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HelpRe: WDYTO Clara?
in reply to a message by RoxStar
In the US, the Lara with a C pronunciation is unusual and sounds a bit pretentious, unless you've got a European accent of some kind.
This is making me think that I misunderstood how the OP is pronouncing Lara. I pronounce Lara so that the A in the first syllable is the same as the A in "cat." So I pronounce Clara like Lara that way with a C in the front, and that's the only way I've ever heard any American pronounce it. If Lara instead is pronounced so that the first syllable rhymes with "car", and thus Clara is also pronounced with the first syllable rhyming with "car", then I agree with you.
This is making me think that I misunderstood how the OP is pronouncing Lara. I pronounce Lara so that the A in the first syllable is the same as the A in "cat." So I pronounce Clara like Lara that way with a C in the front, and that's the only way I've ever heard any American pronounce it. If Lara instead is pronounced so that the first syllable rhymes with "car", and thus Clara is also pronounced with the first syllable rhyming with "car", then I agree with you.
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queenv I did mean rhymes with car. Sorry for the confusion.
I was thinking that Lara only had three pronunciations but it has at least four: 1. LAHR-ə / LAR-ə first part rhymes with car in the US, 2. LAWR-ə identical to Laura, 3. LAH-rah seems to be common in Europe and is similar to 1. but has different emphasis, 4. LER-ə first part rhymes with Claire and sounds the same as an animal lair.
Most Lara's I've met pronounce their name like 1. but I have also meet a fair amount of people who pronounce it like 2. just as an alternative spelling for Laura. I assumed people would know that I didn't mean the Laura pronunciation and that 3. is uncommon in the US. I completely forgot until queenv mentioned it but I did meet a person once who used pronunciation 4. She implied that most people aren't expecting that pronunciation. She told me she has to explain her name a lot to people. I mean it is not that confusing and shouldn't be unexpected since it is like one of the Clara pronunciations only without the C. Also A's often make that sound in the English language. I was tired last night so I forgot that Lara could be pronounced like LER-ə.
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I was thinking that Lara only had three pronunciations but it has at least four: 1. LAHR-ə / LAR-ə first part rhymes with car in the US, 2. LAWR-ə identical to Laura, 3. LAH-rah seems to be common in Europe and is similar to 1. but has different emphasis, 4. LER-ə first part rhymes with Claire and sounds the same as an animal lair.
Most Lara's I've met pronounce their name like 1. but I have also meet a fair amount of people who pronounce it like 2. just as an alternative spelling for Laura. I assumed people would know that I didn't mean the Laura pronunciation and that 3. is uncommon in the US. I completely forgot until queenv mentioned it but I did meet a person once who used pronunciation 4. She implied that most people aren't expecting that pronunciation. She told me she has to explain her name a lot to people. I mean it is not that confusing and shouldn't be unexpected since it is like one of the Clara pronunciations only without the C. Also A's often make that sound in the English language. I was tired last night so I forgot that Lara could be pronounced like LER-ə.
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This message was edited 9/18/2016, 10:35 AM
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