Message: "Alaïs" - Behind the Name

Alaïs

by Jenna (Jenna R)

11/8/2005, 1:30 PM

Is Alaïs a medieval French form of Alice? It first appears, to my knowledge, as the name of Louis of France's daughter (in the 1100s). I assume the name originated in the langue d'oil, the dilect spoken by the Franks at that time. Does anyone have info about it?

Also, does anyone know its pronunciation? Since there's a tréma (accent), I'm guessing it's "AHL-la-ees," with the "la-ess" almost blending into one syllable.

#Alaïs

This message was edited 11/8/2005, 1:31 PM

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- Andria +1

11/9/2005, 3:59 AM

Hello

I assume that Alaïs is a medieval french form of Alice, or rather directly a variant of Adalheidis.

As for the pronunciation (i'm french), it's : Ah-lah-ees (like Anaïs with a "l"). The "lah-ees" doesn't make a diphtong (it's not pronounced like "eye" in english).

- Jenna (Jenna R)

11/9/2005, 11:58 AM

Thanks for the info. I know the trema mean that the vowels are pronounced separately but I completely wasn't sure...

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