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HelpHow would you pronounce Lyra
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Replies
LIE-RAH
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LIE-ra (like lyre+a) or LEER-a. I use both
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LIE-rah or LEE-ra
Depending on which brain is on atm.
Depending on which brain is on atm.
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LIE-ruh
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The one I know pronounces it LIE-ra. She’s in her 30s and is the only one I’ve met / seen so far.
This message was edited 7/8/2018, 6:51 PM
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Lie ruh, like the constellation - rhyming with Myra.
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I say it "Lear-ah". I'd certainly accept "Lie-ra" though.
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Lie-ruh
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My dd has a cat named Lyra. We pronounce it LEER-uh. I'm not totally surprised by the LIE pronunciation, however, LEER makes much more sense to me when I consider how many names use a y to replace the i (Lysa, Melyssa, etc.). Then again, I suppose the y could have a long i sound as well (Ryley, Lyla, etc.).
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My first instinct where I live (East Coast USA) would be LIE-rah. I wouldn't be shocked by leera.
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Lie-ra
Beautiful name BTW (:
Beautiful name BTW (:
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LIE-ruh
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LUYR-ra, neither LIE-ra nor LEER-a.
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I say LIE-ruh, and it’s the only way I like it haha. I partially like it to honour the His Dark Materials character, so I use that pronunciation, plus Leer-uh is too leery for me, and Lih-ruh, like lyric, sounds odd and incomplete in my opinion.
This message was edited 7/8/2018, 4:03 AM
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LIE-rah
I like this name.
I like this name.
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LIE-ra is how the constellation* is pronounced by English-speaking astronomers, LEE-ra is (allegedly) how it's pronounced in Greece. I prefer LIE-ra, as Lira seems more intuitive for the latter.
This message was edited 7/8/2018, 5:52 PM
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In the His Dark Materials trilogy, Will is totally honest with impressive will power while Lyra is able to fib her way into and out of just about any situation, though she never uses her talent frivolously! So, given the messages in both their names, LIEra seems the only logical pronunciation; plus there is the beautiful association with the stringed instrument, in English 'lyre', and Lyra the somewhat harp-shaped constellation.
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Lyra has two correct pronunciations.
The first time I came across this name was with this book series. I wasn't certain how it was pronounced at the time, I'm not certain but I think I went with the LIE pronunciation in my head. In the movie it is pronounced LIE- rather than LEER-. You may be right about why he named them Will and Lyra, I never considered that. I'm pretty certain that the LIE- pronunciation is the most common in Britain and other English speaking places.
The constellation Lyra and the star systems Beta Lyrae are LEER- according to the Italian astronomer I met and worked with so I pronounce them that way.
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The first time I came across this name was with this book series. I wasn't certain how it was pronounced at the time, I'm not certain but I think I went with the LIE pronunciation in my head. In the movie it is pronounced LIE- rather than LEER-. You may be right about why he named them Will and Lyra, I never considered that. I'm pretty certain that the LIE- pronunciation is the most common in Britain and other English speaking places.
The constellation Lyra and the star systems Beta Lyrae are LEER- according to the Italian astronomer I met and worked with so I pronounce them that way.
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This message was edited 7/9/2018, 2:49 PM
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How can LIEra be the only logical pronunciation when "lyrical" is not pronounced LIErical?
It's not as if that book series invented the name/pronunciation.
It's not as if that book series invented the name/pronunciation.
This message was edited 7/8/2018, 2:57 AM
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Lyra mispronunciation? & honorary verse
I too would look at Lyra - and phonetically hear "Leera"; and I'll admit that I am not good with assuming an accurate pronunciation of words or names. When younger I pronounced the word precipice to rhyme with the word recipe: luckily the writings of the Good Lord Byron set me aright.
I add this quotation from Byron's Child Harold's Pilgrimage - which includes a natural pronunciation guide for the word 'precipice' - due to a recent news story of a heroic tragedy at a waterfall.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/07/06/girl-16-sacrifices-her-own-life-to-save-sister-on-waterfall.html
The roar of waters!—from the headlong height
Velino cleaves the wave-worn precipice;
The fall of waters! rapid as the light
The flashing mass foams shaking the abyss;
The hell of waters! where they howl and hiss,
And boil in endless torture; while the sweat
Of their great agony, wrung out from this
Their Phlegethon, curls round the rocks of jet
That gird the gulf around, in pitiless horror set,
And mounts in spray the skies, and thence again
Returns in an unceasing shower, which round,
With its unemptied cloud of gentle rain,
Is an eternal April to the ground,
Making it all one emerald. How profound
The gulf! and how the giant element
From rock to rock leaps with delirious bound,
Crushing the cliffs, which, downward worn and rent
With his fierce footsteps, yield in chasms a fearful vent
To the broad column which rolls on, and shows
More like the fountain of an infant sea
Torn from the womb of mountains by the throes
Of a new world, than only thus to be
Parent of rivers, which flow gushingly,
I too would look at Lyra - and phonetically hear "Leera"; and I'll admit that I am not good with assuming an accurate pronunciation of words or names. When younger I pronounced the word precipice to rhyme with the word recipe: luckily the writings of the Good Lord Byron set me aright.
I add this quotation from Byron's Child Harold's Pilgrimage - which includes a natural pronunciation guide for the word 'precipice' - due to a recent news story of a heroic tragedy at a waterfall.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/07/06/girl-16-sacrifices-her-own-life-to-save-sister-on-waterfall.html
The roar of waters!—from the headlong height
Velino cleaves the wave-worn precipice;
The fall of waters! rapid as the light
The flashing mass foams shaking the abyss;
The hell of waters! where they howl and hiss,
And boil in endless torture; while the sweat
Of their great agony, wrung out from this
Their Phlegethon, curls round the rocks of jet
That gird the gulf around, in pitiless horror set,
And mounts in spray the skies, and thence again
Returns in an unceasing shower, which round,
With its unemptied cloud of gentle rain,
Is an eternal April to the ground,
Making it all one emerald. How profound
The gulf! and how the giant element
From rock to rock leaps with delirious bound,
Crushing the cliffs, which, downward worn and rent
With his fierce footsteps, yield in chasms a fearful vent
To the broad column which rolls on, and shows
More like the fountain of an infant sea
Torn from the womb of mountains by the throes
Of a new world, than only thus to be
Parent of rivers, which flow gushingly,
This message was edited 7/8/2018, 12:37 PM
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This is my cat's name. We've pronounced it LEER-ah for eleven years now so it's really hard for me to ever read it as "LYE-rah."
I like the LEER-ah pronunciation; I don't like the LYE-rah one.
LEER-rah makes more sense to me because it comes from the same source as "lyric, lyrical, etc."
I like the LEER-ah pronunciation; I don't like the LYE-rah one.
LEER-rah makes more sense to me because it comes from the same source as "lyric, lyrical, etc."
This message was edited 7/8/2018, 2:55 AM
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I'm open to pronouncing it either Leer-a or Lie-ra. I sometimes read it one way, sometimes the other. I prefer Lie-ra, but not strongly, and I also sort of expect that that is considered the "correct" pronunciation.
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Although I initially read Lyra as Leera, I enjoy the "Lie-ra" pronunciation which then "calls" for the letter 'Y' to serve not as mere vowel but as a diphthong.
To me the diphthong just makes it more interesting - allowing greater variance.
L-i-ee-ra - long "ee" sonority within the diphthong?
or
L-i-e-ra - short "e" sonority within the diphthong?
To me the diphthong just makes it more interesting - allowing greater variance.
L-i-ee-ra - long "ee" sonority within the diphthong?
or
L-i-e-ra - short "e" sonority within the diphthong?
This message was edited 7/8/2018, 5:08 AM
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Lie-Ra
Pretty sweet name.
Pretty sweet name.
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