Pronunciation: Reidar?
Gunnar Holt
pronounced as "Rider" or "Raider" and where is the accent? My wife and I
are considering this name for our soon to be born baby (boy), in honor
of our Norwegian ancestors. Also, I hope there are not any currently
negative connotations to this name in Norway! Thank you in advance for
any responses.
GH
(if nospam appears in email address, just remove to respond directly)
Ryan of Vaerdal
relates to the rune, Raido: ®. Raido is a rune of communication and
movement, thus the name Reidar means
"he who brings fourth knowledge and change." The "r" is very soft and
ei in old Norwegian is pronounced like "ay in day. "the "d" is always
silent in most Scandinavian dialects. And "ar" is pronounced like "uh"
thus you get [Raaai-uh].
- Ryan of Vaerdal
"Agitate with your goal in mind."
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-anonymous
Stein Rypern
>
> Could someone tell me how to pronounce the first name Reidar? Is it
> pronounced as "Rider" or "Raider" and where is the accent?
<Raid'ahr>. No negative connotation to this name. "Reidar" is an
old norse name - it may possibly be related to the words "house"
or "home" in old norse.
Source: Svanevik/Møste: "Den store navneboken", Cesam media 1992.
The main author works at the section for name research at the
institute of Nordic studies and literature at the University of
Oslo. If she says that it is not known exactly what Reidar means,
then that is probably more accurately than any random similarity
with a US brand name ...
Smile
Stein
H.W.M.
>
> Could someone tell me how to pronounce the first name Reidar?
'Ray', as in "ray", and 'dar' as in "dart". That is about as close
any Gringo can tell the difference. Also used in other Scandinavian
countries, as well as in Finland. Methinks the accent is on the first
'i' and the 'd' is almost nonexistant.
The final 'r' also is there, but it depends so much of where in
Scandinavia you meet the name how it is pronounced. Swedes thend to
have a more 'ä' sound for the 'e' and so forth. The runologists have
spoken of the etymology enough. Nice name.
--
Cheers,| The darkness must go down the river of night's dreaming.|
HWM | Flow morphia slow, let the sun and light come streaming.|
==> hen...@GNWmail.com & http://www.softavenue.fi/u/henry.w
DGolber
I beg to differ. The "Rei" is pronounced like "rye' as in "rye bread". "dar"
as in "dart' is OK.
-----------------------------------
David Golber dgo...@aol.com
1 Fayette Park, Cambridge MA USA
(617) 661-3670
Nanna Rögnvaldardóttir
Stein Rypern wrote in message <36A03D...@online.nospam>...
> <Raid'ahr>. No negative connotation to this name. "Reidar" is an
>old norse name - it may possibly be related to the words "house"
>or "home" in old norse.
In old Norse, the name was "Hreiðar", and that is exactly how it still is in
Icelandic. Neither the H nor the ð is silent and it wasn´t in old Norse,
either. I´m not sure about the origins but it could be relatet to "hreiður",
which means "nest" (or home).
Nanna
rt
Ryan of Vaerdal wrote in message
<25760-36...@newsd-173.iap.bryant.webtv.net>...
>"the "d" is always silent in most Scandinavian dialects.
And "ar" is pronounced like "uh" thus you get [Raaai-uh].
Are you trying to pull our collective leg or are you just
plain crazy?
The "d" is NEVER silent in Scandinavian dialects. And "ar"
is pronounced like the "ar" in "parachute". A pronounciation
like "uh" is totally impossible!
And making "Raaai-uh" out of Reidar is a bad joke.
rt ( with Swedish as mothertongue and lots of friends in
Norway and Denmark)
Steinar Midtskogen
> Ryan of Vaerdal wrote in message
> <25760-36...@newsd-173.iap.bryant.webtv.net>...
>
> >"the "d" is always silent in most Scandinavian dialects.
> And "ar" is pronounced like "uh" thus you get [Raaai-uh].
>
> Are you trying to pull our collective leg or are you just
> plain crazy?
>
> The "d" is NEVER silent in Scandinavian dialects. And "ar"
> is pronounced like the "ar" in "parachute". A pronounciation
> like "uh" is totally impossible!
Of course saying that the "d" is always silent in most Scandinavian
dialects is nonsense, but your statement is even worse.
Final and intervocalic d's are quite often silent in Scandinavia. Of
course, there are regional differences. In much of Norway they're
commonly silent, but many places such as in the western fjords they're
very much pronounced. The Swedish, at least in formal speech, like to
pronounce them too, it seems.
Speaking of "Reidar", take the Norwegian word "reiar" ("shipowner"),
it's even written without the d, though it should have been there
etymologically and may be heard. Names are special, though. It's a
strong tendency to pronounce them as written, so a hard g is heard in
"Geir" (still, "Geiranger" is commonly "correctly" pronounced with a
soft g), a hard k is often heard in "Ketil", and so on. "Reidar" then
is indeed commonly pronounced with the d (the best English equivalent
for the first syllable is "raid", not "ride" btw).
--
Steinar Midtskogen, stud.scient.; <URL:http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~steinarm/>
trźs ānellōrum sub dīuō rźgibus altīs, / effossās septem dominīs habitantibus
aulās, / et nouem eīs, quōrum fātum est occumbere mortem, / ūnicus autem Ātrō
Dominō, qui īn sźde resurget / Mordore terrā illā, quā sunt cālīginis umbrae.
H.W.M.
>
> >'Ray', as in "ray", and 'dar' as in "dart".
>
> I beg to differ. The "Rei" is pronounced like "rye' as in "rye bread". "dar"
> as in "dart' is OK.
Actually the American 'r' is too soft, but I can't see how you can
mess up the diphtong in this manner? 'Ei' is not in too many words I
can think of, but rye has an
a+i. Though yes, the e comes closer to an ä-sound...
DGolber
Hmmm. Yeah, that's what the dictionary says. But I'm pretty sure I've seen it
in folk-songs meaning "knight" (ie: ridder").
Any comments?
>Reidar" then
>is indeed commonly pronounced with the d (the best English equivalent
>for the first syllable is "raid", not "ride" btw).
Hmmm again. I've got a friend (well, an acquantance) named Reidar. I've always
said his name as though it began with "ride", and no-one ever corrected me ...
and I think that what other Norwegians said, too. Telemarkingar, if that makes
a difference.
Dave
Steinar Midtskogen
> >Speaking of "Reidar", take the Norwegian word "reiar" ("shipowner"),
>
> Hmmm. Yeah, that's what the dictionary says. But I'm pretty sure
> I've seen it in folk-songs meaning "knight" (ie: ridder"). Any
> comments?
Never heard about it. Perhaps you mean the word "rei" (f) - note the
missing d, btw - meaning "(a) ride". Folk songs may tell of
"julereia" and "oskoreia".
> Hmmm again. I've got a friend (well, an acquantance) named Reidar.
> I've always said his name as though it began with "ride", and no-one
> ever corrected me ... and I think that what other Norwegians said,
> too. Telemarkingar, if that makes a difference.
Well, "ei" is pronounced in different ways even in Norway. If he
feels ok with "ride", it's ok. I prefer my name pronounced as in
"stain".
Martin Graiter
pronounciation of "Reidar", since this name will be
borne by an american boy. The normal here is that
people in little Reidar's surrounding will "adapt"
the pronounciation to the American-English language
and dialect, so the pronounciation will be up to
others.
If I'm not completely misinformed, the norwegian
pronounciation is not compatible with the English
rhytm, melody, allophones etc. Only the rolling R
sound would mean breaks in the rhytm. Like when
Americans try hard to pronounce spanish names or
words correctly. As an exeption it's OK, but not
when Reidar is supposed to be part of the society
and the language in his american surrounding.
If we listen to the various pronounciations of a
name like "Martin" we can se that phonetically this
is a different name when pronounced in Swedish,
English, German etc.
In Swedish with Göteborg dialect it sounds like:
mattin
In Irish-English it sounds like: mardn
(try saying it without opening your mouth)
In French: martää (ä=very open E sound)
Not to speak of the differences that can't be
written down. The funny thing is that all you
people who read this will interpret my attemted
phonetic writing differently...
;^)
Anyway, if the father-to-be would like to get a grip
on how people will pronounce Reidar's name, simply
write it down on a piece of paper and ask them to
read it aloud. It could be some kind of sentence or
rhyme. "Reidar had a little lamb" or something.
Try to include the genitive form as well.
Nominative (answers the question: "What is his/hers/its
name?) and genitive (answers the question: Who's
-something- is this?) would suffice in the English
language. If Reidar is supposed to fit into more
cultures than the american, them appropriate tests
in that/those language/s and with corresponding cases
could be indicative.
My guess is that the pronounciation will be something
like the little corporal's in M*A*S*H, Radar.
mardn grader