Re: Nataniel
in reply to a message by Tieliebirds
In South Africa it's the Afrikaans pronunciation and spelling of Nathaniel, and is pretty widely used. Like most languages, Afrikaans doesn't have a TH sound, so they very sensibly drop the H.
It's pronounced nah-TAAH-nee-ul, as close as I can get, and often gets abbreviated to Niel, which sounds like Kneel, or indeed Neil!
There's a prominent musician/performer here who is just known as Nataniel - no surname. He's brilliant - looks like a bald version of Boy George, but what a voice, and what a wonderfully original imagination!
It's pronounced nah-TAAH-nee-ul, as close as I can get, and often gets abbreviated to Niel, which sounds like Kneel, or indeed Neil!
There's a prominent musician/performer here who is just known as Nataniel - no surname. He's brilliant - looks like a bald version of Boy George, but what a voice, and what a wonderfully original imagination!