[name_m]Just[/name_m] curious. I have a Bulgarian friend whose name is [name_f]Emilia[/name_f], but pronounced as e-mee-[name_u]LEE[/name_u]-a instead of e-MEE-lee-a. That’s the way it’s pronounced where she’s from, apparently.
I think it actually sounds much better than the English pronunciation, but could English speakers pronounce it? Also is there any specific way you would spell it to make the pronunciation clearer?
It kind of reminds me of [name_f]Emmy[/name_f]-[name_f]Leah[/name_f] but I don’t like hyphenated names, or the pause in-between [name_f]Emmy[/name_f] and [name_f]Leah[/name_f] when spoken out loud.
American here. Quite honestly, I don’t notice a difference in the pronunciation when I say the name. I think it is just one of those names where you could easily get a number of pronunciations no matter how you spell it
Hmm, I can definitely hear the difference when said out loud, and didn’t have a problem with pronouncing it, however absolutely no English speaker would pronounce it correctly the first time around (and potentially may need reminding a few times - [name_f]Emilia[/name_f] is such a well known name, I’d probably forget the specified pronunciation a couple of times)
I’m not sure how else you could spell it to make the pronunciation more clearer if you’re not a fan of [name_f]Emmy[/name_f]-[name_f]Leah[/name_f], maybe Emileeya or something, but then of course you’re entering into the world of problems of having a well-known name spelt in a “unique” way
I would definitely not pronounce it correctly if I saw it.
I can say it correctly and I hear the difference but I agree that no English speaker would say it right on the first try, and maybe not even on the second or third. I invented the name [name_f]Emilya[/name_f] when I was 10 for a character in a school project which I said e-meh-[name_u]LEE[/name_u]-uh (it came from [name_f]Emily[/name_f] + a).
ETA: While I pronounced [name_f]Emilya[/name_f] that way in my head at 10, when my mom (a native english speaker as well) read over the project, she immediately defaulted to [name_f]Amelia[/name_f] for the pronunciation.
I speak English. I would pronounce it that way if someone told me. I don’t see a problem
I would, but definitely not on the first try!
I don’t think e-mee-[name_u]LEE[/name_u]-a is hard to say in and of itself, but the issue is that most English speakers have never heard any pronunciation of [name_f]Emilia[/name_f] other than the English one. So I think trying to enforce a different pronunciation would be an uphill battle. Perhaps something like Emiliya or Emiliyah might make the intended pronunciation more clear but I’m sure you would still have to correct people often.
I think it’ll get mispronounced a lot
Can they? Yes. [name_m]Will[/name_m] they? Probably not. I’m American and I automatically think eh-MEE-lee-uh. It would take me a number of times saying it a different way to get it right, but I could. I used to see the name [name_f]Alyssa[/name_f] and automatically think uh-LISS-uh, but met a friend in college with this name who pronounces it uh-LEES-uh. Took me a bit, but eventually I said it right and now it’s second nature for me. So, long story short, people will learn to pronounce a name any way you want them to, but it may not be their first instinct and you will likely have to correct people a lot.