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HelpA question for everyone and my reply
in reply to a message by Mareasi
I'm happy you're asking about this name! I'm not from an English speaking country. I've been wondering what the original pronunciation of this name is. On this board many people seem to favor Mad-uh-line. But I've never heard this pronunciation in real life. I have known a few American Madeline (I'm sure of the spelling, they weren't Madelyns) and they all pronounced it with a -lynn ending. I know that in the Madeline movie it's Mad-uh-line but that is the only time I have come across that pronunciation.
I was looking at its origin and it seems to be the English variant of Magdalene. Magdalene is usually mag-da-len in English as far as I know which is closer to the mad-uh-lyn pronunciation of Madeline. So I wonder whether that is the original pronunciation? I have no idea! I know Caroline is -line but Evangeline is -leen and Emmeline seems to be -line but also -leen sometimes, it's so confusing, can anyone explain this? What is the original pronunciation?
Now let me answer your questions :) I like Madeline very much. I also love Madeleine. I have known three American Madelines and met several others. They all pronounced it -lyn so that is the pronunciation I'm used to. One of them had Rose as her middle name. I always loved that combo even though I guess it's pretty standard and not very exciting. Madeleine seems to be used in more countries than Madeline. I know an American and an English Madeleine (both pronounce it -lyn) as well as a few French Madeleines who are all a bit older (I'm French and it is a bit old fashioned in France but might make a comeback soon, I think it's lovely!) but they use the French pronunciation in which the last syllable sounds more like -len than -lyn. I also know an Austrian Madeleine and a Swedish Madeleine. There's also a Swedish princess who bears this name. It's very classic. One thing I dislike about Madeline etc. is the nickname Maddie. I prefer the full form.
I was looking at its origin and it seems to be the English variant of Magdalene. Magdalene is usually mag-da-len in English as far as I know which is closer to the mad-uh-lyn pronunciation of Madeline. So I wonder whether that is the original pronunciation? I have no idea! I know Caroline is -line but Evangeline is -leen and Emmeline seems to be -line but also -leen sometimes, it's so confusing, can anyone explain this? What is the original pronunciation?
Now let me answer your questions :) I like Madeline very much. I also love Madeleine. I have known three American Madelines and met several others. They all pronounced it -lyn so that is the pronunciation I'm used to. One of them had Rose as her middle name. I always loved that combo even though I guess it's pretty standard and not very exciting. Madeleine seems to be used in more countries than Madeline. I know an American and an English Madeleine (both pronounce it -lyn) as well as a few French Madeleines who are all a bit older (I'm French and it is a bit old fashioned in France but might make a comeback soon, I think it's lovely!) but they use the French pronunciation in which the last syllable sounds more like -len than -lyn. I also know an Austrian Madeleine and a Swedish Madeleine. There's also a Swedish princess who bears this name. It's very classic. One thing I dislike about Madeline etc. is the nickname Maddie. I prefer the full form.
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Replies
I'm in a French area of Canada, and the pronounciation is as you say.none of the women I know use a nick-name, it's always the full name.
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I've never in my life heard anyone say Madeline "-line." That sounds wrong to me, or poetic/synthetic. It's "-lin" in real life as far as I'm concerned.
Emmeline = line
Caroline = line
Adeline = line
Evangeline = lin
Jacqueline = lin (contrary to French original prn)
Madeleine = len (very close to Madelyn)
Angeline = leen
Magdalene = leen
Emmeline = line
Caroline = line
Adeline = line
Evangeline = lin
Jacqueline = lin (contrary to French original prn)
Madeleine = len (very close to Madelyn)
Angeline = leen
Magdalene = leen
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For me it's...
Emmeline = leen
Caroline = line
Adeline = line
Evangeline = leen or lin
Jacqueline = lin
Madeleine = len (very close to Madelyn)
Angeline = leen
Magdalene = len
Emmeline = leen
Caroline = line
Adeline = line
Evangeline = leen or lin
Jacqueline = lin
Madeleine = len (very close to Madelyn)
Angeline = leen
Magdalene = len
This message was edited 8/30/2017, 10:58 AM
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Thanks! I've also only heard it pronounced that way in real life. In the movie it's -line and the movie is based on a book where apparently that pronunciation is made clear (by making it rhyme with things) so maybe the -line pronunciation was used after that from time to time? But I still don't think it ever got common. I'm just so confused because in the comment section for Madeline there seem to be lots of people who insist that -line is the only correct way to pronounce it. I wonder where they got that idea from because this doesn't seem to be the case. I should do a survey on this.
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but why is Emmeline both -line and -leen? I think Evangline is always -een? Just wondering, thanks for your reply!
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I wouldn't say Evangeline is always ending in "-een." The only Evangeline I've ever met (who generally went by Eve) actually pronounced her name ee-VAN-juh-lien!
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Naw. I never hear Emmeline as -leen, just -line. Also, I have heard Evangeline pronounced both ways. Its probably because there is only one spelling.
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Yeah, Evangeline is -leen. One of my faves!
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Original Pronunciation
Old English was kind of... well, weird - at least by our present standards. The G seems to have taken on a quality it sometimes has in Nordic languages in that it sometimes acted as a Y (see the Norse name Dagny), or was skipped over altogether.
This means that, in the Middle Ages and before, Magdalene was pronounced in English as... Maudelen, or Maudlin. (Though the actual medieval name Maud was derived from Matilda, not Magdalene.) Maudlin eventually entered English as a word for something overly weepy or sentimental, due to artistic depictions of Penitent Magdalene. Meanwhile, as a name, Maudlin eventually developed into Madeline (MAD-uh-lin) / Madeleine, and then Madeline developed the MAD-uh-lien pronunciation later (probably around the Enlightenment).
Old English was kind of... well, weird - at least by our present standards. The G seems to have taken on a quality it sometimes has in Nordic languages in that it sometimes acted as a Y (see the Norse name Dagny), or was skipped over altogether.
This means that, in the Middle Ages and before, Magdalene was pronounced in English as... Maudelen, or Maudlin. (Though the actual medieval name Maud was derived from Matilda, not Magdalene.) Maudlin eventually entered English as a word for something overly weepy or sentimental, due to artistic depictions of Penitent Magdalene. Meanwhile, as a name, Maudlin eventually developed into Madeline (MAD-uh-lin) / Madeleine, and then Madeline developed the MAD-uh-lien pronunciation later (probably around the Enlightenment).
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Thank you so much! This was really interesting. I didn't know maudlin was an expression. I had no idea Gs were pronounced differently at that time. I love reading about the history of names, so fascinating! :) I love Matilda, by the way.
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I've always pronounced it Mad-uh-lin, with a -lynn ending. But I've never known anyone named Madeline, so I don't know how bearers themselves pronounce the name.
Except, when I used to read the book "Madeline" to my daughter, I pronounced the last syllable just like the word "line", because otherwise it wouldn't have rhymed the way it was supposed to. But I had to make an effort to do it.
Except, when I used to read the book "Madeline" to my daughter, I pronounced the last syllable just like the word "line", because otherwise it wouldn't have rhymed the way it was supposed to. But I had to make an effort to do it.
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I wonder if that may be the source of the -line pronunciation. The book must have made it clear how to pronounce it, as you wrote. So maybe some people thought this was the classic way or something. In the comment section for Madeline lots of people insist on -line and that -linn is only correct for Madelyn (which is a bit odd because Madelyn is just a variant spelling as far as I know like Michaela/Mikayla etc.).
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