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

Except I haven’t!!! You have!!! That’s been your argument the whole way through.

People have tied multiple ways to explain to you, I sent you a video and you STILL said I was pronouncing it incorrectly because ‘it didn’t have an r in it’.

I have said, we pronounce r differently. Why can’t you accept that?

I know you understand the distinction between rhotic and non-rhotic accent, but I disagree with you that it's correct to describe the sound as an "ar" sound. You pronounce the long A and ar the same, and even writing it as ar when explaining it phonetically may make sense, but it's not an ar sound. That's kind of the point. It's a long vowel. Which is the same as ar to some and very very different to ar for others, so describing it as ar is a bit useless, especially when you patently understand the differences in the accents.

How many ar sounds in drunk as a fart?

@rosesareredvioletsareblueaimverytiredandsoareyou

You need to sign up to MI5 or MI6 or something, because you’re capable of a special kind of torture, no idea whether it’s deliberate or you’re actually this obtuse.

Good night. Maybe consider travelling more.

I wasn't speaking to you. Why do you keep picking at my posts when I'm one of the few who are (sort of) agreeing with you.

ˈzaːnə like the German for cream

You pronounce them according to your dialect.
It's wrong to suggest everyone should pronounce according to your dialect.

I'd actually ask if Jana was Ja na or Ya na, but I'd never think to say Jar na or Yar na.

I suggest you read your last paragraph.

@rosesareredvioletsareblueaimverytiredandsoareyou At the start of this thread I actually thought you were bonkers but I am getting what you mean now. That's from me saying the words over and over in different accents and from what @BarbaraHoward has posted.

The way you've gone about making your point is very odd though and had you been less insistent and more informative, you'd have had far more success helping people understand.

You are falling over yourself muddling spelling conventions and pronunciations.

Whether you like it or not the 2 letters "ar" can represent long 'a' vowel sound in written English. Non rhotic speakers will not say the 'r' but it's presence in the word affects how the vowel is spoken. So it has an important function even if its not spoken.

R is not itself a vowel obviously, but together with the a the digraph represents a vowel sound.

I know I have said all of this previously. I even sent a video showing how it’s pronounced. I have also said umpteen times that it’s because we pronounce r’s differently.

But my point was that to me, with my accent, the only written way of it making sense is ar. I have never said anyone else has to accept that, but what I have said over and over is that at is the best way of it making sense to me. I know it doesn’t make sense to other people with differing accents. I have said this.

But I ca(r)n’t argue any more. Good night.

I'd say Zana differently than Zahne tbh.
If Zana is in fact German then it would be Tsana more than Zana.

At no point have I!!!! I have said they’re different, I have said we pronounce r’s differently, I have said that ar makes sense to ME and that the others don’t work for ME.

I’ve said it many times now! This is exasperating.

It is you who has told me, even after watching the video, that I am pronouncing the name incorrectly.

urgh, enough.

No, I'm not, I'm answering increasingly ridiculous questions from some pp.

Ummm what?

Girarfe? Theres only one R

I didn't watch the video.
I don't open random links, sorry.

PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GODS
STOP ADDING R INTO WORDS

Even if we all agreed on a way that made sense (not likely) the name is not going to sound the same in every accent anyway, so splitting hairs over the exact pronunciation is pointless!

I've been re-asked the same thing over and over so the replies have perhaps seemed insistent. 🙃

ar is a spelling convention not a vowel sound!
It's a way of representing a vowel sound. How it's actually spoken will depend on the speakers accent.
When I read aloud the word cart I say the ar as a single, long vowel sound.

Burt irts sor murch berrter tor ardd r. 🫣

Yeah exactly, that's kind of why I was saying aa, ah or just "long a" are better choices up thread - the form of the long a will vary from person to person. There's a Tara in my family and we all pronounce it slightly differently. (We agree on the R though .)

Really in the case of Zana, it's short a, long a or rhymes with pay.

For me the a and r are distinct sounds, hence cat sounding completely different. Cat has no r sound, cart does

Zana, to me, would rhyme with Lana (as in Turner or Del Rey) which has the same long A sound as llama or drama or farmer.

Bath, to me up north, rhymes with Kath (as in Catherine).
Bath, to my southern cousin, rhymes with Darth (as in Vader).

This is close to how I say cart: https://forvo.com/search/cart/en_other/

Whereas presumably this is how you say it: https://forvo.com/search/cart/en_uk/

You can see why Zarna makes zero sense to some of us (although, been down this road, understand the logic, just don't agree with it).

Honestly I've said arrrrr so many times now, pronouncing the r like I'm guessing some people do that I think I've turned myself bristolian 🙈