[Facts] Re: Sian
in reply to a message by Chrisell
I've been told by a Welsh woman that that it is pronounced "shan." I'm just passing on info.
Before then, the only pronunciation that I had heard was Sian Philips, the British actress (Livia, in "I, Claudius"). She pronounces it "shawn." But when a Welshwoman said it was "shan" I began to think that Ms. Philips' pronunciation was more English than Welsh. Is this making sense?
Like I said, I'm not an expert in Welsh pronunciation. Irish, yes. But not so much Welsh.
Before then, the only pronunciation that I had heard was Sian Philips, the British actress (Livia, in "I, Claudius"). She pronounces it "shawn." But when a Welshwoman said it was "shan" I began to think that Ms. Philips' pronunciation was more English than Welsh. Is this making sense?
Like I said, I'm not an expert in Welsh pronunciation. Irish, yes. But not so much Welsh.
Replies
In England and in Wales its pronounced the same- SHARN
"shahn" and "sharn" have the exact same sound in Australian English, so I suspect we're trying to express the same thing. According to this website's key, the "shan" pronunciation that Bear is promoting would rhyme with Dan, "can", "man" etc, while "shahn" / "sharn" would rhyme with "barn", "darn" etc.
~Chrisell~
Proudly Australian
www.archaeochrisell.blogspot.com
Proudly Australian
www.archaeochrisell.blogspot.com
shahn to my ears is Shawn...
Interesting.
Interesting.
I think the original pronunciation would be closer to "she AHN", which would explain the "h" in a variant:
s - “sh”
i - pronounced as “ee” or “ih”, never pronounced as “eye” unless the pronoun “I”
a – “ah” (like the short “o” in “pot”)
s - “sh”
i - pronounced as “ee” or “ih”, never pronounced as “eye” unless the pronoun “I”
a – “ah” (like the short “o” in “pot”)