[Facts] Re: Pronunciation of Welsh name Carys
in reply to a message by Chrisell
Why are a lot of Welsh & Scottish names spelt so oddly?
Replies
They're only spelled 'oddly' to us English-origin folk, for the simple reason that they're *not* English. Traditional Welsh, Irish and Scottish names come from their respective Celtic languages - Welsh, Irish Gaelic, Scots Gaelic. English doesn't even have letters for some of the sounds used in these languages, and the adapted spellings thus appear very strange to English eyes.
♦ Chrisell ♦
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. - J.R.R. Tolkien.
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. - J.R.R. Tolkien.
I should slightly be used to some Scot Gaelic, I live in Dunedin which was named after Edinborough so there's a lot of Scot based things
A lot of what you see in NZ will be Anglicised Scots names - names that have been altered so that they're more acceptable to English eyes.
For example, we all know, recognise and can pronounce the Irish name Enya, but Enya is actually an Anglicised form of Eithne, which looks like it should be EYETH-nee or EETH-nee to us. It's hard to make oneself see Eithne and think EN-ya, hence the Anglicisation of the spelling.
♦ Chrisell ♦
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. - J.R.R. Tolkien.
For example, we all know, recognise and can pronounce the Irish name Enya, but Enya is actually an Anglicised form of Eithne, which looks like it should be EYETH-nee or EETH-nee to us. It's hard to make oneself see Eithne and think EN-ya, hence the Anglicisation of the spelling.
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. - J.R.R. Tolkien.