It’s for the novel I’m about to start. I’m either naming a boy Eirwyn or a girl Eirwen. I know it’s Welsh so I’m not entirely sure on the pronunciation.
Is it ire-wen or air-wen or something else?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/livinginwales/sites/howdoisay/names/index.shtml?e This is a link that might be useful? It has sound waves of a lot of popular Welsh names.
That’s extremely helpful! so it’s sort of like ay-er-wen. Like [name]Air[/name], but 2 different syllables.
To me it sounds a bit like eer-wen with that Welsh style of “over-enunciating” (it’s not literally over- for Welsh, just compared to American/Australian accents I’m used to) each individual syllable. It is almost eer-uh-wen. But I think a Welsh person would say it’s just two syllables spoken clearly, lol.
Like [name]Bronwen[/name] which they also have, is probably one of the most mainstream-away-from-[name]Wales[/name] Welsh names there are, isn’t slurred together either, its b-rron-WEN with them almost broken apart altogether.
Or I’ve gone completely looney-tunes, also possible. 
No I sort of hear the eer sound too, but I wasn’t sure if he was saying eer-wen or ay-er-wen. It sounded like both on the different times he said it, so I wasn’t sure. Hm…
And I get what you’re saying about the over-enunciating. It sounds like he’s hitting a drum with that first syllable he says it so hard and clear.
I am leaning towards eer because of [name]Gwyneira[/name], which is a name with the same meaning (white snow) reversed from Eirwen, and I’ve heard that with an eer sound.
Buuuut I’m not Welsh and I really hope a Welsh speaker shows up!
AYER-wen
[name]Do[/name] you know the linguistic concept of a diphthong? Welsh tends to emphasize the two elements comprising a diphthong, just slightly. Take the long I, as in this name: that sound is comprised of two separate vowels, aaaah + eeeee. In Welsh you can still hear both, or rather an echo of both.
Yeah, this. In south [name]Wales[/name] you’ll also hear ‘ire-wen’ but it’s not technically correct.
Ok so I was right when I heard ay-er-wen (like air but separated into 2 syllables). Thanks renrose for confirming. It’s a beautiful name and I’ll use it for a boy or a girl, depending on character development and which is needed.
Thanks!