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HelpRe: Sian
in reply to a message by TerraSierra
I love Sian for a girl. It's a traditional Welsh girl's name.
But here's the trick. I've heard it pronounced "shawn," just like the Irish male name Sean. But one or two people here on the boards swear it's supposed to be pronounced "shann."
I've never been able to get a Welsh person to tell me the true pronunciation. For now, I'm sticking with the "shawn" one.
I dislike the "Shawn" spelling for either gender.
But here's the trick. I've heard it pronounced "shawn," just like the Irish male name Sean. But one or two people here on the boards swear it's supposed to be pronounced "shann."
I've never been able to get a Welsh person to tell me the true pronunciation. For now, I'm sticking with the "shawn" one.
I dislike the "Shawn" spelling for either gender.
This message was edited 8/15/2008, 11:53 AM
Archived Thread - replies disabled
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Replies
Sian is not pronounced the same as Sean! At least, I've never heard it that way over here.
Sian is with a long ah sound like the word Shah with an "n" on the end.
Sian is fairly common in Britain (especially Wales) and there are some well known people like the weather presenter Sian Lloyd and the BBC newsreader Sian Williams.
I agree it's pretty. And I also dislike the name Shawn.
Sian is with a long ah sound like the word Shah with an "n" on the end.
Sian is fairly common in Britain (especially Wales) and there are some well known people like the weather presenter Sian Lloyd and the BBC newsreader Sian Williams.
I agree it's pretty. And I also dislike the name Shawn.
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I have seen Sian before but have no idea how to say it and have never met anyone of that name. I used to say it as Sigh-Ann until someone corrected me that that was totally wrong! I think it is pretty though.
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Some Gaelic help
A lot of us here have gotten pretty good at Gaelic pronunciation, though we (for the most part) can't speak it. The combination "si" makes an "sh" sound. An "is" also often makes an "sh" sound. "Bh" makes a soft "v" sound. Therefore, the names Siobhan and Aisling would be pronounced shi-VAHN and ASH-ling. The letter "e" is often pronounced "uh" when at the end of names (Aoife = EE-fuh). Now, I'm no expert, so anybody here who can actually speak Gaelic is welcome to correct me, but I think those are pretty basic rules that I picked up from years of looking at the names.
A lot of us here have gotten pretty good at Gaelic pronunciation, though we (for the most part) can't speak it. The combination "si" makes an "sh" sound. An "is" also often makes an "sh" sound. "Bh" makes a soft "v" sound. Therefore, the names Siobhan and Aisling would be pronounced shi-VAHN and ASH-ling. The letter "e" is often pronounced "uh" when at the end of names (Aoife = EE-fuh). Now, I'm no expert, so anybody here who can actually speak Gaelic is welcome to correct me, but I think those are pretty basic rules that I picked up from years of looking at the names.
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Thanks again
Thank you again Aileen. You are giving me a great education in pronouncing words today. I love to learn new things so I really appreciate it. I especially like the Aoife pronunciation. I had no idea how to say that and I think it would be very embarrassing if I told you how I said it :)
Thank you again Aileen. You are giving me a great education in pronouncing words today. I love to learn new things so I really appreciate it. I especially like the Aoife pronunciation. I had no idea how to say that and I think it would be very embarrassing if I told you how I said it :)
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Believe me, I was clueless when I came too
I used to really love Irish names (I still like them, but my style is more Eastern European now), and when I just started spending a lot of time on BtN I researched a lot of Irish names. When I discovered Caoilfhionn I was horrified. Seriously, the name looks nuts! But you'd never believe that it's simply pronounced "KEE-lin", which is really quite nice. You get used to it after a while. Mind, I've been here forever, but eventually wild-looking names won't be such a shock to you because you will recognize some etymological roots within the names.
I used to really love Irish names (I still like them, but my style is more Eastern European now), and when I just started spending a lot of time on BtN I researched a lot of Irish names. When I discovered Caoilfhionn I was horrified. Seriously, the name looks nuts! But you'd never believe that it's simply pronounced "KEE-lin", which is really quite nice. You get used to it after a while. Mind, I've been here forever, but eventually wild-looking names won't be such a shock to you because you will recognize some etymological roots within the names.
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