How to pronounce Dahlia?

[MarsMama17]

Im not a fan of the Day-Lia pronunciation and much prefer Dahl-ia or Dahl-ya.
Dahl-ia comes out naturally for me I’m northern.

How do other people pronounce Dahlia in the UK?

Thank you xx

DAY LEE UH

No. It’s a flower. It’s pronounced Day-liah.

You wouldn’t call your kid Rose and then refer to them as Ros-aye or Rouse would you?

But the flower is named after a person - Dahl.

Exactly he’s not Roald Dale

There's a video on YouTube by Alan Titchmarsh, called "Why you need to lift dahlia tubers and how to do it". And one on Tiktok by him about the flowers -
https://www.tiktok.com/@gardeningalantitchmarsh/video/7539858401904381206

He says "day - lias". He's from Yorkshire.

This reminds me I haven’t lifted my dahlias yet.

😂 nor me. Is it too late?

Apparently it all depends on frosts rather than dates.

Please note: IANAG

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) and British English speakers generally use the pronunciation DAY-lee-uh (/ˈdeɪliə/) for dahlia….the version you use often depends on regional preference or personal choice. Many gardeners note that members of the RHS and presenters on shows like Gardeners' World consistently use "DAY-lee-ah".

😂

And yet I, as a gardener, a member of the RHS, a British English speaker, and an actual human rather than co-pilot, generally use the pronunciation DAL-ee-uh
(/ˈdæl.i.ə/) for dahlia….the version you use often depends on regional preference, personal choice, and whether you are a human or an LLM.

Alan Titchmarsh is a gardener, Vice President and Ambassador of the RHS and a human (and Yorkshireman). And always says DAY - lee - uh.

This thread is classic MN 😂

OP - i think you can extrapolate from this, don’t use the name Dahlia if you are how it is pronounced!

He makes me feel sick.

Video from Gardener's World on this page shows it is pronounced “day-lee-ah” in the UK. If you choose the name in the UK, expect that pronunciation.
www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/grow-plants/how-to-grow-dahlias/

Yes, of course, you are far more of an actual human than than the likes of Monty Don, Alan Titchmarsh, Tom Brown....

Day-le-ah. Why do you ask?

DAH-lia. Why do you ask?

p.s. there is no ‘ay’ in Dah-lia

Dahl is pronounced Dahl and not Dayl !!!

We know. The flower is Day-lia though.

Yes but is that Dahl with a short a or a long a? Because the pronunciation differs across the UK.

Same with a pp upthread saying 'dah' sounds southern. It only sounds that way if you read it with a long a sound. A Scottish person would read it with the same a sound as you find in cat.

And this is why all of MN needs to learn the IPA 😂

I was obliquely referring to the fact that the poster I quoted had written their post with copilot.

On a chat forum it is more interesting to read the opinions of humans than AIs, particularly when discussing human variation such as regional dialect and baby names.

I've always pronounced the flower as 'Day- lia' but when used for a first name I prefer to pronounce the name as 'Dah -lee-ah; just sounds much nicer to me for a person's name.

The flower is commonly pronounced Daylia but the actual name comes from Dahl and both pronunciations are used.
The name being Dahl and lots of people saying Dale is pretty much exactly like the name being Rose and someone saying Rosaye 😂

I’d say “Dar-lee-ah”

Didn’t realise there was another pronunciation actually! Now worried I’m saying my child’s friend’s name incorrectly.