Maire=? correct pronounciation

teeisblue · Post by **teeisblue** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 1:14 am

So, so, so off topic, but I was wondering...

The Irish name 'Maire' is pronounced how? I'm asking because many of you may be familiar with the correct pronunciation.

Anyway, is it 'moy-rah' or 'mwah-rah'? Does the first syllable rhyme with 'boy', or is it like saying 'moi' in French?

brianc · Post by **brianc** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 1:24 am

teeisblue wrote:So, so, so off topic, but I was wondering...

The Irish name 'Maire' is pronounced how? I'm asking because many of you may be familiar with the correct pronunciation.

Anyway, is it 'moy-rah' or 'mwah-rah'? Does the first syllable rhyme with 'boy', or is it like saying 'moi' in French?

Sort of both, really.

Maw-RUH.

Brian Lee · Post by **Brian Lee** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 8:04 am

As was told to me by a native speaker here in Utah, there is a subtle but distinct difference in how you would pronounce Máire as someone's name, and Máire in reference to the blessed virgin. Sadly, I can't remember now what the difference was....but it was there.

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 8:09 am

The Scottish name 'Moira' is pronounced as you would expect from the spelling: moy-ra (with a short 'a'.) I believe 'Maire' is a close relative of 'Moira.'

teeisblue · Post by **teeisblue** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 8:55 am

The Scottish name 'Moira' is pronounced as you would expect from the spelling: moy-ra (with a short 'a'.) I believe 'Maire' is a close relative of 'Moira.'

That's what I kept reading, but I didn't know if it was pronounced as Moira, seeing as how it's spelled very differently. Not that it matters how anything looks in Gaelic. Zcomter is pronounced as 'Bob' I believe...
I think I like the 'maw-rah' one best. Personally, I thought it was just like it's spelled, 'maire', like a female horse with a bit of throat clearing at the end. Shows how much I know.

But I live in America, so I could say it however I want and no one would know the difference. Or care.

mvhplank · Post by **mvhplank** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 9:14 am

teeisblue wrote:But I live in America, so I could say it however I want and no one would know the difference. Or care.

....except maybe my New Jersey-based co-worker Maire (whose name is continually being misspelled as "Marie"). By her lilting accent, I'll accept her assertion that it's MY-ra. Sometimes I can hear a little bit of dipthong--Ma-I-ra.

M

Redwolf · Post by **Redwolf** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 9:39 am

Brian Lee wrote:As was told to me by a native speaker here in Utah, there is a subtle but distinct difference in how you would pronounce Máire as someone's name, and Máire in reference to the blessed virgin. Sadly, I can't remember now what the difference was....but it was there.

"Mary" as in the Virgin Mary is spelled "Muire" and pronounced something like "MWIR-eh." "Maire" is used for the ordinary name "Mary," and the pronunciation can vary by region and dialect: I've heard "MOY-uh," "MAH-ir-eh" and even something akin to "MY-ra."

Redwolf

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 9:50 am

Moira would already be an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic form of this name. An Irish born friend once told me that there are a variety of pronunciations and a variety of spellings for the Irish version(s).

teeisblue · Post by **teeisblue** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 10:05 am

Oh. So I really could pronounce it however I want. Thanks. I was just kidding about that.

Thanks all.

Tara

brianc · Post by **brianc** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 10:05 am

Brian Lee wrote:As was told to me by a native speaker here in Utah,...

Resisting.... resisting.... don't say it, DON'T say it....

jbarter · Post by **jbarter** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 10:30 am

I should think it would be pronounced in different ways in different parts of Ireland in the same way that "Mary" would be different depending on the accent of the speaker in Britain or America.

brianc · Post by **brianc** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 1:46 pm

True enough, John.
In Connemara, it would be pronounced as I attempted to phonetically spell it, above -- but more as though the speaker had a mouth full of hot potatoes.... "Maww-RUH"

dubhlinn · Post by **dubhlinn** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 1:50 pm

brianc wrote:True enough, John.
In Connemara, it would be pronounced as I attempted to phonetically spell it, above -- but more as though the speaker had a mouth full of hot potatoes.... "Maww-RUH"

Small potatoes..I'd think.

Slan,
D.

Cayden · Post by **Cayden** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 6:28 pm

Totally off topic: the other day I heard someone refer to Scoil Mhuire, Mary Immaculate College, a large secondary school for girls in Limerick as 'The Virgin Megastore'

pearl grey · Post by **pearl grey** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 7:19 pm

Wombat wrote:Moira would already be an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic form of this name.

So how do they spell it in Scottish Gaelic?

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Maire=? correct pronounciation

Maire=? correct pronounciation

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