Re: Fantasy Naming Conventions

On Sun, 18 Nov 2007 18:58:09 GMT, Andrew Stephenson
<ames@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
<news:1195412289snz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> in
rec.arts.sf.composition:

In article <sn0ko531cf23.12e64b4ea2pyo.dlg@xxxxxxxxxx>
b.scott@xxxxxxxxxxx "Brian M. Scott" writes:

On Sun, 18 Nov 2007 12:55:31 +0000, Jonathan L Cunningham
<spam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
<news:1i7rxbt.snbtsbp14s4mN%spam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> in
rec.arts.sf.composition:

If we treat Brian as a single syllable (with the vowel
being a diphthong)

'Tisn't: it's a sequence of two vowels, a diphthong, [aI],
and a schwa. In some foreign pronunciations it's a sequence
of [i] and [a], also not a diphthong.

Kinda depends, mate. In some places, specially down the pub and
round the paddocks, you'd be "Brine" to yer mates.

I'm aware of at least two accents in which the name <Brian>
is (differently) monosyllabic -- but *my* name is
disyllabic! (I mentioned the pronunciation ['brian]
\BREE-ahn\ simply because it would be my default
pronunciation if I encountered the name in a fantasy setting
in which its resemblance to the English name appeared to be
accidental.)

[...]

Brian
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Long vs. short vowels in English
    ... > distinguish between diphthong X and Y in speaking in order to be ... > understood and in listening in order to understand, why transcribe the ... By far the most common way to transcribe English diphthongs, ... in it's "Pronunciation table", ...
    (sci.lang)
  • Re: OT: Americans and the English language
    ... Haslam wrote: ... the "et" pronunciation with an inserted, ... I am assured that many folks say the word "raise" with a diphthong ... David - toro-danyo atcost uku fullstop co fullstop uk ...
    (uk.comp.sys.mac)
  • Re: "This is she"
    ... "way" with a diphthong have a better chance of guessing the pronunciation. ...
    (alt.usage.english)
  • Re: Atheists
    ... particular, often opt for the "or" spelling, is because the typical London pronunciation is very fronted and to some extent rounded. ... Not that I would expect any BrE speaker to distinguish between "aw" and "or" in speaking. ... I remember having an argument with our phonetics tutor at university (London) about that: it seems that I do pronounce "poor" and "paw" identically - no diphthong. ...
    (alt.usage.english)
  • Re: Unstressed "o" [Was:Re: stress management]
    ... a schwa seems pretty normal ... pronunciation of the unstressed "o", ... now that the English English pronounce that "wrong", ...
    (alt.usage.english)