Eleanor:
From the Old French form of the Occitan name Aliénor. It was first borne by the influential Eleanor of Aquitaine (12th century), who was the queen of Louis VII, the king of France, and later Henry II, the king of England. She was named Aenor after her mother, and was called by the Occitan phrase alia Aenor “the other AENOR” in order to distinguish her from her mother.
[name_m]How[/name_m] do you pronounce [name_f]Alienor[/name_f] or how would you pronounce [name_f]Alienor[/name_f] if you didn’t know it comes form alia Aenor?
Without reading the behind the name description, just looking at the name I thought: ale-yen-nor. From there, I could tell it was meant to be a form of [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f].
I know someone named [name_u]Ali[/name_u]énor, and she pronounces it “ah-lee’ay-NORR”
You can listen here:
In Portuguese it ([name_f]Alienor[/name_f]) sounds more like “ali-en-OR” (at least when I listen to it on forvo, that’s how it sounds to my untrained-in-Portuguese ears. I didn’t know it was used in Portuguese. Pretty!)
That is why there is that little thingy above the e —> [name_u]Ali[/name_u]énor.
It tells [name_m]French[/name_m] people (and others) how to pronounce certain letters. It’s a pity the American language has done away with that. It makes pronouncing certain names rather confusing.
