How would you pronounce Zana ?

[RoseApp]

My friend assumed people would pronounce her child’s name Zana like Zah-nah as in Suzanna but several people have pronounced it as Zar-na

international phonetic alphabet
kɑːt cart
kæt cat
Same initial and final consonants but different vowel sounds
@rosesareredvioletsareblueaimverytiredandsoareyou

It's wrong to convey a long a as ar, if you're speaking English (wherever you're from).
I don't care how they speak, just don't use r to emphasise an aa sound because r isn't universally pronounced.

I pronounced the a sound similarly but yes, one is slightly longer. Adding the r makes a significant difference too.

The pronunciation of the r is irrelevant.
It changes the vowel sound in written English in certain digraphs.

🤣🤣🤣

Everyone has an accent. And a non-rhotic accent is really very strong as it's such an outlier globally.

Exactly! And the sound that the ar makes in cart is the sound people are trying to replicate when saying zarna.

If I put caat nobody is going to think I mean cart. Just as if I put zaana nobody is going to hear what I want them to.

So you’re telling Australians that they speak incorrectly? Because that’s how they pronounce bath etc? And New Zealanders? And half of America too, they’re all wrong? Because it seems pretty universal to me…

Wales is as far from me as some northern parts of England, how come they’re allowed to talk differently but we’re not? How come Mancunians can speak so differently to Liverpudlians? Thats all cool but we can’t have this part of our accent?
Honestly your attitude is embarrassing.

No, not exactly.
Cart has an r.
Cat doesn't.
Zana also doesn't.

*Wales is as far from me as some northern parts of England, how come they’re allowed to talk differently but we’re not? Because they have their own language.

When they’re talking English, that’s what we’re discussing. And actually, areas such as East Anglia used to have their own language too, they just lost it quicker than the Welsh.m
A lot of Welsh people cannot speak Welsh Gaelic, but they retain their accent. The East Anglian’s are more than welcome to do the same, including if it’s the ‘ar’ sound.

You're either yanking our chain or perhaps there's more going on here? You're taking everything far too literally than is usual.

Are you deliberately misreading?
Speak how you like.
Don't write any a sound as ar because* *the sound is not universally pronounced.
Zana should not have any indication of an r. It's Zana not Zarna.

No one writes it’s as Zarna!!! Everyone was writing that for YOUR benefit to show how we would say it!!!

Too literally? Explain please.

This

Don't write any extended a sound as r, or Zana as Zarna, because it explains absolutely nothing. That's the whole point. I wasn't suggesting people are actually spelling it that way.

I give up. People have explained to you in a million different ways and you have refuted every one. Your argument has changed a million times so who knows what you’re actually attempting to say now.

I’m done.

@NoUseForAN4me , Welsh Gaelic? WTF is that?

If a non-rhotic speaker chooses to use “r” to convey a long vowel they are not wrong, they are just using a method which risks being misunderstood by some rhotic speakers. Perhaps they don’t give a fuck about rhotic speakers getting confused. That makes them rude and inconsiderate, but not wrong.

You can choose to get all upset about this and communicate your view by pretending to be really stupid and whining “but there is no “r” in the word” on a loop for hours and hours. But that’s quite offensive to people like me who took your “I don’t understand” at face value and spent time explaining.

As a rhotic speaker myself, but one who is interested in language, I can easily work out what they mean even though it’s not a method I myself would use. I’m sorry you are more interested in being “right” than in talking about language in a grown-up way.

People have explained why they think it's correct.
It isn't correct.

They can choose it, of course.
It's incorrect though.

I'm not upset.
I'm not the one swearing.
I'm not the one making bad insults.

Because you keep saying there's no r in this and no r in that. We KNOW there isn't physically an r in these words but some people are using the r to make a certain sound. The letter r turns an a into the sound we want people to hear, so to make sure they're understanding that sound, we add a letter to put this across.

Where did you get your degree in linguistics?

The only “correct” method is to use the IPA. Your favoured “aa” is also “incorrect”.

That's the point - r can be pronounced differently so doesn't actually help clarify anything.