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What is the original pronounciation of Lydia?
Hi !!!I like Lydia very much...
But I'm afraid that it actually is pronounced LUY-dee-ah as the most of Greek words..Is it this case?
Do you think it is wrong pronounce it LEE-dyah?Augusto Aurelio Bruno Filippo Flavio Leone Luigi Stefano ValerioAlba Anastasia Angelica Cassandra Corinna Dafne Diana Dora Fiammetta Flora Gelsomina Ginevra Lavinia Luna Morgana Olimpia Perla Rosa Rossella Serena Stella Susanna
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The Biblical Greek pronunciation of Lydia can be heard at https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G3070&t=KJV
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I don't know about "original" but I definitely pronounce this name the English way of LID-ee-ə. All other pronouncations sound terrible in comparison IMO
"LID-ee-ə" sounds gorgouse. I like the name as well. I absolutely plan to use it for a daughter of I ever have one and hopefully I do.
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Actually the Greek pronunciation in on the second syllable. Please note that the "d" (delta) in Greek is pronounce as the "th" in "the" ;-)lee-THEE-ah
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lee-THEE-ah is the modern Greek pronouciation. However, Lydia is already the name of a woman mentioned in the Bible, so we may ask ourselves how Lydia was pronounced 2000 years ago. I have no access to the great work called "Vox Graeca", but I think that an approximate pronunciation at that time was like luyd-EE-ah--elbowin
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Welcome back, Pav! It's been a long time.When did 'delta' start sounding like 'th-'? And does it work in all positions, including initial - would it be Demeter or Themeter, for instance? And what about the Thelphic Oracle?Cyber-hugs from South Africa
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"When" may not really be the right question. The pronunciation of |d| as |ð| or |þ| and vice versa is a common occurrence in dialect variation. In local vernacular speech it may have always been pronounced that way in some regions, no matter how it was written in formal "Classical" texts. Don't forget that even in ancient times there were more than a couple of variations of Greek (Attic, Doric, Ionian, Cretan etc.), with their own variations in pronunciation, spelling and vocabulary. Texts tend to be standardized fairly rapidly in copying, so even reflected in regional spelling conventions (which they may not be), ancient dialect pronunciations can be difficult to determine even if they're reflected in modern usage.
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Helpful comment, thank you!
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Anneza, it's been a while!Delphic is indeed pronounced "Thelphic" but with a th- pronounced as in the words "though, thereafter, therefore" rather than in "throw, theater, Thylvethter the Cat".Hugs backacha from Greece :-)

This message was edited 5/12/2017, 4:31 AM

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