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Carpal Tunnel
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Actually I prefer the three syllables, less harsh.
Soft.


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addict
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In Welsh I believe it is pronounced Ahr-a-wen


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Carpal Tunnel
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Not quite as "soft", but still not as harsh.
Anyone here speak Welsh to confirm it all for us???

This
may help:

http://www.linguata.com/welsh/welsh-pronunciation-vowels.html


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I'm lost.

I know that in Polish it's pronounced beutifully, with female suffix -a: Arwena [Ahr-we-nah] wink

By the way, my name is Ewelina [E-ve-lee-nah] and it is [e] at the beginning smile

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Carpal Tunnel
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On the Polish side of my family I had an aunt named
Eulalia, What does that mean, if anything??

And boy, was that difficult to say, at least for me:
Aunt Eulalia, which was required by our strict family
codes.


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Carpal Tunnel
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Pronounced Youlayleeyuh? Gosh I wish I'd had an aunt with that name.

"Eulalia is a feminine given name of Greek origin meaning "well-spoken". I bet she sang well as well.

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I don't know about her singing, she has long passed, but
she was very gentle. Yes, that is the pronunciation.


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I'm not Welsh but I think Arwyn would be pronounced with 2 syllables in Welsh: /arwɪn/

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Carpal Tunnel
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so 'w' isn't *always a vowel in Welsh?

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That's right.

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Carpal Tunnel
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So...how is the Welsh word "cwm" pronounced?


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Hey, goofy, it's nice to see you again; you don't come here (or at least, post) often enough!

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Thanks, Olly.


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Sometimes an accent is used to indicate the vowel is long, for instance gŵn "gown" vs gwn "gun".

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Carpal Tunnel
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So, it is basically an O with its various pronunciations.


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I'm not sure what you mean. The vowels it represents are /ʊ/ and /u/.
All the Welsh vowel letters can have a circumflex accent to represent a long vowel.

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I was thinking the same thing as elifit - that myne would be a better spelling. Otherwise, like Buffalo Shrdlu and me, many would pronounce it min. I also ask why? Is there some benefit to the alternative spelling? Or is it simply an affectation?

For the record, I admire properly placed affectation and do not use the term in any negative connotation...

quiltmaster #196406 01/21/2011 3:04 PM
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Carpal Tunnel
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Since we're suggesting new spellings, I would spell my maɪ and mine maɪn.


Ceci n'est pas un seing.
zmjezhd #196414 01/21/2011 5:57 PM
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Originally Posted By: zmjezhd
Since we're suggesting new spellings, I would spell my maɪ and mine maɪn.


But then many ppl would pronounce [mei] and [mein], don't you think?

elifit #196419 01/21/2011 6:33 PM
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But then many ppl would pronounce [mei] and [mein], don't you think?

Not really any concern of mine, as nobody would ever spell things except with the current broken "system". Spelling reform could never work in this country or the UK.

As for my spellings, almost everybody that speaks a language that uses the Latin alphabet would have an easier time of pronouncing English words written in my system, because we are the only language that has changed the pronunciation of the cardinal vowels so much (over 600 years ago), but never bothered to update our spelling.


Ceci n'est pas un seing.
bexter #196421 01/21/2011 6:49 PM
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yeah, if we all knew the IPA, this wouldn't be a problem.


formerly known as etaoin...
Buffalo Shrdlu #196422 01/21/2011 7:16 PM
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yeah, if we all knew the IPA, this wouldn't be a problem.

It never ceases to amaze me that we spend so much time teaching English orthography in schools (and have silly contests like spelling bees), but the thought of learning the IPA sends shivers down the collective spines of parents. In most languages with some sort of regularized phonemic orthography, children learn to read much faster. Even getting dictionaries to use IPA seems a duanting thankless task. The OED does.


Ceci n'est pas un seing.
zmjezhd #196423 01/21/2011 7:36 PM
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>the thought of learning the IPA sends shivers down the collective spines of parents

well, obviously, that's because the *parents don't want to have to learn something new.
-ron o.

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