Pronunciation

[Dugald]

Simba, as I mentioned above, I can't imagine any variation in the pronunciation of the English form of "Simba", except perhaps for voicing the "S" as a "Z". Have I misunderstood you: you do mean the difficulty in pronouncing your name is with regard to the name "Simba" and not the Gaelic version? Man, I still have trouble saying "ceilidh"...that would be "kaylie", wouldn't it? Never came upon that word 'ceilidh' too often in my Govan.

Nah, I wasn't suggesting your family was 'toffee nosed' Simba, I was simply saying only the 'toffs' in Glasgow used the "mum" and "mom" form for 'mother'. It's a bit of a disappointment too, to learn that "Nana and Papa" is now acceptable usage in Scotland for 'grandparents'. Yes, and I was just reading over some old postings here today and i came across a Glaswegian's post where he used "Kraut" in reference to wartime Germans... that's an American usage and not what was used by the British. Oh the things these damn Yanks are doing to our language!

Cheers, Dugald.

[Vladimir]

Who says 'mom'? Thats a very American way of saying it...

[Simba]

Simba, as I mentioned above, I can't imagine any variation in the pronunciation of the English form of "Simba", except perhaps for voicing the "S" as a "Z". Have I misunderstood you: you do mean the difficulty in pronouncing your name is with regard to the name "Simba" and not the Gaelic version? Man, I still have trouble saying "ceilidh"...that would be "kaylie", wouldn't it? Never came upon that word 'ceilidh' too often in my Govan.

I think I've got you a bit confused...I wasn't meaning about Simba, I was meaning my real name, which is Eilidh. You just kind of made the point which I was sort of meaning with a lot of people not being able to pronounce it - if you have trouble saying ceilidh then Eilidh's probably going to be worse! I get so many variations of it when people phone me up from the bank and other places.

[Dugald]

Who says 'mom'? Thats a very American way of saying it...

Vladimir, yes, "mom" is very American; so is "mum", they both in fact sound the same: the difference is simply a variation in spelling the same sound. The use of "mom", "nana", and "papa", are all examples of the Americanisation of Glasgow's English usage.

Cheers, dugald.

[Dugald]

You're right Simba, I'd have a lot more trouble saying "Eilidh". I have never come across this name before, and have no idea how it would be pronounced. Where the heck does 'Simba' come from?

You mentioned earlier, "It's the Gaelic spelling of my name that causes all the problems! ". Tell me, is "Eilidh" really the Gaelic spelling of "Simba"?

Cheers, dugald.

[maxpower]

I thought Simba was just a fan of The Lion King!

Remember once on Reporting Scotland they pronounced 'Dalry' as DAL-ray, rather than the local dal-RI. Also Irvine, often gets called 'Ir-vine' (sounds like wine).

[Simba]

You're right Simba, I'd have a lot more trouble saying "Eilidh". I have never come across this name before, and have no idea how it would be pronounced. Where the heck does 'Simba' come from?

You mentioned earlier, "It's the Gaelic spelling of my name that causes all the problems! ". Tell me, is "Eilidh" really the Gaelic spelling of "Simba"?

Cheers, dugald.

It's pronounced exactly the same as ceilidh, minus the c.

My username is Simba due to my love of the Disney film The Lion King - hence the avatar! Eilidh is Gaelic for Helen. When I said it was the Gaelic spelling that caused the problems, I simply meant that for the vast majority of Scots they see something Gaelic and just try to pronounce it how it's written, when Gaelic has an awful lot of silent letters. Simba and Eilidh are completely unrelated, I think I've really confused you now!!

For anyone else who doesn't know, it's pronounced like - Ay-lee.

[Simba]

I thought Simba was just a fan of The Lion King!

Remember once on Reporting Scotland they pronounced 'Dalry' as DAL-ray, rather than the local dal-RI. Also Irvine, often gets called 'Ir-vine' (sounds like wine).

My ex lived near Dalry Road in Edinburgh and pronounced it Dal-ray. Used to annoy me!

[Sharon]

2 names from down my way (Galloway) that always cause confusion are Kirkgunzeon (Kir-gun-yun) and Kirkcudbright (kir-cood-bray).

I generally get most irked when people dont pronounce their rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrs (Jonathan Woss, you will nto succeed in your mission to make the letter R obsolete!) but do find some amusement in trying to get English folks to try and pronounce Loch simple things

[tobester]

I always remember a story my mum told me when she was a young girl, her and her 2 sisters had just started working in a factory and they she was saying where the packagings were going to they were....

1 - Burntis Land (Burnt Island)

2 - Millingavy (Milngavie)




I laugh to think of that now.

[viceroy]

I've been a regular visitor to Islay for the past 10 years and I get annoyed when people pronounce it as eye-lay whereas it should of course be eye-la. It's not just non-Scots who do this either. And by the way Bowmore is pronounced with the stress on the second syllable, not the first.

[Ally Doll]

From near me - Kilncadzow = Kilcaigie!

[Simba]

I always remember a story my mum told me when she was a young girl, her and her 2 sisters had just started working in a factory and they she was saying where the packagings were going to they were....

1 - Burntis Land (Burnt Island)

2 - Millingavy (Milngavie)


::): ::):

I laugh to think of that now.

I can't see Burntisland written now without thinking it that way, it's so annoying! All because some (English) person doing a travel report called it Burntis-land on the radio once!

What about Moscow in Ayrshire? (Moss - cow)

A place near Inverness - Avoch pronounced 'och' (like och aye!).

[Dugald]

Wow Simba, you had me really confused, in more than one way. I had you labeled as a male student from India or some such place with which the name "Simba" is likely to be associated. The name from the Disney film, The Lion King, never entered my head...didnt see it! I've learned something anyway. What's that? I now know how to pronounce " Eilidh". You know what, I like "Helen" better.... the Gaelic is for Teuchters!

When I first read your most recent post addressed to me, I was all set to tell you: " Ah, at last, I know how to pronounce your name: it's pronounced as in "Islay", the name of the island.", but I then saw in a later post by Viceroy, that this pronunciation of ' Islay' is incorrect, and he gets annoyed when people pronounce it as 'eye-lay', since it should be 'eye-la'. Maybe Viceroy's annoyance will diminish when he learns that I, one who knows Islay quite well, have always stressed the second syllable in "BowMORE".

By the way, I hope your "Ex" didn't become your "ex" simply because he pronounced Dalry as "Dal-ray". Cheers, Dugald.

[Dugald]

Sharon, 'Kirkgunzeon' and 'Kirkcudbright' really are tongue-twisters, especially the first one...I'd never have got that one with a guess. The second one I knew, but I reckon I could have guessed it.

I don't know who Jonathan Woss is, but if his mission is to make the letter "r" obsolete, then he's got his work cut out for him. The letter 'r' represents a valuable sound in the English language, and this is especially so, the way people with a Scottish accent pronounce it. It adds colour to one's tongue, and this applies not only to English, but also to other languages. One need only hear its use in French, German, or Russian, for example, to appreciate the character which this little sound imparts to a language. Long may the rrrrrrrrrr's prrrrevail !

Yes, I too find some amusement in listening to non-Scottish people, and that includes my wife, trying to pronounce "Loch". The "ch" as in "loch", is another sound which gives the Scottish tongue quite a bit of character. And again, we're not alone in making use of this sound, both the German and the Russian languages use it, much as we people gifted with the Scottish tongue use it.

Cheers, dugald.