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Re: Leila
My stepfather's grandmother was Lela, pronounced Lee-la. My grandmother had a friend named Leila, pronounced Layla. A patient at the optometrist's office where I used to work was Leila, but she pronounced it Lee-EYE-La. She was maybe seventy and I believe she was originally from Texas. I actually think Lee-Eye-La is rather pretty, but again, hard to spell so people would know how to pronounce it.Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, when you criticize him, you're a mile away and you have his shoes!
Steve Martin
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Maybe you'd like Laelia? Lie-lee-ah

This message was edited 7/5/2022, 9:19 AM

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My Random House unabridged dictionary published in 1987 gives Lee-la as the first pronunciation and Lay-luh as the second for Leila. I've never heard the 3 syllable pronunciation before but I'm not shocked by it. You say you used to work in that office -- if that patient was 70 then, how old would she be today? The women I new named Leila as a child would all have been at least 50 years older than me and so would be at least 120 if they were alive today, which of course none of them are.
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