I would assume it to be “Kotch-leen” if I were in Ireland or at a Ceili, and “Kate-linn” if I were in a more American setting.
I’m really surprised at some of the Irish answers below. Although I understand the shared roots, it would never occur to me to pronounce it “Kath-leen” if it’s spelled with a c-a-i-t. Do people really do that?
On Venus it’s pronounced “Nigel”.
Closest is Kathleen, as others have explained the lack of a direct translation to English. I still think of the Kate Lynn way as being a sign that people didn’t know any better, but I also realize the tide has turned and I’m just being pedantic about it. (And I say that as someone who has a relative whose name is pronounced “dee-dray” because her mother read it in a book.)
We had a similar issue in our household when my husband decided he wanted to name our daughter Caitriona, only he believed it was okay to pronounce it however he liked. I used the veto.
^This.
^And this. I was going to post about the fada if no one else had. The name just isn’t proper Irish unless the fada is included, and without it, the key to Irish pronunciation of the name is lost. I voted for number 4; I’m not from Ireland, but my ancestors are, and I’ve studied the language some.
To understand Irish phonology you have to learn to distinguish “lean” consonants from “broad” ones. The “lean” (i.e. palatalized) ones are adjacent to the letters e and i. Often the e or i isn’t pronounced but it’s there to show that the consonant next to it is palatalized. The “broad” consonants are adjacent to a, o, or u. Again, they may not be pronounced but rather put there to show that the consonant isn’t palatalized. It’s slightly more complex than that, but that’s the basic principle.
The fada (acute accent) on vowels is important because any vowel marked with it is long and is always pronounced. The unaccented vowels adjacent to the long vowel with fada are not pronounced but affect the consonants next to them.
For earlier generations of Irish-Americans like the Kennedys the approximate phonetic spelling of Kathleen was good enough and at least not terribly far off for English speakers who completely lack the lean/broad distinction. But then we got our Celtic pride up and would settle for nothing less than the authentic original Irish name, so everybody became Caitlin—except that without the fada, and with a pronunciation completely unlike the Irish original, I would say the whole point of trying to be “authentically” Gaelic was lost. On FAILblog.org, this would be noted as “Irish FAIL.”
My neighbor pronounces her daughters name as Katelyn.
The two Caitlins I’ve met here in the Midwest have both been pronounced as the first choice.
roast meat.
:mad:
Then how do you guys pronounce Kathleen?
And if the answer is simply “Kathleen” how do you tell the difference
Caitlin sounds like a sweet name.
while we’re on the subject, how do we pronounce Caitriona? Katrina?
And perhaps more to the point, how does delphica’s husband want to pronounce it?
Throatwarbler Mangrove.
I don’t understand your question, we pronounce it “Kathleen”, difference between it and what?
I mean if you’re introduced to someone and her name is Kathleen and you want to write a mash note to her later, how do you decide which spelling to use (Caitlin or Kathleen)?
i do this when i forget someone’s name:
“Sorry, how do I spell your name?”
“B-O-B”
What shijinn said, you as how they spell it if you’re unsure.
There are many Irish names with multiple spellings so it’s often a good idea to ask.
For example:
Orla
Órla
Orlagh
Órlaith
Órfhlaith
etc.
Caitlin McPurr of the d’Pounce McPurrs. From County Tuna by way of Treats.
Cattle-in?
It’s Caitríona, and yes. Pretty much.
Another Irish one checking in.
If I saw ‘Caitlin’, I’d pronounce it ‘Katelyn’. If I saw ‘Cáitlín’, I’d pronounce it ‘Kawtchleen’ (roughly). I wouldn’t pronounce it ‘Kathleen’ either way, but that’s one of those things that can vary regionally, and I’m pretty sure An Gadaí and I are from different bits of Ireland.
How do you tell the difference between Philip and Phillip?