Need some help resolving a family argument here, occasioned by Little R reading The Eyre Affair.
Is “Eyre” pronounced “ire” or “air”?
I’m already good on how to pronounce “Jane”. 
I have mostly heard (and prefer to say myself) “air.”
I’ve always said “air,” since it never occured to me that it wouldn’t rhyme with “affair.”
Dictionary.com’s definitions of the word “eyre” supports my conclusion. Note especially the first one, which is actually the name.
In all the film/TV versions I’ve seen (and I have three at hand), it’s pronounced “Air.”
I don’t have a very large cirlce of friends, and most people around here think that reading is, at best, kind of lame, and at worst, a cry for help. The only discussions I’d ever had about the book were online-- I’d never heard anyone pronounce the name aloud.
Thus, I was a bit embarassed when I discovered it wasn’t pronounced “Eye-ree.”
I’ve always thought there should be some type of specialized dictionary that provides pronunciation guides for famous people and other words in literature, print media, etc. Wikipedia should be an ideal vehicle for this, but it isn’t a designated feature.
Jane is Eyre as in Air;
St. John (pronounced “sinjin,” btw) is Rivers as in Water;
The school is Lowood, as in Wood…
Can anybody come up with the other two Chinese elements?
Well, there’s definitely a fire at Thornfield Hall…
I used to pronounce it ‘ire’. My teachers and university professors–and fellow classmates–all pronounced it ‘air’.
:o
Reminds me of Adele’s line: “And Mademoiselle – what is your name? [Jane: “Eyre – Jane Eyre.”] Aire? Bah! I cannot say it.”
I’ve never heard it pronounced any other way than “air”.
You need new friends, dear.
Yeah, but I’m anti-social, so it’s hard for me to get up the gumption to go find any. Friends want to talk on the phone and do stuff, cutting into my reading time.
You must have been thinking of India’s sister.
I noticed how St. John is pronounced “sinjin” in the movie “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” and I wondered why it was pronounced in such a way. (The scene with the second couple that is officiated by the guy who played “Bean.”) So, why is it pronounced “sinjin” instead of “Saint John?”
Thanks in advance.