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ArchivesRe: Hi Mika!!!
in reply to a message by Devonelisa
Hi Devon! Thanks for writing back! I've never been to Ireland and am not personally familiar with the pronunciation of words there. Is the ch sound in Micheal like the ch sound in German? In German, there are two -ch sounds... The one following the letter -i is a bit softer than following -a, which is a bit harsher and the sound is made more in the back of your throat then. But the ch in Michael is more like an h sound like what you were describing. Are you familiar with German pronunciation? I speak German pretty much fluently and have good pronunciation, so if the ch in Micheal is like the ch in Michael, I've got it down! LOL and like you said, I wouldn't expect people to get it right... A lot of times people want me to teach them how to say something in German, and I can rarely get them to pronounce it right!
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Sorry to interject here, I've been following along.
Regarding the earlier subject Michael/Micha, both are from Hebrew meaning "who is like God." Michael uses the generic 'el' form of God and Micha uses the specific 'Yahweh' form of God (here shortened to just an 'a' sound).
The name in question, Mícheál, is the far and wide the most popular form of Michael in Irish-Gaelic. There is also the hypercorrected form Míheál along with a few spellings exclusive to the Old Testament of the Gaelic-Bible.
The Biblical name Micah is translated Míceá in Irish. This reduces the whole 'ch' difficulty into a hard 'k' sound, which may aid for use as a nickname. I believe it to be pronounced [MEE-kyaw].
With regards to that 'ch' discussion: I've read that the Gaelic 'ch' is roughly equivical to the German 'ch' as in Bach, though I've always personally understood it to be more akin to the Hebrew 'chaim.'
Regarding the earlier subject Michael/Micha, both are from Hebrew meaning "who is like God." Michael uses the generic 'el' form of God and Micha uses the specific 'Yahweh' form of God (here shortened to just an 'a' sound).
The name in question, Mícheál, is the far and wide the most popular form of Michael in Irish-Gaelic. There is also the hypercorrected form Míheál along with a few spellings exclusive to the Old Testament of the Gaelic-Bible.
The Biblical name Micah is translated Míceá in Irish. This reduces the whole 'ch' difficulty into a hard 'k' sound, which may aid for use as a nickname. I believe it to be pronounced [MEE-kyaw].
With regards to that 'ch' discussion: I've read that the Gaelic 'ch' is roughly equivical to the German 'ch' as in Bach, though I've always personally understood it to be more akin to the Hebrew 'chaim.'
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Hubby speaks enough German to get by (it seems all Hungarians do) but I'm cr*p at it! From what I know of it, (okay, I'm sitting here saying 'ich' to myself over and over ROFL) the sound in Irish is even softer - the tongue is floppier - you really get more of a hy- sound which in parts of Ireland is more -h- breathing without even the definition of -hy-. It's one of those things that you hear (first time best as I did, in a pub, in Dublin, half drunk) and think 'oh that's lovely!' but then become obsessed with listening for. After much analysis (most of it done over Bailey's with my friend Fiona...we invented Bailey's milkshakes during our 'research') I decided that it was best left to the Irish (and that Fiona had lived out of Ireland too long to do it justice anymore LOL)
Do you do Yiddish/Hebrew at all? They have that -hy- sound too, though a bit sharper version. But if you've heard a rabbi say 'Chaim' then you've heard something rather closer then what I'm getting from 'ich'.
And now I'm thirsty..... ;o)
Devon
Do you do Yiddish/Hebrew at all? They have that -hy- sound too, though a bit sharper version. But if you've heard a rabbi say 'Chaim' then you've heard something rather closer then what I'm getting from 'ich'.
And now I'm thirsty..... ;o)
Devon
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