Yes, probably it is a historical situation
in confluence with the avoiding situation exposed by Anneza.I checked in babynamesofireland.com (because there are audio records of the names) and in Irish Muirgheal is pronounced with a sound [u] (in a way very similar to Muriel in Catalan or in Spanish), so the adaptation of Muirgheal as Muriel through the Latin or even through the French/the Norman has a lot of sense. And I can see the evolution from [u] to a schwa and then to [e] or [a].Since Muriel is an old fashioned name in English, I didn't hear it in real life (I think) and I don't know if nowadays in the English of Ireland Muriel is pronounced with [u] (like in Irish) or with [ju] (like in the general modern English pronunciation). Next Monday I will ask my English teacher about the pronunciation of Muriel in Ireland.
Lumia
http://onomastica.mailcatala.com
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Messages

Muriel / Mariel and English dialects  ·  Lumia  ·  3/3/2008, 1:47 AM
Re: Muriel / Mariel and English dialects  ·  Cleveland Kent Evans  ·  3/4/2008, 10:51 AM
Yes, probably it is a historical situation  ·  Lumia  ·  3/5/2008, 1:45 AM
Muriel in Ireland  ·  Lumia  ·  3/11/2008, 3:19 AM
I think the link is going to slowly change, though  ·  Siri  ·  3/4/2008, 1:24 PM
Thank you very much you all  ·  Lumia  ·  3/4/2008, 3:17 AM
Just to clarify ...  ·  Anneza  ·  3/4/2008, 4:58 AM
Re: Muriel / Mariel and English dialects  ·  Anneza  ·  3/3/2008, 10:24 PM
Re: Muriel / Mariel and English dialects  ·  Elena  ·  3/3/2008, 9:42 AM
Re: Muriel / Mariel and English dialects  ·  ClaudiaS  ·  3/3/2008, 6:45 AM
Re: Muriel / Mariel and English dialects  ·  Kate  ·  3/3/2008, 10:25 AM
Re: Muriel / Mariel and English dialects  ·  penguiny7  ·  3/3/2008, 6:22 AM
American East Coast Dialect...  ·  Siri  ·  3/3/2008, 3:42 AM
Clarifying  ·  Siri  ·  3/3/2008, 3:44 AM
Re: Muriel / Mariel and English dialects  ·  Poppylena  ·  3/3/2008, 2:57 AM