Re: What name is pronounced "Mah-ree"?
in reply to a message by Elinor
Thanks! What is the difference between Mhairi and Mairi; I take it the 'mh' is pronounced like a 'v'? Is one more traditional than the other, or are they just regional variants, do you know? (I'm having a surprisingly hard time finding this out!)
I'm British too, although I've never met any "Marry" Maries. I do say "Marry-Claire" for the magazine, but that's how it's pronounced in French as well (it's sort of treated as one word, so the stress goes on the end syllable, Claire). Interesting... Although I was actually looking for a name sounding like "MAH-ree", not "Marry" - the first syllable rhyming with 'car' :)
I'm British too, although I've never met any "Marry" Maries. I do say "Marry-Claire" for the magazine, but that's how it's pronounced in French as well (it's sort of treated as one word, so the stress goes on the end syllable, Claire). Interesting... Although I was actually looking for a name sounding like "MAH-ree", not "Marry" - the first syllable rhyming with 'car' :)
Replies
Mhairi is the vocative case of Mairi. Native Gaelic speakers wouldn't use Mhairi as a given name, only in its proper grammatical context. But it's been widely adopted by non-Gaelic speakers as a 'different' name, an alternative to Mary I suppose, which everyone was getting bored of :)
Ohh, I see what you mean about MAH-ree being different from 'marry'. Hmm. I can't think of one though...
Ohh, I see what you mean about MAH-ree being different from 'marry'. Hmm. I can't think of one though...