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Author Topic: Linguistic Question: Æ  (Read 1369 times)

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Offline ArgoTopic starter

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Linguistic Question: Æ
« on: August 17, 2005, 04:06:23 AM »
Okay, the membership here looks to be a worldly bunch. So, I have a question.
How does one pronounce Æ?
My sister is planning to name her soon to be born son "Æson". From the Greek story of Jason and the Argonauts. Æson was Jason's father.
I'm questioning her pronuciation, the long A.
I've found this page:
http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=718621
I guess it really depends on the language. Either what you speak or the language origin of the word/name.
 

Offline Cyberus

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Re: Linguistic Question: Æ
« Reply #1 on: August 17, 2005, 04:10:54 AM »
That's a dipthong. It is used in English a fair bit, but no one ever bothers writing it properly. Examples I can think of (don't quote me on these) Encylopædia, pædophile, err, I can't think....perhaps æther.

It's when two vowel sounds appear together - often it results in elision (correct word?) where they combine together.
In French they have an oe dipthong, e.g. oeuf
I like Amigas
 

Offline Methuselas

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Re: Linguistic Question: Æ
« Reply #2 on: August 17, 2005, 04:14:59 AM »
\'Using no way as way. Having no limitation as limitation.\' - Bruce Lee

\'No, sorry. I don\'t get my tits out. They\'re not actually real, you know? Just two halves of a grapefruit...\' - Miki Berenyi

\'Evil will always triumph because good is dumb.\' - Dark Helmet :roflmao:

\'And for future reference, it might be polite to ask someone if you can  quote them in your signature, rather than just citing them to make a  sales pitch.\' - Karlos. :rtf
 

Offline Cyberus

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Re: Linguistic Question: Æ
« Reply #3 on: August 17, 2005, 04:17:20 AM »
Not sure if its relevant, but that symbol is also used to represent a phoneme. I used to know the phonemic alphabet, but it would be foreign to me now :-(
I like Amigas
 

Offline X-ray

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Re: Linguistic Question: Æ
« Reply #4 on: August 17, 2005, 08:26:10 AM »
@ Cyberus

Surely the 'ae' combination is not the same as the symbol Argo is talking about? As far as I know the ae combination is pronounced differently depending on emphasis as befits its position in the word.

For example paediatric : is pronounced 'pee'. The phonetic guide in the dictionary is the same for paediatric and pea: (I:)

But that doesn't happen with anaesthetic. That is pronounced like animal. But if you anaesthetise someone, then you go back to the I: 'ee' pronounciation.

I would say Argo's friend would have to pronounce the Æ the same way you do with the Æsop (he of the fables fame).
 

Offline Dan

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Re: Linguistic Question: Æ
« Reply #5 on: August 17, 2005, 09:49:15 AM »
 Ähh, this is to linguistic stuff is to hard for me...
Apple did it right the first time, bring back the Newton!
 

Offline odin

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Re: Linguistic Question: Æ
« Reply #6 on: August 17, 2005, 01:13:49 PM »
I'd say the English 'a' in 'ash' comes pretty close. Although in my pronunciation that 'a' is more rounded than the Norwegian 'æ' as in 'æsj' vs 'ash'.

I'd say Æson is pretty much Jason without the consonant J.

Clickety and click.

Offline blobrana

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Re: Linguistic Question: Æ
« Reply #7 on: August 17, 2005, 04:24:12 PM »
eh?

Offline X-ray

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Re: Linguistic Question: Æ
« Reply #8 on: August 17, 2005, 04:38:06 PM »
@ Blobzie

"Eh?"
------------------------------------------------------

Nah, a bit longer, methinks...eeeeeeeehh maybe.

 :-P
 

Offline blobrana

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Re: Linguistic Question: Æ
« Reply #9 on: August 17, 2005, 04:53:10 PM »
Hum,

eeeeeeeehh - gee - an?


Offline X-ray

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Re: Linguistic Question: Æ
« Reply #10 on: August 17, 2005, 05:06:53 PM »
Ja, but then we got a problem with these:

1) aetiology
2) aestivate
3) aegis
4) aeon

Those are pronounced like 'eagle'.

But I agree your eh makes sense with aerodrome, aeroplane, aerosol.

So let's see our options:

1) Æson, pronounced eeson
2) Æson, pronounced ason
3) Æson, pronounced ehson

And lastly the wildcard: ayson. (I think that's what the ordinary Joe will think it is.)
 

Offline bloodline

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Re: Linguistic Question: Æ
« Reply #11 on: August 18, 2005, 08:31:33 AM »
Why don't they just call him Dave and be done with it?

Offline Doobrey

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Re: Linguistic Question: Æ
« Reply #12 on: August 18, 2005, 05:13:54 PM »
Don't you mean Daeve ? ;-)
On schedule, and suing
 

Offline X-ray

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Re: Linguistic Question: Æ
« Reply #13 on: August 18, 2005, 06:47:39 PM »
 :lol:

Actually, Blobzie's 'eh' definitely fits Dave (at least I suspect it does, if she says that name). Okay, maybe it is a slightly longer eeh.  :-P
 

Offline Speelgoedmannetje

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Re: Linguistic Question: Æ
« Reply #14 on: August 18, 2005, 07:49:39 PM »
In old Dutch ae is often used, nowadays that's 'aa'.

When I was tought handwriting, the 'x' was written like 'æ'. I always wondered why :-?
And the canary said: \'chirp\'