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[Opinions] Re: Clara
I like it; the only one I've ever known was a very impressive person who kept her dysfunctional family together by sheer strength of character.But, I was startled to hear that in the US it (sometimes?) rhymes with Sarah. The lass in Nutcracker has the European pronunciation of CLAH ra, which is what I'm used to.
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Yeah, I was shocked to learn about the Sarah-esque pronunciation when I looked at the name's info on BtN. I find it absurd. You wouldn't pronounce Tara, Lara or Mara with an AIR sound. If I wanted to pronounce it CLAIR-a, I would spell it Claira. CLAH-ra is the superior pronunciation, in my opinion.
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I pronounce Clara, Tara and Mara with an AIR sound. The only one I might pronounce with an AH sound is Lara, and that is only because I think most bearers of the name use that pronunciation. Even so, LAH-ra sounds "off" to me; I really want to say LAIR-a.I live in the U.S.
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I live in the US. I usually pronounce Clara, Tara, Mara, Lara and Sara as CLAR-ah, TAR-ah, MAR-ah LAR-ah and SAR-ah. I see them pronounced both ways with the AIR and the AR sound but I've met slightly more AR than AIR.
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Hm, fancy that. I'm from Australia myself - South Australia. I words like dance, chance etc with the AH sound, although I know some parts of Australia, like NSW, pronounce it ANce. These regions might be open to pronouncing Clara your way - I'm not sure. Of course I like my natural pronunciation of words/names more. :)
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