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ArchivesRe: Rani?
in reply to a message by Mel
Do you mean the Indian name Rani meaning queen (ultimately from Sanskrit rAj to rule, cognate with Latin rex. It may be through rAjnI -> raNNI -> rANI; or through rANA from the same root + feminine suffix I)? In that case, it would depend on the Indian language concerned: many Indian languages use it as a name, but pronounce it differently. Most of these languages are unstressed (i.e. stress is not a feature of a lexeme), so the difference between RAH-nee and rah-NEE would be nonexistent in the Indian context. What would be important in some languages is the nature of the n and the length of the ee. In Hindi, rANI would have an r like in English, an A like in English car, an N which is hard (retroflex), a sound nonexistent in English, and the I is long as in knee.
In another langauge, say Bengali, the vowels are all short, and the n becomes more like the English n. Other languages will have yet other pronounciations.
It is, indeed, sometimes spelt Ranee. Indian names are transcribed into Latin script in a variety of ways: their spelling in most Brahmi derived scripts is more constant, and except for Tamil, can most often be transliterated from one to the other.
In another langauge, say Bengali, the vowels are all short, and the n becomes more like the English n. Other languages will have yet other pronounciations.
It is, indeed, sometimes spelt Ranee. Indian names are transcribed into Latin script in a variety of ways: their spelling in most Brahmi derived scripts is more constant, and except for Tamil, can most often be transliterated from one to the other.
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