Message: "Re: Ralph - RALF or RAYF"

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Re: Ralph - RALF or RAYF

by Elea

5/25/2007, 3:19 PM

It is traditionally pronounced RAYF in England but just like the English pronunciations of Maria (ma-RYE-a) and Sophia (so-FYE-a) have fallen out of use in favour of the European pronunciation, so has Ralph. It is still pronounced like this occasionally but seen as quite pretentious.

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- Lauren B (guest)

5/30/2007, 5:04 AM

LOL, I was just going to say that in England it's pronounced RALF, and that people would assume the parents of a RAYF were pretentious social-climbers! Evidently it depends where in the country you're from!

- Kate +5

5/29/2007, 11:35 AM

Sophia pronounced "so-FYE-a." Really?

I knew Maria used to be pronounced "ma-RYE-a" in England, but I have never heard of Sophia being pronounced "so-FYE-a." Are you sure that is correct? Not all names ending in "ia" were pronounced that way (e.g. Julia was always pronounced "JOO-lee-a").

- Kate +1

5/30/2007, 2:37 PM

Any other less common pronunciations?

Thanks to everyone who responded. I never knew Sophia could be pronounced that way. Are there any other older pronunciations of English names that are becoming less common?

- Anneza

5/31/2007, 4:32 AM

Not now, I don't think. But in the eighteenth century, if I remember, the -th- in Dorothy was pronounced like the Th in Thomas ... so she'd have been Dorotty. Then with the spread of literacy, people started pronouncing the letters they saw, instead of doing what they heard older people do ... probably because Dorothy was never as popular a name as Thomas, so they weren't so accustomed to it.

- Cera

5/30/2007, 12:14 PM

Nathaniel Hawthorne's wife, Sophia Peabody, pronounced her name that way.

- Anneza

5/29/2007, 10:46 PM

I'm having lunch on Sunday with a 25-year-old Sophia who is and has always been so-FYE-a, to the extent that her childhood nickname was Fya, like fire without the r; pretty good as she's a redhead.

Here in South Africa we are very used to Afrikaans-speaking Sophias, or of course Sofias, sounding like so-FEE-a and English-speaking ones sounding like so-FYE-a. This could I suppose change as American TV becomes more ubiquitous ...

- Maridawn (norah_girl)

5/29/2007, 4:37 PM

Yeah, I know one 'Sofia' who pronounces is like that.

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