ChatterBank5 mins ago
Any Scots about ?
26 Answers
The woman leading the Golf on BBC TV at the moment is called Catriona Matthew. All the commentators leave the 'O' out of her name and call her Catrina. The sequal to R.L. Stephenson's novel 'Kidnapped' is 'Catriona' which I've always pronounced as it's written. was I wrong,please ?
Answers
Best Answer
No best answer has yet been selected by brionon. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.
For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.
-- answer removed --
Gaelic was first written phonetically when there were no rules on phonetics. Adjacent letters in Gaelic words can and do act as modifiers to other letters - which accounts for the strange-looking spelling in many of them. The combination 'io' shows the pronounciation of the letter 'i' to be as in the English word 'it'.
The correct pronounciation is Katrina - people do use the name for their kids and pronounce it Kat ree o na, that is obviously their perogative, but it not correct. The name does get spelled and used in a number of different variations e.g Katrona or Catrona with no "i" at all. I have even seen Kathreaghonagh which is a hell of a spelling to saddle a little girl with!
As Jeniadams says in the very first answer, ''It just depends on the individual how they want their own name to be said''.
Barry - The monks who first wrote Gaelic had a problem. Their alphabet contained only 18 letters, yet the language held some 55 different sounds. Rather than invent new letters they added in existing ones to modify the pronunciation of adjacent letters. They had no precedent, yet made an excellent job of phonetics if their rules are followed. Unfortunately it left Gaelic with some of the most complex spelling of any language! Have a look here.
Swedeheart - Take the English name Catherine. It has a short 'i'. Even today, the word is often pronounced as 'Kath-rinn', so drop the first 'e', In Gaelic, 'th' is pronounced as the 'h' in 'happy', so the 'h' in Cathrine is dropped to become Catrine, This could be 'Kat-reen', so the monks stuck in a modifier 'o' to show it's 'Kat-rinn'. Next, think of the European name Katrina, or the French penchant for pronouncing the final 'e' on a word. Perhaps that's how it used to be voiced in Britain, and where the final 'a' comes from.
Maybe QM could provide an expert comment on this?
Anyway, The first answer's the best!
Barry - The monks who first wrote Gaelic had a problem. Their alphabet contained only 18 letters, yet the language held some 55 different sounds. Rather than invent new letters they added in existing ones to modify the pronunciation of adjacent letters. They had no precedent, yet made an excellent job of phonetics if their rules are followed. Unfortunately it left Gaelic with some of the most complex spelling of any language! Have a look here.
Swedeheart - Take the English name Catherine. It has a short 'i'. Even today, the word is often pronounced as 'Kath-rinn', so drop the first 'e', In Gaelic, 'th' is pronounced as the 'h' in 'happy', so the 'h' in Cathrine is dropped to become Catrine, This could be 'Kat-reen', so the monks stuck in a modifier 'o' to show it's 'Kat-rinn'. Next, think of the European name Katrina, or the French penchant for pronouncing the final 'e' on a word. Perhaps that's how it used to be voiced in Britain, and where the final 'a' comes from.
Maybe QM could provide an expert comment on this?
Anyway, The first answer's the best!