CelticWomanForum.com

http://www.afterellen.com/blog/sarahwarn/michelle-paradise-video-blog-episode-4

Watch the second vid, and cringe in horror with me ;)

I'm not really sure !!! I just may say it correctly on some of my tries. But I truly doubt it.

That sounded eeriely similar to how a coworker of mine attempted to pronounce Méav's name. Personally, I love to say her name and see people's reaction to how it's pronounced. They look at me in disbelief! I will agree with the two ladies in the video, sometimes Irish does sound Yiddish.

I can butcher the name very well thank you. Like someone standing on my tongue while I talk.

Jim

I have to agree Jim I do the same thing no matter how many time I have heard it pronounced.

I know that she pronounced it like 'mayv' or the Irish version of 'Maeve." I used to say it like 'meev'. *blush*  :-X

Ah!!! *Holds ears* That hurt!! But I probably couldn't pronounce it any better. :D

I've learned it from the first Celtic Woman DVD because it doesn't sound that bad.

oh my word!! that's probably the worst I've ever heard it pronounced! at least they said her first name right?

Actually, I think they were off on her first name too. :D :D
That hurt, man. :o


And she apparently is not the only one who listens to "that group".  (Just ask the millions of concert-goers, PBS fans, and forum members!) :D

Oh my. That was..ummmmm.....yeah.


'twas quite enternaining though.

That's certainly true, it's quite entertaining ;) And I know it's just a difficult name to pronounce, but it was just funny to see someone else try to say her name (Because I too butchered her name plenty of times before I knew how to say it ;D)

Hello Everyone,

What I am about to post, I have posted on meavforum.com, you can read it all there,  but just briefly I would like to share with all of you.

I did some research Aug 29th, this video came out in 2007, I found the email address to the host Michelle, (she is the one with dark hair).

So I sent an email off to her but I did it in a friendly manner because I feel that a fan of an artist, when talking about that particular artist UNofficially becomes a spokes person of that artist. I did not want to make an enemy I want to make a fan.

I told her that I enjoyed it and how we, including myself mess up Meav's name.  Also if you watch the video again, she really did not know a thing about CW.  So i gave her a brief history of CW.

I invited her to look at this site and various other sites of of Meav & CW, also check youtube & upcoming PBS show.

Well today, Sept 11th, I received a reply.  Having problem with pasteing but here it is word-for-word:

WOW!  What a great introduction to them!  Thank you so much for all the information - it's really fascinating stuff.  I love the idea that they were put together to show off Ireland and then ended up being this phenomenal success.. Kudos to them!  :)

I just checked out Meav's and the Celtic Woman websites and will definitely look them up on youtube when my connection improves...

Thanks Again, and have a great rest of your week!
MP

That's it, maybe there will be a future fan,
Spread the Love!

Best Regards,
Howard

Wow....that was a quite bad pronunciation!

Good job, Howard....you make us all proud! 

That's awesome! I knew when and how this vid was made, but didn't think of actually informing her she'd kinda said it wrong. Smart of you, and very kind of her to reply! And that she's interested^^

Thanks a bunch!

GAH. My younger sibling can say it perfectly. I just sorta....jumble. :P Nice to see others who do the same. :D

 I know this is an old thread, but I have been searching and wondering, how exactly do you pronounce Meav's last name? If anyone could post a rough phonetic I would greatly appreciate it.

This is as close as I can get it...."Mayve Knee Whale-ca-ha".  Hope this helps!

Thank you very much. I had no Idea how to pronounce it. :)

Woohooo!!! That's nearly the same my Sister and me found out when we watched an Interview (youtube) where she introduced herself...! We had to listen to it about 20 times to try to find out the "nearly" right pronouncing. It was soooo funny!!!
Thank you Kelli!
coco x

To go along with Kelli's phonetic of Meav's name, you can also hear Meav pronounce her name in this video.   


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIC5UQElj_E

Thanks, I don't know how I missed that interview I thought I had seen all of them.

This is how I pronounce it to my friends: whale-ka-haa. It's easier for me to say it than spell it!

Interesting :D For me it's easier to type it, I mean I can pronounce it as well, but typing somehow is easier ;)

Kelli,

Thanks for the phonetic spelling of Méav's name.  I keep forgetting the right way to say it.   I go back every now and then to her Helix DVD interview, but I'm not listening well enough to write it down.  This will help me to remember it right, because it's simpler and shorter...

- Tony

Nothing is ever said in Gaelic the way it looks.  :D I was wondering how to pronounce her last name myself.  I'm not going to try it anytime soon. lol I know how it feels to have my last name butchered. :p

Actually I guessed the pronounciation right - her last name also. I want to learn other languages, so I first bought a Gaelic "how-to" book at a United Scottish Society Highlands gathering, then learned there's a difference between Scottish & Irish Gaelic, so I got the Irish book the next year. Starting to read & practice the phonics at home - by the time I was aware of Celtic Woman, I was able to think phonically through her whole name. I later heard it pronounced during one of PBS's Celtic Woman concerts, & was thrilled to find out I'd figured it out right !!

To Isle of Hope -  the closest I can figure to say Maeve's last name  (phonetically) is: "Nee-vol-cah-hah". The "Ni" & "Mhaolchatha" are run together when said. Mh is pronounced "v", th is "h", a is "aw" depending whether long or short vowel in word placement (yes, it gets technical & tricky - I have to read some things two, three or more times over to understand what it's saying) - ao is usually "aow" sound, but some vowels can override others right next to it when grouped together, such as ae, au, ue, etc. Hopefully, that will help you.

I had to drop the book because of other commitments (last year), but I will get back to it eventually. Maeve's fluency in Gaelic is inspiration to me to keep trying - I do want to become fluent in quite a number of foreign languages (& even dialects of those languages in the future).

i'm not irish by any means but i made it a point to research the proper irish pronunciation of her name. I hate when people mispronounce my name (you'd be surprised how many people put a "y" in Sara, thus transforming my name to 'say-ruh') i just think it is respectful to say someone's name the way it should be said. It took me several days of practicing before i grasped the crazy pronunciation but i was proud of myself when i accomplished it.

well more power to all of you, im afraid i might hurt my self if i try saying it lol so ill leave it to the experts.

With some help from an Irish speaking neighbor and listening to Meav herself, it should be NEE WELL CUH HUH but as many words in Irish, is said rather quickley so it sort of blends together. The Ni means "daughter of" and Meav is a very old Irish name dating back to the fourth century(and no, there`s no English translation for it unlike Mairead which is a variation of Mary.)

LOL!!!!!!!!!!

I couldn't pronounce it for awhile but i just said mayv from an American POV mea makes the a sound

Mayv is the correct way to pronounce it. To go o/t for a second, Lisa Kelly is Laoise Ni Cheallaigh and pronounced Leesha Ni Kellig.

But doesn't she say meeve in all the interviews? Thats what i remember.

It sounded like "Mayv" to me and my elderly Irish neighbor(born and brought up in Dublin) has a neice by that name in Ireland and pronounces it as Mayv, too.Maybe we should ask for Maggie`s advice on this one.

lol or rich :P

Haha, this is a good one. Even I can pronounce it better! thanks for posting!

I pronounced Meav, "Meeev" for awhile!
I wouldn't dare attempt pronouncing her last name.  hehe

I've never had a problem with Méav's first name. I tried her last name once. It took me three days to untangle my tongue so I could talk again. :)

On another note, about the original video in this thread, I've been on the cruise the two women were on. They said they were going to Puerto Vallarta, then to Cabo San Lucas. That means they were most likely in Mazatlan. They appear to have spent some time at Señor Frog's. Having spent some time there myself, I can tell you that they are lucky to be able to pronounce their own names! ;)

Gary

nee.....well.....cuh...huh

So, this is an old thread I know, but it has been very helpful to me!!! 

When I bought the first CD, I pronounced it "Meeve" and I had NO idea how to say her last name!!!  Then, when I bought the first DVD and heard her say her name, I felt bad!!!  I still can't really say her last name (all of these nice pronunciations have been VERY helpful, though, so I will practice!!), but I always have to correct people who call her "Meeve."  It's Mayv!!!!!  Haha!!!

Thanks to everyone for the help!!!!   ;D ;D ;D

I'm proud to say that I can pronounce it! (Mayv Nee-Whale-ka-ha)

I CAN PRONOUNCE HER LAST NAME CORRECTLY TOO!!!...........it only took me 4 years to get it right......that isn't that long, right?

LOL. It's taken me ummm.... Well let's see 2001 at the latest was when I learned about her soooo 8 years? Is that sad?

My mom saw her first cd in a catalog and decided to get it for me. It was before Silver Sea came out and therefore before CW even existed.

I can say it very well I watched at interview when she says her name and I watched 10 times :D

One of my friends thought it was MAWV Nigh MOLE-cath-uh :D

My friends always give me weird looks when I tell them her name and then they try (very badly) to pronounce it again!

Hee, hee, hee..... When I was going on a school trip in high school around Christmas, I was watching A Christmas Celebration on my friend's portable dvd player. I was using one half of the headphones and she was using another. She really liked the group and wanted to know who they were. So she looked at the book insert and started identifying them. Naturally, she knew how to pronounce Lisa and Chloe and Orla. She almost got Mairead right too! She pronounced it like "My Raid" Lol! Close! But Meav's? Ooh! I still cringe when I think of how bad it was.

She pronounced it - Mauve (as in the color) Ny (like Bill Nye the Science Guy) Mallo (with a short a sound) Cha (like cha cha cha) Tha (as in the way Jersey people say "the")

 :D

I have had this conversation so many times:
"Celtic Woman...oh they're great! The members are Lisa Kelly, Orla Fallon, Chloe Agnew,  MAiread Nesbitt and....that other blonde girl....Meev -.-"
It's great that I now have a better idea to how it is pronounced!

I was at a concert a few years back and began a disscusion with the lady behind us about her daughters favorite Celtic Woman members. I asked the litle girl who her favorite was and she smiled at looked at her mum...her mom looked at me and said (very confidently too might I add :P ) "Her Favorite is MEAV" Ponounced : MEE- AA V . I tried VERY hard not to laugh and correct her and then she said very happily the last name of dear Meav and she pronounced it as: Ni (shor I ) Mohalchaltha! ahahahah you shouldve seen my face....even my dad started laughing !

Um, to the person who did this thread. why does this even still existing on here?

By now it's no big deal people mispronounce Mairead also, even my own real name.
Just spelling it out at starbucks they still make a mistake or else they add on to a letter that I didn't spell out.

What get's me though is Linn and Alexis as   :o (Lynn & Alex)

keeping my coool!

Because  most  of  the  folks  who  run  this  forum  are  non-existent  now.   It  doesn't  hurt to  have  it  though,  as  there  are  some  new  comers  who  may not  be  as  familiar  as  we are.   8)