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HelpNaomi what pron. is better?
nay-O-mee or nie-O-mee
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pet peeve!!!
Okay, forgive me in advance...
i HATE HATE HATE it when people pronounce Naomi like nie-O-mee. the "a" is first! it's nay-O-mee! (or more technically correct, nah-0-mee, but in English it becomes an ay sound) and even if you were to make a dipthong out of the "ao" like in some words (which wouldn't really be the case for a name of this origin, but for argument's sake) then it would be NOW-mee. STILL NOT NIE-O-MEE!
i think so many people mispronounce it as nie-O-mee because the eye inverts it and puts the i after the N, because it stands out at the end of the name. and sadly, because people kept doing this, it became an "alternate" pronunciation instead of an incorrect one, which i (obviously haha) still consider it.
Okay, forgive me in advance...
i HATE HATE HATE it when people pronounce Naomi like nie-O-mee. the "a" is first! it's nay-O-mee! (or more technically correct, nah-0-mee, but in English it becomes an ay sound) and even if you were to make a dipthong out of the "ao" like in some words (which wouldn't really be the case for a name of this origin, but for argument's sake) then it would be NOW-mee. STILL NOT NIE-O-MEE!
i think so many people mispronounce it as nie-O-mee because the eye inverts it and puts the i after the N, because it stands out at the end of the name. and sadly, because people kept doing this, it became an "alternate" pronunciation instead of an incorrect one, which i (obviously haha) still consider it.
This message was edited 2/5/2014, 7:23 PM
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'nay-OH-mee' makes more sense.
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Where I live (Western Canada) I've usually heard it pronounced Nie-O-mee. Although the Japanese girl I went to school with named Naomi was more like nah-O-mee.
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I've never heard any other pronunciation than nay-O-mee. It just sounds better to me.
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Well I've only ever heard in nay-O-mee so I'd have to say that I guess.
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nay-O-mee, if I'm pronouncing it in English.
In my native Danish it's nah-O-mee.
In my native Danish it's nah-O-mee.
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I didn't know it was actually pronounced nah-O-mee in some places! I asked about that in my response. Interesting, thanks for sharing! :)
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No problem, really. :)
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I had always pronounced it nie-O-mee pretty much my whole life until my niece named Naomi (Naomi Louise) was born (2011), and my brother and SIL pronounce her name nay-O-mee. I think I still prefer nie-O-mee, but nay-O-mee has begun to sound more normal and acceptable because of my niece. :P We're American, btw. If I had to guess, the 'nay' pronunciation is most common in the US. I can't say for anywhere else.
Would anyone be willing to pronounce it nah-O-mee? I think that's closer to how it's said in Hebrew, and I quite like how it sounds. Only problem is you'd be forever telling people to say it that way. :P
Would anyone be willing to pronounce it nah-O-mee? I think that's closer to how it's said in Hebrew, and I quite like how it sounds. Only problem is you'd be forever telling people to say it that way. :P
This message was edited 2/1/2014, 10:53 AM
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Either ... I think something close to nye-O-mee is probably more "authentic" or like the original.
Why I think nye-O-mee makes sense: It's nah-O-mee, nah with A as in tar. A slight (ee) or (y) gets inserted between the vowels, because they don't flow together naturally in English, and you get: nah(ee)O-mee, which is nye-O-mee.
In my American English, that A sound is sort of stilted, like putting on a foreign accent; making it A like in capri gives you nuh(ee)O-mee which is almost nay-O-mee.
I think I sound like I'm saying nay-O-mee, but it might sound like nye-O-mee sometimes. It's nuh(ee)O-mee in my accent.
It's like Rafael... It's Ra-fah-EL and for Americans that becomes Ra-fye-EL, almost. If the fa becomes fuh, it becomes (almost) ra-fay-EL. Some people I know say Ra-fee-EL and that's just wrong, IMO.
Why I think nye-O-mee makes sense: It's nah-O-mee, nah with A as in tar. A slight (ee) or (y) gets inserted between the vowels, because they don't flow together naturally in English, and you get: nah(ee)O-mee, which is nye-O-mee.
In my American English, that A sound is sort of stilted, like putting on a foreign accent; making it A like in capri gives you nuh(ee)O-mee which is almost nay-O-mee.
I think I sound like I'm saying nay-O-mee, but it might sound like nye-O-mee sometimes. It's nuh(ee)O-mee in my accent.
It's like Rafael... It's Ra-fah-EL and for Americans that becomes Ra-fye-EL, almost. If the fa becomes fuh, it becomes (almost) ra-fay-EL. Some people I know say Ra-fee-EL and that's just wrong, IMO.
This message was edited 2/1/2014, 10:45 AM
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I prefer nie-O-mee but I got into the habit of always pronouncing the name nay-O-mee because the only two Naomi's I know both pronounce it that way.
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I say nye-OH-mee. I think that sounds better when called out. Even though that pronunciation shouldn't make sense to me, like Rox says. I guess it's true... like in what other word it is the letter a said like a long-i? I can't think of one... But something about the nay-o-mee pronunciation feels like I'm putting on airs, like I'm trying to be fancy. Like an American mom insisting their Clara is CLAW-ra, not CLAIR-uh.
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For pronunciation, how about Sinai? OK, it's a desert; but in UK and SA English, Isaiah is eyeZEYEa and in the States I think eyeZAYa; dunno which way you jump in Canada!
We say nayOHmi here, but then we also say CLAHra - Afrikaans is a link to Dutch, German etc pronunciations and when I met my first CLAIRa I nearly tipped over. Her parents explained that they couldn't choose between Clare and Sarah, so they did a merger. They were British, fwiw.
We say nayOHmi here, but then we also say CLAHra - Afrikaans is a link to Dutch, German etc pronunciations and when I met my first CLAIRa I nearly tipped over. Her parents explained that they couldn't choose between Clare and Sarah, so they did a merger. They were British, fwiw.
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Nay-OH-mee is what comes out of my mouth.I just know one person called that, a young girl about age 13. Naomi Parise, isn't that pretty? :-)
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I've always thought of Naomi as being pronounced nye-OH-mee (or nie-O-mee, same thing) and on the few occasions when I had reason to say the name (back when we had a cleaning lady with the name, as stated), that's how I said it. My entire family back then called her nye-OH-mee. That's what trips off my tongue. But just now out of curiosity, I asked three people who are in the room with me how they pronounce Naomi and they all said nay-O-mee. Huh.
I think that nye-O-mee is prettier in any case.
I think that nye-O-mee is prettier in any case.
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Me too, I find the nie-o-mee prn. much prettier than nay-o-me, which sounds harsh and old to me. I'm curious now too if I'm the only one who says it that way... I'll have to ask my friends how they say it.
It makes sense that you prefer nie-o-mee if that's how your cleaning lady Naomi said it. But I've never known a Naomi so I don't know where I picked that pronunciation up.
It makes sense that you prefer nie-o-mee if that's how your cleaning lady Naomi said it. But I've never known a Naomi so I don't know where I picked that pronunciation up.
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I have only heard of Naomi being pronounced nie-o-mee.... and yes, it's much prettier to me.
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nie-O-mee.
Edit: Granted, I've only known one Naomi in my life, and she was my family's cleaning lady back when I was a teenager, but her name was pronounced nie-O-mee. I was motivated to add this when I saw the previous responses about nay-O-mee being the only pronunciation that makes sense in the US and nay-O-mee being the only one heard.
Edit: Granted, I've only known one Naomi in my life, and she was my family's cleaning lady back when I was a teenager, but her name was pronounced nie-O-mee. I was motivated to add this when I saw the previous responses about nay-O-mee being the only pronunciation that makes sense in the US and nay-O-mee being the only one heard.
This message was edited 2/1/2014, 8:30 AM
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I've never heard anything by the nay- pronunciation, so to me it is better.
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If you're in Canada or the US, Nay-Oh-Mee is the only pronunciation that makes sense.
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I like nay-O-mee better. Great name! Totally underused.
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