View Message

[Facts] Maria
Lately I've been wondering about the pronounciation of Maria.
I've heard it pronounced several different ways including like Mariah! It seems to be pronounced like Mariah in almost every movie/TV adaptation of books written in the 1700's-early 1900's (such as books by Charles Dickens, George Elliot, Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bronte, and others). So I was really wondering if this pronounciation is historicaly accurate and weather Maria is pronouced like Mariah in England today.Also do you think that the muh-ree-uh pronounciation and the Spanish mah-rhee-ah pronounciation are at all related. Thanks in advance! -Laurie
Image hosted by Photobucket.comBunny, Gigi, Chloris, Wilma, Darleen, Eartha
"Any name is beautiful when it's given in love" -Me
vote up1vote down

Replies

The English - those wonderful people for whom the word "insular" was first invented! - used to go their own way and pronounce Maria with the -i- making an -eye- sound. I wouldn't say it's "like" Mariah, because the -h is just there for decoration and has no etymological significance.However, starting I suspect in the late 19th-early 20th centuries, they started using the, let's say, Continental pronunciation of Maria. This meant that for a long time the -eye- version sounded old and outdated, so it fell out of use, until the singing Mariah came along and rejuvenated it. (And a police van is still a Black Maria-with-an- eye, though not black any more ... go figure.)I notice the same kind of thing happening with European place names. For instance Robert Browning, who was a well educated man with a good knowledge of modern languages, rhymed Calais with, of all things, 'malice'. What happened to change it? Fashion is always the great unknown ... but perhaps mass education, cheap holidays and, previously, lots of European wars might have swung public opinion around. Also Hollywood. In the US the Spanish sound of Maria would be natural, just as it is still natural for them to use an ee sound in Sophia where the Brits still stick to Soph-eye-a. So if there were some Maria-with-an-ee actresses and/or characters in 1920s-30s movies, they would seem glamorous and exotic and worth copying.If you want historical accuracy, I don't imagine anyone has ever pronounced Miriam with an -eye-. Depends on how far back in history you want to go.
vote up1vote down
Thanks so much!I also noticed the Soph-eye-a pronouncation but forgot about that one! So they still pronounce it Soph-eye-a? Cool! I always think of Sophia being pronounced that way and Sofia being pronounced So-fee-a, I don't know why! Must be those Jane Austen influences!Thanks for your imput on Maria! I love the Ma-r-eye-ah pronounciation. Image hosted by Photobucket.comBunny, Gigi, Chloris, Wilma, Darleen, Eartha
"Any name is beautiful when it's given in love" -Me
vote up1vote down
Somehow "Beautiful Mariah of My Soul" (Los Lobotomies?) would do very little to arouse any hot-blooded passion...
vote up1vote down