American pronunciation of names

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

Well, of two particular names that I hear a great deal these days - several times a week in fact - due to having a 4 year old daughter and a DVD player.

Names that, until I saw them written down, I had assumed were "Arne" (or "Arna" - something that rhymes with the British pronunciation of "garner" or "banana") and "Ailsa". Being, of course, the Frozen princesses.

Is that really normal US pronunciation of the names "Anna" and "Elsa"? Or is it a bit strange even to American ears? It's bloody weird to my ears, I can tell you.

[Giggler]

American pronunciation of names

Personally I still struggle to work out if Americans are saying Greg, Craig or Cregg.

[Jah Womble]

American pronunciation of names

I suspect Scandinavian pronunciation has a small amount to do with the way these names are said, but Americans often use this elongated 'ah' sound where one might expect otherwise.

For example. A NY-based friend spoke often of her new Mahz-duh - which was a better drive than her old Niss-ahn. Suffice to say, I soon learned that this odd pronunciation wasn't limited to Japanese autos.

[Vulgarian Visigoth]

American pronunciation of names

Jah Womble wrote: I suspect Scandinavian pronunciation has a small amount to do with the way these names are said, but Americans often use this elongated 'ah' sound where one might expect otherwise.

For example. A NY-based friend spoke often of her new Mahz-duh - which was a better drive than her old Niss-ahn. Suffice to say, I soon learned that this odd pronunciation wasn't limited to Japanese autos.

I doubt Scandinavian pronunciation has had much influence beyond a small area of the upper Midwest.

[Jah Womble]

American pronunciation of names

Probably not - it was more in 'hope' that some concession might've been made to Hans Christian Andersen's original tale than anything else.

[Alderman Barnes]

American pronunciation of names

Could it be something to with the Spanish pronunciation of the name Ana?

The one that I can never figure out where it came from is when they say "Koh-soh-voh".

[My Name Is Ian]

American pronunciation of names

I had this when I first met my wife, who is American but of Cuban extract. Her name is Marcia, which I would ordinarily have pronounced "Mar-see-ya" (and did for a few weeks, blissful in my ignorance) but it turns out that I was wrong about that, and that it's somewhere between "Marsha" and "Martha." I call her Marcy ("Mar-see") these days, which seems acceptable, although some of her friends still call her "Marshy."

JW: When I was there a few weeks ago, there were a lot of adverts on the television for Mazda and Nissan cars - they were pronounced "Mahz-duh" and "Nee-sahn" from what I could make out. This was in South Jersey/Philadelphia, where they speak with interesting accents anyway.

[Stumpy Pepys]

American pronunciation of names

I always thought there was one solitary Marcy.

[Stumpy Pepys]

American pronunciation of names

My mate's [US] missus is called Nina, which she insists is pronounced "Nine-ah".

[My Name Is Ian]

American pronunciation of names

My Instagram name is Peppermint Ian because there's a small, mildly androgynous woman with dark hair and glasses who hangs out with me and occasionally calls me "Sir." I should point out that the last part of this is just a politeness idiom on her part. I'm no Christian Grey.

[Ginger Yellow]

American pronunciation of names

I suspect Scandinavian pronunciation has a small amount to do with the way these names are said, but Americans often use this elongated 'ah' sound where one might expect otherwise

See also the US/British disagreement on how to pronounce Mario.

[G-Man]

American pronunciation of names

There's diagreement over how to say Mario? I'm intrigued.

[Mitch]

American pronunciation of names

As another Ian, I've had trouble with my name in America, with people occasionally not really sure how to say it. So I get a tentative "Ion?" (like the chemistry term).

No idea why though, do they always spell the name "Iain" over there?

[Stumpy Pepys]

American pronunciation of names

G-Man wrote: There's diagreement over how to say Mario? I'm intrigued.

I guess it's whether you pronounce it with a short or long 'a'.

[N est à?]

American pronunciation of names

Whenever anyone calls me 'sir', I always want to make like the sneering supercilious prefect in If... "Oh, and Jute... you don't call me, 'sir'."

[My Name Is Ian]

American pronunciation of names

Mitch wrote: As another Ian, I've had trouble with my name in America, with people occasionally not really sure how to say it. So I get a tentative "Ion?" (like the chemistry term).

No idea why though, do they always spell the name "Iain" over there?

I have to say, I didn't notice anything unusual. Perhaps this is a city by city or region by region thing. I don't think it's as common a name in America as in this country, although I seem to remember reading that Ian was a faddish name in the UK between the 1950s and 1970s, that it was rare before then and is rare again now.

[My Name Is Ian]

American pronunciation of names

Nesta Arantes do Nascimento wrote: Whenever anyone calls me 'sir', I always want to make like the sneering supercilious prefect in If... "Oh, and Jute... you don't call me, 'sir'."

Ha ha, I am terrible with picking up things that other people say. I'm still struggling with "Thank you, I appreciate that" right now.

[ursus arctos]

American pronunciation of names

The Iain thing is far from ubiquitous and is a marker of a now lessened trend for Irish diaspora families to adopt vaguely Gaelic names.

There are massive differences in the pronunciation of virtually everything across the country, grounded in region, background and education. You can blame Mario Lanza's backers for the Mario thing.

[Furtho]

American pronunciation of names

I don't know why the car company is spelled Mazda, because it's a common Japanese surname normally transliterated as Matsuda. The pronunciation is Matsda, with the two vowel sounds being identical: short and with no schwa at the end.

[Incandenza]

American pronunciation of names

Stumpy Pepys wrote: My mate's [US] missus is called Nina, which she insists is pronounced "Nine-ah".

That's weird, I've never heard it pronounced like that here.

Evariste Euler Gauss wrote: Well, of two particular names that I hear a great deal these days - several times a week in fact - due to having a 4 year old daughter and a DVD player.

Names that, until I saw them written down, I had assumed were "Arne" (or "Arna" - something that rhymes with the British pronunciation of "garner" or "banana") and "Ailsa". Being, of course, the Frozen princesses.

Is that really normal US pronunciation of the names "Anna" and "Elsa"? Or is it a bit strange even to American ears? It's bloody weird to my ears, I can tell you.

EEG, I'm not sure I understand the post. Are you saying that in the movie they pronounce them as "Arne" and "Ailsa"? I've seen Frozen many times, and they don't say them like that in the movie (at least not to my ears).

edit: thinking about it, I know in the movie that they say "Ah-nah". If I saw the name written down, I'd say it as "Ann-ah". I think they pronounce it like that in the movie because they're all royalty, and that seems like more of a highfalutin way of saying Anna.

[Incandenza]

American pronunciation of names

My Name Is Ian wrote: JW: When I was there a few weeks ago, there were a lot of adverts on the television for Mazda and Nissan cars - they were pronounced "Mahz-duh" and "Nee-sahn" from what I could make out. This was in South Jersey/Philadelphia, where they speak with interesting accents anyway.

Yes, that's how we say Mazda and Nissan, not just in Philly.

[ursus arctos]

American pronunciation of names

And how the companies themselves pronounce their names in adverts.

As in the UK, Nissan used to be "Datsun" over here, and the "Nee-sahn" pronunciation has been consistent since the brand was introduced.

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

American pronunciation of names

Inca, yes, that's precisely what I'm saying. That's what they sound like to me.

In British English, "Elsa" would be pronounced with a short simple vowel for the "E". The pronunciation I hear in Frozen has at least a strong hint of elongation, and I think diphthongisation, to it which makes me think "Ailsa". But that's not that different I suppose from my understanding of how most US accents tend to do that where we have a simple short "e" over here.

The really weird one to me is the "Anna", which has a very long opening "A" to it in Frozen. Sorry if my use of "r" was misleading, I didn't mean to suggest the sound was at all rhotic. It just sounds very strange to me to have the opening "A" in Anna pronounced long rather than short.

Edit: just seen your edit, in which you suggested that they perhaps lengthen the "A" to make it sound high-falutin'. Maybe that's it. It doesn't create that effect to British ears, for sure, posh people here don't pronounce Anna like that (nor does anyone else). Just made me think the character had an unfamiliar name, Arne, which I vaguely imagined might be a real name somewhere in Scandinavia.

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

American pronunciation of names

Actually, they do the same thing in Frozen with "Hans" I think. Weird.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

American pronunciation of names

Every time I hum the opening line of "Do You Wanna Build A Snowman?" I start to tear up, that's all I know. Fucking Disney.