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HelpRe: Marlene and Marleen
in reply to a message by Perrine
If you're going to pronounce it mar-leen, then spell it that way to avoid confusion. But I don't like it with two syllables at all unless it's a mn for Lili! And even then, half the time in the song it's Mar-le-ne, isn't it? Wie einst Lili Marlene (3), wie einst Lili Marlen' (2)
This makes me sound like the cultural snob I no doubt am, but Marleen suggests a namer who doesn't know German at all, can't be bothered to find out, knows that most of the time in English the -e at the ends of words is silent, and goes happily down-market while chewing gum with her mouth half open.
This makes me sound like the cultural snob I no doubt am, but Marleen suggests a namer who doesn't know German at all, can't be bothered to find out, knows that most of the time in English the -e at the ends of words is silent, and goes happily down-market while chewing gum with her mouth half open.
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Hahaha Marleen is actually a popular name in Austria and Germany! But I agree with you, it is not as classic as Marlene! The song is called Lili Marleen. Marlene and Marleen are not pronounced the same in German, as you pointed out, Marlene is mahr-LEH-neh and Marleen is mahr-LAYN (kind of, I am not good at explaining pronunciations). They are both common in Germany but Marlene is a bit more common now whereas Marleen was more popular in the 80s and 90s.
In the song it is always Lili Marleen, not Lili Marlene, as far as I know. I actually don't like the combo Lili Marleen because it is just too closely associated with the song and the song is really melancholy even though it is nice.
But I agree with you, Marlene is classic and timeless. Marleen doesn't seem as classic to me. The worst in my opinion is Marlen. It is used in Austria as well and pronounced like Marleen. I think it's awful because it indicates a short pronunciation of the E, like mahr-LENN but it is said the same as Marleen and I always thought that was weird :P
In the song it is always Lili Marleen, not Lili Marlene, as far as I know. I actually don't like the combo Lili Marleen because it is just too closely associated with the song and the song is really melancholy even though it is nice.
But I agree with you, Marlene is classic and timeless. Marleen doesn't seem as classic to me. The worst in my opinion is Marlen. It is used in Austria as well and pronounced like Marleen. I think it's awful because it indicates a short pronunciation of the E, like mahr-LENN but it is said the same as Marleen and I always thought that was weird :P
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