I'm wondering about the spelling and pronunciation of Mary Magdalene/Mgadalen. I always thought there were two options: -lene (pronounced "leen) and -len (pronounced "len/lin"). I was trying to find out under which circumstances each was used. Online hunting was no help, and from what little I can find I think I've had it wrong all along.
From what I can tell, the correct spelling is -lene, and it should be pronounced "len" (rhymes with hen). Is this correct? Or not? Have I been saying it wrong my whole life?
I'm from Michigan and showed the word "Magdalene" around, and just about everyone pronounced it "leen." The only person to say "len" was a transplant from Tennessee. Am I part of a small geographic area of folks who have grown up saying it wrong, or is the confusion spread more widely? If it is indeed -lene pronounced "len," it's easy to see how alternate (incorrect?) spellings and pronunciations have cropped up.
(And Yikes! The Brits' pronunciation is another story for another day...)
Anyone know the story on -lene/len?
Not terribly helpful, maybe, but the original pronunciation in Greek would have been /mag da le 'ne/ (mahg-dah-lay-NAY)—the accent was on the last syllable. But that has little to do with the "correct" pronunciation in English. I've heard both your pronunciations, /'m&g d@ l@n/ and /'m&g d@ lin/, with a sprinkling of /m&g d@ 'li ni/s and /m&g d@ 'le ne/s.
But any time a proper name from a foreign language is modified in English, it's hard to defend any of the "wrong" choices as "The Right One". "Jehovah", "Archimedes", "Cicero", it's all kind of academic (heh, heh). I think either of your choices is fine.
(The pronunciation system I use above is an ASCII adaptation of the IPA that I first encountered in the late '80s; in it /a/ is "ah" as in "shot", /e/ is "ay" as in "neigh", /&/ is the short 'a' in "lag", /i/ is "ee" as in "peek" and /@/ is the schwa as in the second syllable of "lemon".)
Thanks! Perhaps I shouldn't phrase it as correct/incorrect. (Unless there is a "correct") Maybe it would be better to take a poll...
How do YOU all say it/spell it?
Feedback would be great! A baby's name potentially hangs in the balance 🙂
When I'm not thinking about it I say "MAG-duh-luhn", schwas on the last two syllables. But I don't really notice if someone else says "MAG-duh-lean".
I would put myself in the /-lin/ camp. I would not find schwa odd at all, and hear it that way often. I don't think I have ever heard /-leen/, and would find it jarring and odd.