Hi!
I was wondering if anyone knows how to pronounce the word “amhran” which means “song”. I want to name my new whistle
this, but I don’t know how to say it.
Thanks!
God Bless!
I’ll take a stab at it. . .ah rawn.
This from someone who has decided to start an Irish pub and call it the Russian Dove.
Based on a recording I once heard of the Irish National Anthem, I believe it’s awm-RAWN.
Redwolf
My Go: Arm-rawn (or: arrrrrm-rawn)
Steve
òran
a song; this is for *auran, from the correct and still existing form amhran, Irish amhrán, Middle Irish ambrán, Manx arrane; from amb, i.e. mu, about, and rann? Irish amhar, Early Irish amor, music. Cf. Irish amhra, eulogy, especially in verse. Cf. amra (Cholumcille), panegyric.
So…probably sounds a lot like ah wh rah n
(Much like bodhran, except drop out the bod and replace with aw)
Aodhan
P.S. Heres the link where I found this…
http://www.ceantar.org/Dicts/MB2/mb01.html#amhra
Thanks, all of you!
My new blue Overton Low D is now officially
“Amhran”
The Irish National Anthem contains the word “amhrán” right in its title – “Amhrán na bhFiann” (“Song of the Brave,” in English)
You can find the words, the music in a MIDI file, and also the sheet music to that Irish National Anthem here:
http://www.advinc.com/~tmd/anthem.htm
Hope this helps …
'luck now,
brian_k
[ This Message was edited by: brian_k on 2002-05-30 20:45 ]
On a similar topic, but for us Newbies, what are the right ways to pronounce ‘Bodhran’ and ‘Uilleann’? I was told it was ‘Borr-en’ and ‘Ill-en’, (and that seems to be close to how Fiona Ritchie says them) but whenever I use those people smirk.
“Bodhran” is more like “BOW-ron”
Audrey
Is that BOW pronounced like “bow & arrow,” or like “the gentleman bowed”?
TK (who recently heard someone say Boo-ron, and thought that wasn’t right)
It’s as in “the gentleman bowed to the lady”
Redwolf
“Uilleann” (elbow) rhymes with “filleann” (betrays) in the following sound file – just leave off the initial letter “f”:
http://www.daltai.com/sounds/proverbs/sf41.wav
And “bodhrán” (drum) rhymes with “amhrán” (song), the word we started this thread with; like the English “bow” (as in ‘bow & arrow’).
'luck now,
brian_k
The Irish players I’ve heard have tended to pronounce it “bow” (as in “take a bow”)…but admittedly, they’ve pretty much all been from Northern Ireland. Could it be an accent difference?
Redwolf
In Ulster bodhrán is pronounced with the emphasis on the first syllable, and the second syllable sounds quite similar to ‘bow’ in the phrase ‘bow and arrow’.
On 2002-06-02 05:05, Seanduine wrote:
In Ulster bodhrán is pronounced with the emphasis on the first syllable, and the second syllable sounds quite similar to ‘bow’ in the phrase ‘bow and arrow’.
This gives rise to the rhyming/alliterative phrase:
…“the moron on the bodhrán” [bo-ron]
as used famously in a song by Four Men & a Dog…now there was a group…
[/quote]
This gives rise to the rhyming/alliterative phrase:
…“the moron on the bodhrán” [bo-ron]
[/quote]
Man, and I thought our banjoplayer jokes were bad…
Kind of reminds me of “The Distant Mirror” where Tuchman (the author) is describing how sometimes (in 14th century europe) the village idiot was made the priest because they didn’t have any other useful way of occupying them.
Give em a stick, I guess… And bones players might be right up there too… 
adding later: and seeing the various notes about pronunciation reminds me: I have never heard two people pronounce “bodhran” the same way, never. I just rhyme it with “sporran” and hope nobody cares…
[ This Message was edited by: The Weekenders on 2002-06-03 21:45 ]