How do you pronounce Alma?

[mclola]

the first time I ever heard this name was on a male prophet in The Book Of Mormon, where it is pronounced [name_m]Al[/name_m]-ma (like [name_f]Alice[/name_f]) so that is how I say it.

[Lectionn]

I’m wondering if this could be an accent or cultural thing? Looking at the responses quite a few people from the UK pronounce it [name_f]Alma[/name_f] as in [name_f]Alice[/name_f] and those from the US as All-ma.

Sort of like [name_f]Cara[/name_f] or [name_u]Evelyn[/name_u]? I didn’t realise [name_f]Cara[/name_f] was said like Ka-rah instead of Car-uh in the US until recently. Also [name_u]Evelyn[/name_u] can be [name_f]Eve[/name_f]-lyn which is how I’d say it but in the US it’s often pronounced Ev-ah-lyn.

[lightasafeather]

@libelluleclaire

While this is true, the name itself didn’t become popular until the ‘Battle of [name_f]Alma[/name_f]’ which I believe is named after a small river somewhere by Ukraine (the [name_m]Al[/name_m]'ma [name_u]River[/name_u]) so it’s not an exclusively Spanish name. The name can also be traced back to Hebrew origins, also possibly Arabic and Greek and several others

And to be honest I don’t know how people in Ukraine would say it, or the Hebrew pronunciation just pointing out that this name has several meanings in a variety of different languages so may have other legitimate pronunciations.

[name_m]Bingo[/name_m]! [name_m]Even[/name_m] according to Nameberry, it’s Latin…that includes several languages. I’m sure an Italian would say it slightly different from a Spanish speaker . In Europe, (and for the record I mainly heard it in Hungary and Finland- definitely not Spanish speaking countries) depending what part I heard both, though mostly All-ma, in South [name_f]Africa[/name_f] and the US I’ve only heard [name_m]Al[/name_m]-ma. It’s not a “Spanish”, it’s international. Both are legitimate.

[brittanyanitarose]

I’ve heard both and think both are equally workable. I say all-ma by default, but if I were corrected to al-ma it wouldn’t be any trouble. The name is present in several languages so neither pronunciation is wrong.

[Sorceress]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t see difference between a in [name_f]Alice[/name_f] & a in tall?

[emilyrule97]

I say [name_m]Al[/name_m]-ma like [name_f]Alice[/name_f] for the name but all-ma for “alma mater”. I think All-ma as a name sounds odd (I’m from the US) because I’ve never ever heard it pronounced like that.

^And @sorceress, the pronunciations of [name_m]Al[/name_m] (rhymes with pal, [name_m]Hal[/name_m]) and All ([name_m]Paul[/name_m], hall, tall) are quite different. If you say both out loud you’ll hear it.

[choupette]

I’ve only ever heard it pronounced with the [name_m]Al[/name_m]- sound in [name_f]Alice[/name_f] where I live. Perhaps this has to do with differences in accents (I’m not American). I’ve noticed that when some Americans say “[name_f]Alice[/name_f]” (example here), it sounds more like the way we would pronounce “[name_u]Ellis[/name_u]” where I live.

[TrulyBrilliant]

I do exactly the same as emilyrule97. I say All-ma for ‘alma mater’ and [name_m]Al[/name_m]-ma for the name. I’ve never known an [name_f]Alma[/name_f] in real life, only read the name in the Miss [name_m]Peregrine[/name_m] series, so I looked it up to see if it was pronounced the same. The pronunciation I came across was, in fact, al-ma - described as being “[name_m]Al[/name_m]” the name + “Ma”. I’ve read and said the name the same way since.