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ArchivesPronunciation of Eliza?
I know a girl named Eliza, but she pronounces it El-ee-za (long e), not El-eye-za (long i). How common is this variant (El-ee-za)? At first I was thinking it should have been spelled differently to avoid confusion, but spelling it phonetically (Eleeza) produces an odd result. Then again, Eliza is derived from Elizabeth and there's no long i in that. It almost makes more sense to pronounce it as El-ee-za, but I'm more familiar with El-eye-za. El-ee-za does sound prettier anyway.
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She seems to have done a merger between Eliza as in Doolittle and Elise as in Beethoven. Actually, I'm not sure if the piano piece is usually given as F"ur Eleeza in the German style or F"ur Eleez in the French. (I always hear it in German in my head, so Elise would sound like Eleeza to me. Depends on what conventions people are used to. But if she wanted a more phonetic spelling, it would do unless her friends all see Elise as Eleez or Elees.)
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BTW, did you know...
...that Für Elise was really called "Für Louise"? Apparently Beethoven didn't write very well, so "Für Louise" was read as "Für Elise". It was a mystery, since no one could find out who Elise was. Then, many years later, a Beethoven "scientist" read the original manuscript and saw that "Elise" really was "Louise", the name of a girl Beethoven had loved.
Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times if only one remembers to turn on the lights
~J.K. Rowling
...that Für Elise was really called "Für Louise"? Apparently Beethoven didn't write very well, so "Für Louise" was read as "Für Elise". It was a mystery, since no one could find out who Elise was. Then, many years later, a Beethoven "scientist" read the original manuscript and saw that "Elise" really was "Louise", the name of a girl Beethoven had loved.
Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times if only one remembers to turn on the lights
~J.K. Rowling
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Good grief! I am amazed and delighted to know that - thanks, Caprice. I'd always believed that she was a young pupil for whom he wrote it as a practice piece ... presumably the real one would have been known as or pronounced as Louisa (Luise) in the German way, unless French names were fashionable at the time. These are deep waters!
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I know Eliza is pronounced with the short e in Romanian and Russian. I remember hearing an update last week on the world's oldest mother from Romania (Adriana) whose baby recently turned one year old. Her name is Eliza (ee-LEE-za). Also, Russian skater, Ekaterina Gordeeva, has a daughter, Elizaveta. She's called Liza (LEE-za) for short.
I agree with you that the short e pronunciation is prettier.
I agree with you that the short e pronunciation is prettier.
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I can't help you with the popularity of that variant, especially if she spells it Eliza. I think the correct pronounciation is ee-LIE-za, but she could pronounce it any way that she wants.
Andrew
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"To a brave man, good luck and bad luck are like his right and left arms. He uses both."
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Proud Adopter of 40 Punctuation Pets. See my profile for their names.
"To a brave man, good luck and bad luck are like his right and left arms. He uses both."
St. Catherine of Siena
"It is not length of life, but depth of life."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
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