New Post
Search
Help[Opinions] Re: Iarla
in reply to a message by Pie
Haha, I don't -dislike- it, it's totally fun to say and write (well, fun to write), but I don't think I could ever in a million years use it myself, even if I didn't have a new relative with the name. I appreciate it in a GP way, but it does have its flaws.
Yeah, regardling the -a ending, I think it'll work in Ireland, but elsewhere, not so much. It's a bit like, I love Dara (not so much spelled Daragh etc.) on a boy and have a couple of relatives with that name who have never had any problems in Ireland... but even though there are a couple of famous (m) Daras in the UK, a lot of people still think it's very feminine and I personally have come across more female Daras and zero non-family male Daras (in person, that is). Dara, Iarla, etc. fall foul of sounding-feminine-to-anyone-not-acquainted-with-Irish-names syndrome.
What I meant about 'fantasy' is, I guess, about accent, and ease of pronunciation, and culture. My dad can make Iarla sound so pretty and natural, but with my accent, it comes out all high-fantasy and Lord of the Rings sounding. It has that natural stress on the rl sound that you just can't get right if you've grown up speaking Queen's English your whole life, so it does sound a bit Tolkien rather than natural when I try and say it. :3 It sucks, I just can't focus on the central bit of the name. Dad's like "eeRLa", I'm like "EEErla"... blargh. :3 That, as well with the fact that it does sound girlish in the context of English names, and any Iarla is going to be doomed to spelling his name and explaining that it's masculine, is why I just don't see it working here.
I must say, we had it written down and got round to writing it in our Birthday Dates Book (yes, it deserves the caps. My mother does birthday cards with the regularity of a military exercise), and my dad jokingly said 'Let's find the bit of paper with the magical name on it', and Iarla really does sound kind of elfish and prettified, so perhaps that's what I mean by 'fantasy'-style names. I guess that's why I feel so disappointed that it's basically an Irish version of Earl. Earl is so gross to my ear and... just a bad name, in my books. If Iarla had an interesting meaning or mythological link, and it does sound like it should do, I might be a bit more forgiving, but all I can think is 'It's the Irish version of Earl'
It was a new one on me, though, so I'm glad they didn't go with something really predictable. At least there's a few Iarlas around, but not a bajillion of them, so it seems the right kind of popularity. :P
Yeah, regardling the -a ending, I think it'll work in Ireland, but elsewhere, not so much. It's a bit like, I love Dara (not so much spelled Daragh etc.) on a boy and have a couple of relatives with that name who have never had any problems in Ireland... but even though there are a couple of famous (m) Daras in the UK, a lot of people still think it's very feminine and I personally have come across more female Daras and zero non-family male Daras (in person, that is). Dara, Iarla, etc. fall foul of sounding-feminine-to-anyone-not-acquainted-with-Irish-names syndrome.
What I meant about 'fantasy' is, I guess, about accent, and ease of pronunciation, and culture. My dad can make Iarla sound so pretty and natural, but with my accent, it comes out all high-fantasy and Lord of the Rings sounding. It has that natural stress on the rl sound that you just can't get right if you've grown up speaking Queen's English your whole life, so it does sound a bit Tolkien rather than natural when I try and say it. :3 It sucks, I just can't focus on the central bit of the name. Dad's like "eeRLa", I'm like "EEErla"... blargh. :3 That, as well with the fact that it does sound girlish in the context of English names, and any Iarla is going to be doomed to spelling his name and explaining that it's masculine, is why I just don't see it working here.
I must say, we had it written down and got round to writing it in our Birthday Dates Book (yes, it deserves the caps. My mother does birthday cards with the regularity of a military exercise), and my dad jokingly said 'Let's find the bit of paper with the magical name on it', and Iarla really does sound kind of elfish and prettified, so perhaps that's what I mean by 'fantasy'-style names. I guess that's why I feel so disappointed that it's basically an Irish version of Earl. Earl is so gross to my ear and... just a bad name, in my books. If Iarla had an interesting meaning or mythological link, and it does sound like it should do, I might be a bit more forgiving, but all I can think is 'It's the Irish version of Earl'
It was a new one on me, though, so I'm glad they didn't go with something really predictable. At least there's a few Iarlas around, but not a bajillion of them, so it seems the right kind of popularity. :P
This message was edited 11/14/2013, 3:04 PM
Archived Thread - replies disabled
1