Huh

[ithildin]

I've been looking up names for some of the secondary characters for my Queen of Swords fic, and came across in entry for 'Amanda':

Gender: Feminine

Usage: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Finnish

Pronounced: ə-MAN-də (English), ah-MAHN-dah (Spanish, Italian) [key]
Created in the 17th century by the playwright Colley Cibber, who based it on Latin amanda meaning "lovable, worthy of love". It came into regular use during the 19th century.

Comments

[ithildyn.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was thinking that. Well, maybe whoever named her just picked a Latin word at random as her name :)

The site overall is fascinating! I discovered all sorts of variations of my name I didn't know about. They have a function that will give you all the variations of one name (http://www.behindthename.com/php/related.php?name=denise) male and female. Which brings me to... in the comments someone said the Irish form of Denis is Donaca, except I can't find any documentation on that. I've always wondered if there was some sort of Gaelic/Irish version of my name. Would you happen to know?

[jinxed-wood.livejournal.com]

[Grins] I'm not surprised you didn't find an 'official' translation! What you have to understand is the Irish isn't a Latin or Greek based language, so direct translations of names don't exist, per se, (My name is one of the few exceptions Kathleen - trans: caitlin - taken from Hecate ) For instance 'Donaca' (incidentally usually spelt Donnacadh) actually means 'brown warrior', but someone ticked a box beside it at one point, (at Dublin castle or some such place) and went 'All Donnachas are now Denis!

I remember a Denise in my class at school being called Dymphna (pronounced dim-fnah...yup, welcome the tongue twister language of hell!) but apparent Fine (Fee-nah)is acceptable as well (Fine= wine=dionysious...only in the vagaries of the Irish language! Keep in mind that if you went with this variation, it sounds very like Fianna (Fee-ah-nah), which is a group of warriors in Irish mythology)

I was always fond of Damhnait, ( Dow-a-nit - a short, breathy a) too, which is a variant of Dympna. (Both mean Bard!)

[ithildyn.livejournal.com]

No, I knew there was no official translation, so that was why I was wondering after the comment I read. I assumed there would be something similar based on the names meaning as opposed to an actual translation, like it would be in Japanese. Since my name translates to 'Wine Goddess' :) Fine works -- easier to pronounce than Dymphna and that reminds me of 'nymph' :)

Do Fine and Fianna actually sound similar when spoken aloud? In my brain, they sound fairly different. I'm familiar with Fianna, and have heard it 'said'. Just idle curiosity on my part. If I'd ever gone to college, I would have taken linguistics or something related. I remember trying to teach myself Anglo Saxon when I was a teenager!

[jinxed-wood.livejournal.com]

All Is sound like a long E unless there is an A in front of it - and an A after the I is usually a short A (almost breathed, rather than said), unless covered by a fada. Which means:

Fine = Fee-nah

Fianna Fee-ah(very short)-nah.

Unless you were looking out for it and used to the breathy variations in gaelic pronouciaton, you might miss the difference!

[ithildyn.livejournal.com]

Ah! Thank you :) I know it's hard to write what something sounds like! When we meet in RL, I'll make you pronounce stuff for me [g]

[jinxed-wood.livejournal.com]

[Laughs] Hey, I'd have you pronouncing Irish in a Kerry accent in no time!