View Message

I say the first syllable like CESS.

I'm with you on Cecilia! Though I think mine emerges more as si-SEEL-yə. Cecelia, I don't know so much. I say Celia with three syllables, but Cecelia annoys me so much that I don't believe I've ever pronounced it at all.

---

Cecily has the "alternative" of Cicely, which seems to suggest two different sounds. As a pair of sparring partners who end up calling each other "sister", it works well for me if Cecily and Gwendolen share a short E sound. But the whole Cec- complex is tricky. Cecil is CESSil or sometimes CISSil in British English but, apparently, CEEsil in the States, and nobody seems to find this inconvenient: maybe the same applies for girls?

I pronounce them CESS-ə-lee and si-SEEL-yə, and love them. I definitely like the Cecelia spelling better... take the Ce out of Cecilia and you have a type of organelle. The things you learn being the daughter of a developmental biologist.

I say:

---

Cecily = SESS-ih-lee (I wouldn't say "SISS" for Cecily, only Cicely)

---

Cecilia = sə-SEEL-ee-uh / se-SEEL-ee-uh

---

Yeah, I pronounce the E's in Elizabeth and Serena like schwas (ə). Winifred is a bit different for me but mostly schwa-like.

This message was edited 12/18/2011, 2:52 PM

SESS-ih-lee
seh(sih)-SEE-lee-uh

---

I think the spelling Cecelia is somewhat... "lower den" as I call it. Cecilia is classic. I *love* Cecilia Jane.

---

I also love the botanical name Cicely!

---

My favorite form, however, is undoubtedly Cecile (Cécile).

This message was edited 12/18/2011, 2:06 PM

Cecily is SES-ə-lee. SIS-ə-lee would be Sicily, like the island. There is a clear difference to my ears.

---

Cecilia and Cecilia are both pronounced ses-EEL-yə.

I say SESS-i-lee and se-SEEL-ee-ya. I'm Swedish though, and in Swedish E and I aren't as interchangeable as in English, so an E is an E and an I is an I to me, even when speaking English.

Cecily = Siss-i-lee

---

Cecilia - siss-sil-ee-uh
Cecelia - Siss-See-lee-uh

---

I pronounce them like SES-i-lee and seh-SEEL-yə. There's a clear difference in the way I pronounce 'e' and 'i,' and I don't pronounce Elizabeth, Winifred, or Serena the way you do, either.

---

I always pronounced Cecily as SESS-e-lee. I can't type the schwa. :P The first syllable of Cecilia is also a schwa for me, actually. Kind of floats between the /e/ and the /i/ sounds.