Re: South African names from the 1940s and 1950s
in reply to a message by erb816
I suspect that Charlize found her original ln pronunciation too unfamiliar to most Americans and chose to make life easier for them, and therefore for herself!
Willemien is the male name Willem (= William) feminised. And, Afrikaans being close to Dutch and German, the W sounds like a V and the i like an uh, or a schwa. And the -mien is like the Min in Minnie, the well-known Mouse. There's a light stress on vil and the main stress on MIN.
Willemien is the male name Willem (= William) feminised. And, Afrikaans being close to Dutch and German, the W sounds like a V and the i like an uh, or a schwa. And the -mien is like the Min in Minnie, the well-known Mouse. There's a light stress on vil and the main stress on MIN.