc. Do they become ha, rubba and prefa? It’s a whole rabbit hole! 😂

@Maelil01 , they say it as -uh.
rubb-uh. Prefer is slightly different because the stress is on the 2nd syllable.

The r in rubber, player etc doesn't usually get sounded.
With names ending in -a, if the name after it starts with a vowel people tend to add an r sound - Mia Anne gets said as Mee-ur-Anne.

Yes. Most English accents are non-rhotic, so drop /r/ in postvocalic situations.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhoticity_in_English

Most Irish, Scottish, and US accents (though not all) are rhotic, and pronounce /r/ in all settings.

It’s not ‘can’t’, though — I mean, it’s not a speech defect, just a characteristic of some accents, like the way many French accents pronounce ‘r’ gutturally, in the throat.

Well you’ve been incorrectly informed. It’s not that they can’t say, it’s that in their accent it isn’t pronounced in the same way as in yours. What is normal depends on accent. Would you be ok with people 😂 at your rhotic accent?

May-uh.
(But have come across so many different pronunciations of this name, that I have to say there's no hard and fast rule)

It's true. I went to university in Scotland, and I used to pop into the local library at the time rhyme time/book bugs was on. I often thought the lady who ran it must curse Julia Donaldson. Scarf and giraffe don't naturally rhyme in my accent either, but I wouldn't have to force it quite as much to get it to fit.

Shakespeare wrote for a more rhotic accent as well. Have a listen to Shakespeare performed in "original pronunciation". It sounds very different, and rhymes much more easily.

As others have said, can't and don't are two completely different things. By saying 'can't' you make it sound like a speech impediment. You don't get whole regions of people who 'can't' produce a certain sound. It's just that their accent doesn't stress that sound, so it's not a sound they produce when speaking their natural accent.

People are capable of mimicking different accents, ie producing those soundss. It doesn't mean they should produce it all the time or are wrong not to, if it's different to their natural accent.

There's really no need for such snobbery as to suggest whole groups of people 'can't' produce a certain sound, as if those who do are somewhat superior. It's just different ways of speaking. Personally, I love the huge varieties of British accents we have. Variety is the spice of life and all that.

It's also a fact of life that certain names either sound beautiful or dreadful, depending on the accent!

So you’ve never heard standard southern English accent before?

I (a southerner) absolutely understand the rhotic accent - plenty of American and Scottish etc accents around.

Just found myself saying rubber and prefer out loud.
Rubber - Rub -bah
prefer - pre - furr

Obviously I've heard the difference in the pronunciation of these words but it genuinely never occurred to me that the people with these accents cannot tell the difference between a word ending in -a (Maya) and one ending in -er (player) which is where this started.

This gets more and more confusing…so you’re saying

• if there’s an -er ending they don’t say the -r and say a
• if there is an -a ending they add an -r 😳

As for Mia-ur-anne that’s just horrible!

But thanks for the explanation.

I’m not laughing AT the accent, I’m fascinated that there’s no perceived difference between a word ending in -an and one ending in -er. I’m also told that when a word of syllable ends in -a that sometimes and r is added on which is even more of a rabbit hole!
It seems khaki is pronounced car-key.
The things I’ve learned today!