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Help[Facts] Eileen and Aileen
I always thought that Eileen and Aileen were pronounced that same way, but had different spellings. I have since learned that Aileen can be pronounced in two different ways. Aileen can be prononced like Eileen, but it can also be pronounced like A-leen (Long A sound). Is that the case? How would you pronounce it?
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Replies
ok, remember there is not really a commonly recognized long a sound in English. what you mean I think is the diphthong /ei/ or /ej/ as in bay, whereas long a: is the sound in farther. confused? the sound you refer to as in Eileen is presumably /ai/ or /aj/ or /ʌi/, which is mistakenly called long i. This is partly due to vowel shifts in English which have not entirely been reflected in spelling and are not fully realised in all dialects.
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How would YOU pronounce Eileen and Aileen?
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I always expect Aileen to have a long A sound, as in way, day etc and Eileen to have an AI sound as in my. My friend's mother came from a family with a tradition of giving all the kids first names starting with A, and she was named Aileen but only to comply with the tradition. Everyone pronounced it as if it were Eileen. So, once bitten, twice shy: I always ask.
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Aileen does kinda look like it could be pronounced like A-leen. If you're asking for preference or what sounds better in my opinion then I say A-leen. I like the long a sound better.
This message was edited 12/9/2022, 9:35 AM
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