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Help[Opinions] Re: German Quints
in reply to a message by Anneza
Sorry for only getting back to you now (I've been crazy busy those past few days... ah, make that weeks and months, really).
So anyways, I've been mulling over your questions (you knew I would ;) ) and this is what I think:
Having Melissia pronounced as meLISHa would be quite a hassle for the girl. You see, -lissia doesn't make a -lish sound in German, it's just, well, -lis-si-a or -lis-yah depending on the speaker (something like that anyways, I'm terrible at transcribing pronunciations). So a -lish pronunciation would be rather unintuitive and the kid would probably spend her days correcting people's pronunciation of her name ;)
If the parents were really going for the Melisha pronunciation, spelling the name Melicia would have been a better choice (in my humble opinion, of course) because with the increasing globalization names ending in -licia really are open to several pronunciations these days, thanks to their -c-. With names like Felicia, Alicia and even Cecilia, for example, there is still the traditional German -ts- pronunciation (which is considered somewhat dowdy by some, charmingly quaint by others and retro chic by other others), the English pronunciation, a Spanish-ish pronunciation and kind of a blend of the German and Spanish pronunciation. Spelling the name -lissia though eliminates those pronunciation ambiguities.
Taking a closer look at the sibset gave me a different idea, though. At first I thought the set was a bit... well, maybe not exactly odd, but a tad "unbalanced" if you will. "Theme-y but not theme-y", know what I mean? Don't get me wrong, I think all the names work fine on their own, and they kind of work as a sibset, too. Nonetheless, to me, Evelyn sticks out like a sore thumb among her sisters' names. (And this is coming from someone who usually doesn't care for matched sibsets, multiples or otherwise: me)
You know, with Maria and Melissia they have two names that begin with M and end in -ia, with Josefina and Justina they opted for two names beginning with J and ending in -ina. And Evelyn? Definitely stands out.
So it got me thinking. What if they deliberately altered Melissa by adding that - in my opinion superfluous - i so that she would "fit" better with Maria? To create a sort of pattern?
And could they have chosen Evelyn to match her brother's elusive name? Could it be that the little guy's name begins with E and ends in -n? (Whatever that name would be then. Evan / Even? Edwin? Uncomfortably close to Evelyn if you ask me. Erwin? That's about as fashionable here as it is in English-speaking countries right now.)
Hmmm, I don't know.
(Edited because spelling is definitely not my friend today.)
So anyways, I've been mulling over your questions (you knew I would ;) ) and this is what I think:
Having Melissia pronounced as meLISHa would be quite a hassle for the girl. You see, -lissia doesn't make a -lish sound in German, it's just, well, -lis-si-a or -lis-yah depending on the speaker (something like that anyways, I'm terrible at transcribing pronunciations). So a -lish pronunciation would be rather unintuitive and the kid would probably spend her days correcting people's pronunciation of her name ;)
If the parents were really going for the Melisha pronunciation, spelling the name Melicia would have been a better choice (in my humble opinion, of course) because with the increasing globalization names ending in -licia really are open to several pronunciations these days, thanks to their -c-. With names like Felicia, Alicia and even Cecilia, for example, there is still the traditional German -ts- pronunciation (which is considered somewhat dowdy by some, charmingly quaint by others and retro chic by other others), the English pronunciation, a Spanish-ish pronunciation and kind of a blend of the German and Spanish pronunciation. Spelling the name -lissia though eliminates those pronunciation ambiguities.
Taking a closer look at the sibset gave me a different idea, though. At first I thought the set was a bit... well, maybe not exactly odd, but a tad "unbalanced" if you will. "Theme-y but not theme-y", know what I mean? Don't get me wrong, I think all the names work fine on their own, and they kind of work as a sibset, too. Nonetheless, to me, Evelyn sticks out like a sore thumb among her sisters' names. (And this is coming from someone who usually doesn't care for matched sibsets, multiples or otherwise: me)
You know, with Maria and Melissia they have two names that begin with M and end in -ia, with Josefina and Justina they opted for two names beginning with J and ending in -ina. And Evelyn? Definitely stands out.
So it got me thinking. What if they deliberately altered Melissa by adding that - in my opinion superfluous - i so that she would "fit" better with Maria? To create a sort of pattern?
And could they have chosen Evelyn to match her brother's elusive name? Could it be that the little guy's name begins with E and ends in -n? (Whatever that name would be then. Evan / Even? Edwin? Uncomfortably close to Evelyn if you ask me. Erwin? That's about as fashionable here as it is in English-speaking countries right now.)
Hmmm, I don't know.
(Edited because spelling is definitely not my friend today.)
This message was edited 11/17/2013, 7:42 AM
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