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MUSCOVITE Posted 13 years ago
Speech & Pronunciation

Sean

Hi,

(1) Could somebody please explain (if it is at all "explainable" :-) why the "S" is pronounced "sh" in this masculine name?
(2) Could you give more similar examples ( where the starting letter "s" is followed by a vowel and is NOT pronounced as the sound "s")?

mus-te
  

Top answer

I think it's a Gaelic name, English usually keeps the spelling from other languages. Sure.

— Vorpar

  • I think it's a Gaelic name, English usually keeps the spelling from other languages.
  • Sure.
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6 Answers
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I think it's a Gaelic name, English usually keeps the spelling from other languages.

Sure.
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Vorpar:
Rover_KE:
Thank you so much!

Is there a simple explanation of why "sure" and "sugar" are pronounced with the starting "sh" sound?
I just checked the Word Origin section in my Longman...

++ sugar ++
Old French çucre,
from Medieval Latin zuccarum, from Arabic sukkar, from Persian shakar, from Sanskrit sarkara

N
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MUSCOVITEexplanation of why "sure" and "sugar" are pronounced with the starting "sh" sound
Phonetic contact between /s/ and /ju/ creates /?u/.

The effect is only seldom seen initially, but:

fissure, fission, mission, assure, insure, assurance, insurance, issue, tissue

CJ

For more on this phenomenon (glide absorption), see a
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MUSCOVITEwhy the "S" is pronounced "sh" in ... [ Sean ].
It's Irish, i.e., Gaelic. The Irish language has a different phonetic system than English. "s" before "e" or "i" is pronounced like an "sh" in Irish.

Examples of Irish names that illustrate this phenomenon (as well as other non-English phonetic features):

Sinead - shi-NAYD
Seamus
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SUPER!! Emotion: yes
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