Are the dialectal differences in the pronounciation of the name “Maria”?

9 comments

1. Usually “Maria” is pronounced “mah REE ah” and “Mariah” is pronounced “mah RYE ah.” I think some people, especially historically, pronounced “Maria” the second way, but that is pretty rare.

2. How do you solve a problem like Maria?

3. Are you saying Ma-ray-uh or Ma-rye-uh? I would say the first is a non-American-English speaker or accent saying Maria. The second is a different name, Mariah.

4. I’ve only encountered the Mariah pronunciation in British and Irish English via the term “Black Maria” for a police car. Usually American English is more adept at approximating Spanish than the UK does, if not always perfect.

5. In the song “they call the wind Maria” it’s pronounced like Mariah, I don’t know if it’s to fit the meter or a dialect thing

6. Maria is usually pronounced Mah ree ah or muh ree ah. Mariah is pronounced mah rye ah.

   In “They Call the Wind Maria,” it is pronounced maj rye uh but I think that was mostly due to matching the vowel sound to fire.

7. I’ve only ever pronounced “Maria” as “mah-REE-ah” as I’ve never met anyone (including my cousin and great aunt) who pronounces it differently.

   I’ve only heard the “mah-RYE-ah” pronunciation in a British movie. I can’t remember which one it was, but it was an adaptation of a classic novel I’d read, and I knew that the character’s name was spelled “Maria.” The pronunciation in the movie was a bit jarring.

8. Not that I’m aware of, but there is for Mario. Mair-ee-o in NYC and Mah-ree-o everywhere else.

9. The only time I’d heard Maria pronounced like Mariah is when Miss Maria Reynolds walked into his life.