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

I know you include the r sound when saying cart.
But as we established earlier, you don't use the same vowel sound in cart as you do in cat. You acknowledged you use a longer vowel sound.
So, in my accent the difference in pronunciation between cat and cart is just the vowel difference.
In your, rhotic accent there are 2 differences: the longer vowel sound and the rhotic r.

You are still adhering to the convention that 'ar' represents a long vowel. You just add the r sound aswell

Down south our ar is the same as ahhhh (as in saying ahhh at the dentist, in case your ahhh is different 😂) . So if you heard us say cart, you'd think it more like cahhhht.

Which is why I originally said zahna but also understand the zarna.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhoticity_in_English#:~:text=Rhotic%20accents%20are%20still%20found,and%20rural%20speakers%20only)%2C%20in

I haven't said anything about R. I think you're confusing me with someone else

Zay-na, but I haven't heard the name before so could be way off!

I am guessing that someone with a rhotic accent heard "Zah-na" and thought, there must be a letter "r" in there.

Yes, me too.

Can I ask why you think it would be ay though? I can't think of another word where ana would be pronounced ayna. Just curious!

Dana is pronounced day-na in the US sometimes, I think that's why it occurred to me as an option.

I thought this but then thought that's just Americans and how they often pronounce things wrongly differently 😂

I knew that was a silly thing to say when I wrote it but I never know what my accent is, I’d say English but that could mean a lot of things!! I lived and worked in New Zealand for a while when I was younger and someone at work used to ring me up for no reason and say they just wanted to hear my accent. It was the first time in my life I realised I had an accent 😂

Zar na
Bit like I'd say banana

It's sahne in German and means cream but is pronounced
ˈzaːnə

My gut feeling was to say it to rhyme with Zara.

I feel that if we'd all just said we say it like Zara but with an n, this thread would have been a whole lot less painful 😂

My friend Jana pronounces it with an ar sound, is she wrong too?

Yes. If her parents had wanted Jarna, they'd have named her that.

Most people will pronounce I it as it's written so Ja-na. And not Jar-na

Zah-na. Rhymes with banana (in my accent at least).

Zay (rhymes with pay) na

You are misunderstanding that down south and in other areas, we pronounce ar as ah (same sound). Unless you're fully aware and are just trying to add confusion.

The spelling is irrelevant anyway as there have been 3 different ways to say Zana suggested.

@CellophaneFlower , we don't. in a non-rhotic accent, 'ah' is like the a in cat, 'ar' is like the ar in art or Bath.

I have a non-rhotic accent and my ah would be the same as ar and nothing like the a in cat.

@Sewannoying , generally on these threads, the a in cat is descibed as ah.
Nothing to do with the sound you'd make when asked to say 'Ah!'.

Regardless of accents, isn't AH not always AH? Like when at the dentist and you say AH?

I can't see any other way of pronouncing it

generally on these threads, the a in cat is descibed as ah.

What ?

The A in cat is SO different to AH, when saying AHA or AH at the dentist

@MerryMarys , in these threads, ah usually means the a in cat sound not the 'Say Ah!' sound.

I think it's from phonics.