Scottish Gaelic

[girlheart.livejournal.com]

Sorry to keep asking so many questions.. but naming a child is no easy feat!

We have decided on Marie as a middle name if this baby is a girl, as it's a strong family name on both sides but, since we are both Scottish, we thought it would be nice to use the Scottish Gaelic spelling. I've tried google but everything I've found doesn't specify whether it's Scottish Gaelic or Irish Gaelic. Maybe they are the same? I'm not sure. But this is like getting a tattoo of a kanji symbol (not that I would ever get one).. I want to quadruple check before I take the plunge. So, I look to you once again, my wealth of name knowledge.

What is the Scottish Gaelic spelling for Marie?

Comments

[th3-unicorn.livejournal.com]

>>Mairi (f) The usual spelling in Scotland of the Gaelic
form of Mary, though the vocative form Mhairi, pro-
nounced Vahri, also occurs fairly frequently. Maine,
Mhani, Mharie and Mhairie also occur. The name is
pronounced by Gaelic speakers with the stress on the first syllable. Main has never been one of the top hundred
names in Scotland, but it continues to be used regularly.

I also found Scottish Gaelic versions of the Hail Mary, in which Mary is translated as Mhoire or Mhuire. However, I wouldn't know how those are pronounced.

[th3-unicorn.livejournal.com]

Edit: The first one I mentioned is actually the most common form nowadays, and it's written like this: Màiri

[th3-unicorn.livejournal.com]

Ok, I finally got the difference: Mhairi is the vocative form of Màiri, and Mhoire/Mhuire is the ancient vocative form (Mhoire is from 1936).

[areyoustrange.livejournal.com]

This (http://www.namenerds.com/scottish/scotschick.html) site seeme to say that it's 'Mairi'.

[bouncepogo.livejournal.com]

I can't help you on the Scottish version, but I can help you rule out that Muire is one of the Irish versions - it's one of my favorite names. :)

[aquilinum.livejournal.com]

I just moved from Scotland, where lots of people are indeed named Mairi or Mhairi — but the accent always falls on the first syllable, not the second (that is, more like Mary than the Marie you're looking for).

[girlheart.livejournal.com]

So does that then mean that "Marie" as we know it does not exist in Scottish? I'm not so much concerned with the pronunciation, just that it is the Scottish version of Marie.. (but if Marie is the French form of Marie then maybe there is no Scottish version of Marie, just Mary??). I guess that the boy was talking to his grandmother last night who is Scottish and she said something about Marie being pronounced [ma-ray-a] in Scottish... does this sound plausible or is she just crazy? Hahah.

[aquilinum.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking it doesn't, no, but I'm no expert! Maybe his grandmother was thinking of Mariah? It's not solely associated with a pop singer there! Heh.

Mhairi is generally pronounced almost like the American Mary, but they tend to make the first syllable a bit more, well, like an A. Just a smidge. Like... they wouldn't say Carrie the same as Kerry, since the A would be a bit more exaggerated into an A whereas the E in Kerry is a little "higher up". Same principle applies.

Sorry, hard to explain!

[girlheart.livejournal.com]

Now that you say that.. we were first going to go with Maria but he mentioned that she was going on for an hour about how Maria is the same as Marie (Maria to Marie to Mary).. and maybe she was saying that Maria is pronounced [ma-ray-a]... I dunno.. I'll have to ask him for more clarification on that.. he's not the best at explaining things in emails.

I think I understand what you're trying to say for pronunciation.. Carrie would be said [CAR-ee] as opposed to [CARE-ee].. and therefore Mhairi would be [MAR-ee] instead of [MARE-ee] ??? Is that what you're getting at? I'm just trying to picture a Scottish person saying those names hahah..

[aquilinum.livejournal.com]

Not as down low as the American "car" sound, no... somewhere in between! Ha. Lordy, don't I wish I had a microphone.

If you say the "a" of "car" and then slowly bend it up to the "e" of Kerry, but STOP BEFORE YOU GET THERE... that sort of in between sound? That's the one! Hahahah. Maybe something like the "a" in the word "ham", if that helps!

It occurred to me, though, that most of my time was in the Shetland Islands, and people on the mainland might well say it YET another way. I really wouldn't worry about it overly much, since A. it's a middle name and therefore mostly written, or just an initial, and B. you can say it however darned fool you want, and no Scottish person is going to beat you for not saying your A exactly the way they would!

[girlheart.livejournal.com]

Hahah true enough.. I know a guy named Niall but instead of "Nile" he pronounces it the english "Neil." I can spell it Mairi and still pronounce it Marie should I feel like it. Which brings me to Mairi and Mhairi.. is there a difference or is it just spelling preference? Like Megan and Meghan?

[aquilinum.livejournal.com]

Well, the Megan/Meghan decision kinda parallels the Mhairi/Mairi one, actually, in that both have H-less forms that are more phonetic and seem designed to make them easier to say. The "MH" is a Gaelic V sound to some (but apparently not all; I speak ZERO Gaelic and so can't confirm), so spelling it without the H is like insurance that people reading it will say with an M sound. Of course, these days nobody in the States is going to pronounce Meghan like the German/Yiddish "ch" throatiness, and no American's going to look at Mhairi and say "I shall pronounce it like a V!" So the decision might be simply which you think LOOKS prettier.

[sandtree.livejournal.com]

Marie is the French version of Mary, so there wouldn't be a Scottish version of Marie, just a Scottish version of Mary.

[bobinwales.livejournal.com]

I know a scottish Mhairi, pronounced Vah-ree. I think it's beautiful!

[easter.livejournal.com]

Mairi.