Confused... "Q" Pronunciation...

[Sparx]

Speaking of wearer-determined pronunciation, I went to high school with a girl who's last name was Pickle. Like the food. She always said, "Its pronounced Pick-Elle" which was fine, until her parents came to school once and called her "Pickle", not "Pick-elle"

She didn't even like the way her PARENTS pronounced their name.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I'm Canadian and I've never heard anyone say Kay-bec. It's either Kwa-bec or Ka-bec.
For the last name, I would say Mc-Kwade as well. I have a friend who's last name used to be Toews but pronounced Taves. I never understood that one.

Some languages, the w is a v sound...or at least it seems from other words.

 

[SAHDad]

I teach phonics and always tell my students that all bets are off when it comes to names. A person can pronounce it any way they want.

Phonetically the Mc is in the front and QUADE it is a VCE (Vowel Consonant e) syllable. That makes the a long and the e silent. Qu is always pronounced like it is in the word quilt or queen.

Except for oddities like queue, quay, quayage, or baroque.

 

[Sparx]

Some languages, the w is a v sound...or at least it seems from other words.

Like how the actress Rachel Weisz pronounces her name as Rachel Vice.

 

[LilyWDW]

Depends on the country of origin.

Depends on if the family changed how it was pronounced when they first came to America to make it sound less "foreign".

BTW I have a last name where it is pronounced different then it is spelled. Two of the letters are switched between how the name is spelled and how it is said. It's Irish. One of the few people who ever said it right on the first try was a girl I knew from Dublin. Apparently, it is a pretty common name in Dublin.

 

[Shyvioletisme]

I thought Mc kwayd. I guess I'm no help!

that's the exact pronunciation I would use as well.

 

[DisneyFan32WI]

I thought Mc kwayd. I guess I'm no help!

Same here...LOL!!!

 

[Shyvioletisme]

Except for oddities like queue, quay, quayage, or baroque.

maybe I'm missing something here, but aren't the first three words pronounced exactly how the Other Poster was suggesting? in the same vein as queen? Obviously baroque has a "k" sound instead of a a "kwee" sound.

 

[SAHDad]

maybe I'm missing something here, but aren't the first three words pronounced exactly how the Other Poster was suggesting? in the same vein as queen? Obviously baroque has a "k" sound instead of a a "kwee" sound.

"Queue" is pronounced "kyoo" (or like the letter Q). Quay is pronounced "ke" (long e sound) Quayage is pronounced "ke-ij" (long e again).

Just goes to show that English may follow rules most of the time, but there are probably exceptions to every rule.

 

[LilyWDW]

"Queue" is pronounced "kyoo" (or like the letter Q). Quay is pronounced "ke" (long e sound) Quayage is pronounced "ke-ij" (long e again).
Just goes to show that English may follow rules most of the time, but there are probably exceptions to every rule.

That's what happens when you mash a language together that borrows from so many others. Germanic, French, Latin, and parts and pieces of so much more. When you can make a sentence that contains words based on multiple origins, then it is really really hard to make rules that will govern all of them.

 

[SAHDad]

That's what happens when you mash a language together that borrows from so many others. Germanic, French, Latin, and parts and pieces of so much more. When you can make a sentence that contains words based on multiple origins, then it is really really hard to make rules that will govern all of them.

Yep. English is only a Germanic language on a technicality at this point - we have borrowed too much from too many other languages.

 

[mommasita]

Isn't McQuade Irish? So maybe it's proununciation is determined by how Irish sounding one kept the name when their ancestors came over? Plus, just because it's spelled with a Q here, doesn't mean it's pronounced with a Q sound.

Like the name Sinead, also Irish, is not pronounced the way it looks phonetically, pronounced: Shin-AID. There are plenty of Irish/Scotish names pronounced nothing like they are spelled.

There's singer Sade who pronounces it Shah-day.

I had a roommate in college. She kept talking about a family, pronouncing their name as "Cone," mostly because of her Jewish - Long Island accent. Turns out the name is spelled Cohan, which I would have pronounced like "Coe-Han," same as the singer, George M. Cohan, who created the Yankee Doodle Dandy song.

Also for the pronunciation of Q, I think the Canadians pronounce their city, Quebec as "Kay-bec," keeping the French pronunciation, whereas Americans pronounce it as "Kwa-bec."

No, we don't pronounce Quebec that way at all.

 

[bumbershoot]

The name is pronounced however the wearer says it.

I'm with minky.



Classmate of mine said that I say my last name wrong b/c I use a long A. She said it should be a short A.

Meanwhile, her last name is spelled Kiss but pronounced "quiche". She is NOT the person who should be telling someone they are saying their name wrong!


The one McQuaid I knew said his name "mc kwayd". But the c and the k sounds were so close together it was really more like "muhKwayd" with a really hard K and almost inaudible "uh" in there.

 

[robinb]

I have a co-worker with the last name of "Quade", and he pronounces it, "Kwa-Dee".

The Cub's third base coach Mike Quade pronounces his name "KWAH-dee" also.

 

[Northstar]

Names that came into English from Scots, like McQuade, do have some variant pronunciations. Sometimes it's complicated by the fact that people associate one of the pronunciations with Scots-Irish ancestry, and the other with pure Scottishness, and so the people with that name want to make sure you get them on the right team, so to speak.

Living here in Nova Scotia, where the name "McDonald" is the most common surname and the phone book pages for Mac and Mc go on and on, I've met these unusual pronunciations:

McKay (sometimes rhymes with "sky")
McGrath (sometimes pronounced as McGraw)
McLean (most people pronounce it to rhyme with "rain" but a few people pronounce it the way the spelling suggests, to rhyme with "bean")
MacKasey (usually pronounced with first syllable accented, like MAC uh see, but I've met one person who says mc CAsey)

I agree with those who say names get pronounced the way the name-bearers say they do. It's just nonsense to go around telling people they don't know how their own name should be pronounced.

 

[irisheyes123]

Here in Ireland we pronounce it as Mc kwayd

 

[snykymom]

Often pronunciation also varies based on where you came from within a particular country. My husband's (and now my) last name can be pronounced several different ways depending on where in Russia or Poland you're from.

How about "Levine"? Most people will pronounce it "Le VEEN." The conductor of the Boston Symphony pronounces it "LeVINE" (as in the thing grapes grow on). Who am I to tell him he's wrong?

And don't even start with Gaelic names! My d had a preschool teacher who's name was spelled "Medb." Pronounced "Neve." Sure.

 

[irisheyes123]

name was spelled "Medb." Pronounced "Neve." Sure.

That is weird lol Id say mave for that lol

 

[debg]

I'm with minky.



Classmate of mine said that I say my last name wrong b/c I use a long A. She said it should be a short A.

My family and others in the midwest use a short o in my last name. In the south people with this name use a long o.

I agree with those who say it is what the wearer says it is. I had an 8th grade math teacher humiliate a classmate - the boy's last name was spelled Villegas. It's Spanish. Teacher made the boy stand up in front of the class and then insisted the boy couldn't speak English (yes, he absolutely could - born and raised in the U.S. just like the other 20% of our Mexican-American hometown population) because he pronounced his name Vee-ay-gas, which is absolutely correct. Teacher said no way that could be correct - the word's got two Ls in it. Ranted and raved. I've never forgotten that day - and that was hmm... let's see... 40 years ago. Of course, now that I'm older I realize it was never about the pronunciation. Teacher just wanted to humiliate a brown kid.

debg

 

[Lanshark]

"Queue" is pronounced "kyoo" (or like the letter Q). Quay is pronounced "ke" (long e sound) Quayage is pronounced "ke-ij" (long e again).

Just goes to show that English may follow rules most of the time, but there are probably exceptions to every rule.

Yep, there are exceptions to every rule.