Can somebody please explain this?

I need to know exactly [name]HOW[/name] [name]Zoe[/name] can be pronounced like it is? I mean [name]Joe[/name] isnt [name]Joey[/name], its just [name]Joe[/name]. I mean, it just doesnt seem like a right spelling to me, even though its the traditional. Yes, I know, I was the whiny girl that said that names cant be spelled wrong but I just think it LOOKS wrong. I just dont get it. Like, I have a second cousin named [name]Zoe[/name] and her name is always pr. Zoh, and to be honest, I think that that sounds about right!

Can someone just please explain this to me?

What i am about to say doesnt mean that it is true, but it is just a hunch

[name]Zoe[/name] is pr [name]Zoey[/name] (Zowie) because of the [name]Zo[/name] and the E end ([name]Hermione[/name] is also with E end, [name]Penelope[/name] too, and [name]Zoe[/name] too) , like [name]Chloe[/name], it is the exact same thing.

In Belgium it is [name]Zo[/name]”, the dots make it two syllable so there is no confusion possible.

[name]Zoe[/name] is pronounced both ways, Zoh and [name]Zo[/name]-ee. [name]Zoe[/name] should have the umlauts over the E to make it a second pronounced vowel. [name]Zoe[/name] is Greek and the Greek way to pronounce the name is [name]Zo[/name]-ee. Some argue the umlauts are unnecessary for names such as [name]Chloe[/name] and [name]Zoe[/name] since people know how to pronounce them and most people don’t even know what they mean but as you’ve stated, the reason is clear. Some people pronounce the name Zoh.

I studied this when I took french; it’s because of the accent on the e in [name]Zo[/name]” is called a tr”ma, and makes that vowel a hard sound, just like ‘invisible’ vowels in english, the E on the end of words will make the vowel hard and ‘visible’ Came vs. [name]Camera[/name].

[name]Noel[/name] is prn. No-ul vs. No”l is No-elle

[name]Zoe[/name] is prn. ZO vs. [name]Zo[/name]” is [name]Zo[/name]-ay or [name]Zo[/name]-ee

[name]Hope[/name] that helped!

Blessings,

[name]Bella[/name] <3

So basically, what i understood (correct me if im wrong) is that [name]Zoe[/name], normally, is pronounced like [name]Joe[/name] BUT it used to be [name]Zo[/name]”, except most people know how to pronounce [name]Zoe[/name], so people started the leave the ‘”’ behind and replaced it for an ‘e’.

Here’s your daily etymology lesson: Different names come from different languages!

[name]Hermione[/name], [name]Penelope[/name], [name]Chloe[/name], and [name]Zoe[/name] are all names with Greek origins. With Greek words, when something ends in an -e you pronounce it as an E sounds rather than lumping it on the end… So it’s her-mi-o-ne, pe-nel-o-pe, chlo-e, not pe-nel-ope, her-mi-one, klow, or whatever else.

[name]Joseph[/name], and [name]Joe[/name] are Hebrew in origin, it’s completely unrelated to Greek names like [name]Zoe[/name].

1 Like

[name]Zoe[/name] is a Greek name. I’m it is pronounced Zoh-ee (like you thought), not like [name]Joe[/name]. Typically, you pronounce the ‘e’ at the end of a Greek word/name. You’d also pronounce the ‘e’ with [name]Persephone[/name], [name]Xanthe[/name], [name]Ianthe[/name], and [name]Chloe[/name]. Different languages treat vowels differently.

A good resource for name pronunciation is BehindtheName.com. Below is the data it has on the name [name]Zoe[/name]:

[name]ZOE[/name]
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Greek, Ancient Greek
Other Scripts: ??? (Greek)
Pronounced: [name]ZO[/name]-ee (English) [key]
Means “life” in Greek. From early times it was adopted by Hellenized Jews as a translation of [name]EVE[/name]. It was borne by two early [name]Christian[/name] saints, one martyred under emperor [name]Hadrian[/name], the other martyred under Diocletian. The name was common in the Byzantine Empire, being borne by a ruling empress of the 11th century. As an English name, [name]Zoe[/name] has only been in use since the 19th century. It has generally been more common among Eastern Christians (in various spellings).

Wrong. [name]Zoe[/name] is always zo-e. [name]Just[/name] like [name]Chloe[/name] is always chlo-e. The trema/dieresis/umlaut was incorporated into the French (and other languages) versions of names because those languages use always use tremas to show that a vowel needs to be pronounced twice in one word. Neither English or Greek use them. The only time you see tremas in English are on borrowed words like naive, and most times the trema is left off naive anyway.

The one I don’t get is [name]Zooey[/name]. [name]How[/name] is that not pronounced Zoo-ee?

There’s LOTS of debate amongst literary scholars as to how [name]Zooey[/name] should be pronounced in reference to the [name]Salinger[/name] character. Not too long ago, about a month after the death of JD [name]Salinger[/name], an article was released by [name]Slate[/name] “clearing up” the debate: http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/browbeat/archive/tags/zooey/default.aspx. Basically the article states that [name]Salinger[/name]'s literary agency claims it is pronounced just like [name]Zoe[/name]. However, we discussed this in one of my college English classes and most people still stand by the fact that it should be pronounced ZOO/ZEW-ee. Because, in all reality, JD [name]Salinger[/name] was a cultured guy, he was from NYC, he fought in the army, he wrote Catcher in the [name]Rye[/name]… I mean, don’t you think he knew how to spell [name]Zoe[/name]? He was trying to make a statement and would he nickname a male character a female name (the character’s real name is [name]Zachary[/name]) vs. a quirky-quasi-feminine one? Anyway. I stand by the fact that it’s pronounced Zoo-ee. But that’s just me.

Wrong. [name]Zoe[/name] is always zo-e. [name]Just[/name] like [name]Chloe[/name] is always chlo-e. The trema/dieresis/umlaut was incorporated into the French (and other languages) versions of names because those languages use always use tremas to show that a vowel needs to be pronounced twice in one word. Neither English of Greek use them. The only time you see tremas in English are on borrowed words like naive, and most times the trema is left off naive anyway.[/quote]

Exactly! Thanks for tag-teaming with me!

Blessings,

[name]Bella[/name] <3

The name was originally Greek, hence the E on the end is pronounced with an EE sound. In [name]France[/name] and Germany (and the Netherlands, Scandinavian countries et cetera) there is an accent on the E to indicate the pronunciation - an acute, the line which slopes upwards, in French; an umlaut, the two dots, in the other languages - but as English has no accents, the pronunciation was kept the same but doesn’t totally correlate with English rules re. pronunciation/spelling.

The only spelling of this name which confuses me is [name]Zooey[/name]. I always find myself saying ZOO-ee, as in “Let’s go to the zoo.”

[name]Auburn[/name]