Lina or Lena?

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darkerhorse
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Lina or Lena?

Post by darkerhorse »

Among Sicilians in the U.S., which is the more common spelling of the nickname for Carolina - Lina or Lena?
darkerhorse
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Re: Lina or Lena?

Post by darkerhorse »

The name of the female in question was pronounced "Lee-nah" but I wonder how it should be spelled?

In Italian, I'm sure they spell it "Lina" and pronounce it "Lee-nah", but in English people would tend to pronounce "Lina" as "Ly-nah".

My audience is American.

The person was Sicilian if that makes a difference. I've seen her American family spell it both ways - "Lena" and "Lina" but always pronounced it "Lee-nah".
afecad
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Re: Lina or Lena?

Post by afecad »

My Great-Grandmother, born in Calabria and her first name was Maddalena, but also used "Lena" in the US. It was "Lee-nah" for us.
darkerhorse
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Re: Lina or Lena?

Post by darkerhorse »

Shouldn't that be "Lay-nah"?
afecad
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Re: Lina or Lena?

Post by afecad »

darkerhorse wrote: 25 Jan 2021, 21:45 Shouldn't that be "Lay-nah"?
Since my Great-Grandmother switched to Lena from Maddalena after she came to the US, listen to the Italians in the link below.

https://forvo.com/word/maddalena/

Just like "Louis" there are two ways to "Lena", Lee-na & Lay-na and it seems to vary all over the place.

https://www.babynamewizard.com/forum/lena-pronunciation
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