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I don't usually post on this board but I had a question about the name Ethne. In the movie The Four Feathers there is a character named Ethne and they pronounce it (Eth-nee) however when I follow the name link on BTN it says Ethne is a varient of Eithne which is pronounced like Enya. I am confused as to why they pronounce it differently and if it can be pronounced that way(Eth-Nee) instead or if it is another name entirely?
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A little poking around finds that the name Ethne, sometimes accented Ethné, has a possible origin in early Christianity.
Ethné (from ethnos) apparently meant "foreign nations" in Greek. It was used as a translation of the Hebrew "goyim," which means the "gentile peoples." These phrases meant "not Jewish" to the Jews and then "neither Jewish nor Christian" to the Christians. In English, ethnos/ethné is the root of the words "heathen" and "ethnic."
This all seems rather an odd origin for a Christian girls name, but Greek words and names were, for a time, all the rage in the English and French learned-class. It is possible that the name Ethné slipped under the door, as it were, due to its similarity to Ethan or some such.
And there is no doubt that the name Ethne is an also an Anglicization of the Irish-Gaelic name Eithne. Eithne is pronounced [EN-yah] because it follows the rules of the Gaelic language, not English.
But Ethne, no matter the language from which it came, is pronounced in English as is natural. Some might say [ETH-nee] and others [ETH-neh]. I presume the accented Ethné is naturally French, but it may be an affectation.
Now, I've not seen the movie nor read the book, so I can't speak with absolute certainty. If I was to guess, I assume the character's name in this English period-piece would be sourced back to the Greek rather than the Gaelic.
Ethné (from ethnos) apparently meant "foreign nations" in Greek. It was used as a translation of the Hebrew "goyim," which means the "gentile peoples." These phrases meant "not Jewish" to the Jews and then "neither Jewish nor Christian" to the Christians. In English, ethnos/ethné is the root of the words "heathen" and "ethnic."
This all seems rather an odd origin for a Christian girls name, but Greek words and names were, for a time, all the rage in the English and French learned-class. It is possible that the name Ethné slipped under the door, as it were, due to its similarity to Ethan or some such.
And there is no doubt that the name Ethne is an also an Anglicization of the Irish-Gaelic name Eithne. Eithne is pronounced [EN-yah] because it follows the rules of the Gaelic language, not English.
But Ethne, no matter the language from which it came, is pronounced in English as is natural. Some might say [ETH-nee] and others [ETH-neh]. I presume the accented Ethné is naturally French, but it may be an affectation.
Now, I've not seen the movie nor read the book, so I can't speak with absolute certainty. If I was to guess, I assume the character's name in this English period-piece would be sourced back to the Greek rather than the Gaelic.
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Thanks! both those messages helped a lot!
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