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HelpRe: Tegan pronunciation
in reply to a message by Perrine
My understanding is that the original Welsh pronunciation rhymed the first syllable with "peg" or "leg".
However, in Australia, where Megan came to be pronounced "Mee-gan", the pronunciation of Tegan became "Tee-gan". And that pronunciation spread to North America when the episodes of the "Dr. Who" television series that featured an Australian woman sidekick of Dr. Who called Tegan aired. Even though the show was made in Britain, the Australian pronunciation of Tegan was used in it. So even though most speakers in the USA pronounce Megan with the vowel of "peg", Tegan seems to be usually pronounced with the "ee" sound of "tea".
However, in Australia, where Megan came to be pronounced "Mee-gan", the pronunciation of Tegan became "Tee-gan". And that pronunciation spread to North America when the episodes of the "Dr. Who" television series that featured an Australian woman sidekick of Dr. Who called Tegan aired. Even though the show was made in Britain, the Australian pronunciation of Tegan was used in it. So even though most speakers in the USA pronounce Megan with the vowel of "peg", Tegan seems to be usually pronounced with the "ee" sound of "tea".
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Interesting. I’m in the western U.S. and have never heard Megan pronounced with the first syllable rhyming with “peg”, always rhyming with “Ray”.
As an aside, when I took a look at Forvo this morning, I found a “Welsh” pronunciation of Tegan using “tee”, but it was provided by a person in France. I did a second search and found a Welsh pronunciation for the phrase “brics tegan” provided by a person in Wales using “peg” : https://forvo.com/word/brics_tegan/#cy
No idea whether the word “tegan” in this phrase has any connection to the name, “ Tegan”, but there it is for you, in case it’s of any help.
As an aside, when I took a look at Forvo this morning, I found a “Welsh” pronunciation of Tegan using “tee”, but it was provided by a person in France. I did a second search and found a Welsh pronunciation for the phrase “brics tegan” provided by a person in Wales using “peg” : https://forvo.com/word/brics_tegan/#cy
No idea whether the word “tegan” in this phrase has any connection to the name, “ Tegan”, but there it is for you, in case it’s of any help.
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In the Midwest, all the Megans I've ever known pronounced their name to rhyme with "peg."
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Tegan is pronounced "teg" rhyming with "peg" in Welsh :)
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I'm in the west/midwest US. I almost always hear Meg-an rhyming with peg, but I wouldn't necessarily consider May-gan to be a different pronunciation, just someone saying the vowel extra-long. I wouldn't say May-gan unless someone specifically told me that's what their name was (although it also depends on the spelling. If there's an extra letter like Maegan, Meagan, etc. I'd be more likely to say May-gan).
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In my neck of the woods, “peg” is pronounced with what I was taught is a short “e” sound as in “beg” ”and “dregs”. “Leg” is pronounced with a long “a” sound as in “snowflake” and “plague”. The phrase “peg leg” contains two completely different and distinct vowel sounds. Here, Megan rhymes with “pagan” and “Reagan” (the former president).
How would “peg leg” sound for you folks?
How would “peg leg” sound for you folks?
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For me "peg leg" is the same vowel, both like beg and dregs.
How do you say bag? For me the "a" rhymes with the a in apple, but my mom is from Minnesota and she says bag to rhyme with plague.
Also lag... for me it's like apple, but for my mom it would be "layg". If you say "the one with short legs lags behind", does it sound the same?
How do you say bag? For me the "a" rhymes with the a in apple, but my mom is from Minnesota and she says bag to rhyme with plague.
Also lag... for me it's like apple, but for my mom it would be "layg". If you say "the one with short legs lags behind", does it sound the same?
This message was edited 5/30/2019, 9:29 AM
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For me, “bag” is also a short “a” sound like “apple”. Bag, lag, sag, hag - all rhyme. “Legs” sounds like a long “a” as in “plagues”, so “short legs lags behind” rhymes with “short plagues sags behind”.
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I also pronounce peg leg like you but still pronounce Megan to rhyme with peg.
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My, dialects are fascinating! I had no idea there were places in the English speaking world where "peg leg" wouldn't rhyme. Just where in the Western US is your "neck of the woods"?
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I’m in California. Just took a quick phone survey with local relatives and they match with what I’ve always heard, “peg” and “leg” definitely do not rhyme. One mentioned that her grandfather always pronounced “Leghorn” (type of chicken) to rhyme with “peg urn”, but he was from Arkansas and also said things like “warsh” for “wash”.
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Interesting. For me (west coast US), "peg leg" rhymes, both with the short "e" sound. "Leg" with the long "a" sound doesn't sound wrong necessarily, but I wouldn't say it. But actually I think sometimes my pronunciation moves to somewhere in the middle between rhyming with "beg" and rhyming with "plague".
As for Megan, I would normally think to pronounce it "Meg-an" with the short "e", though I have heard people say "May-gan" which doesn't seem wrong, and now that I think about it, my pronunciation might fall somewhere in the middle of these two as well.
As for Tegan, I've always heard it pronounced TEE-gan.
As for Megan, I would normally think to pronounce it "Meg-an" with the short "e", though I have heard people say "May-gan" which doesn't seem wrong, and now that I think about it, my pronunciation might fall somewhere in the middle of these two as well.
As for Tegan, I've always heard it pronounced TEE-gan.
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Here in South Africa, peg rhymes with leg and beg. Short e, as in bet. I am familiar with leg rhyming with plague, but only as a dialectal (UK) pronunciation which some of my elderly relatives used for comic purposes "Ee, me lague" when complaining about, say, stiffness or a sudden cramp.
We have two different Megan situations here. Megan usually has the peg rhyme and Meagan is always MEEgan, long e as in speed. I've never heard MAYgan, but that proves nothing of course. And some Megan people use the MEEgan pronunciation.
The only Tegan I've met pronounced it TEEgan; for what it's worth, she was British.
We have two different Megan situations here. Megan usually has the peg rhyme and Meagan is always MEEgan, long e as in speed. I've never heard MAYgan, but that proves nothing of course. And some Megan people use the MEEgan pronunciation.
The only Tegan I've met pronounced it TEEgan; for what it's worth, she was British.
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I'm from the Eastern US and I've also only heard Megan pronounced that way.
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What part of the Eastern US? I'm in New England and Megan can be MEH-gan, MAY-gan, or MEE-gan, depending on the person. It's MEH-gan and MAY-gan are the most common and I've heard about the same number of people use either, and very few people are MEE-gan.
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Originally from New Jersey, have lived in South Carolina for 23 years. I've lived, for fairly short periods of time, in New England, the Midwest, West, and Texas, but I don't recall hearing Megan pronounced by anyone in those places, lol. I do believe that Americans pronounce Megan both with the first syllable rhyming with "peg" and with it rhyming with "ray", but then I think the difference can be pretty subtle anyway.
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I have to disagree ...
Though of course I didn't do a study of it and I only base this on two Teagans (actually a Teagan and a Tegan) plus a Keagan that I have known of.
Teagan and Tegan both said their names Tay-Gan, like Reagan. Keagan did also.
Though of course I didn't do a study of it and I only base this on two Teagans (actually a Teagan and a Tegan) plus a Keagan that I have known of.
Teagan and Tegan both said their names Tay-Gan, like Reagan. Keagan did also.
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I’ve never know a Teagan, but I have always pronounced it Tee-gan. And the Keagan i went to school with was Kee-gan, as well.
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