We don't as far as I know. St John is usually pronounced Saint John. Though English is weird and you might have come across a local pronunciation. Do you know where abouts in the UK that one comes from?
this post was submitted on 16 Nov 2024
-10 points (43.8% liked)
Asklemmy
44148 readers
1358 users here now
A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions
Search asklemmy π
If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!
- Open-ended question
- Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
- Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
- Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
- An actual topic of discussion
Looking for support?
Looking for a community?
- Lemmyverse: community search
- sub.rehab: maps old subreddits to fediverse options, marks official as such
- [email protected]: a community for finding communities
~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_[email protected]~
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
Roger Moore pronounced his alias St John Smythe as "Sinjun Smythe" in "A View To A Kill"
The definitive answer :-)
Perhaps not precisely "sinjin". Wikipedia gives the IPA as /ΛsΙͺndΚΙͺn/ or /-ΚΙn/ where the Κ is the g in beige or the s in pleasure so it's a bit more of a zh sound than a j sound: "sinzhin"
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_John_(name) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English
Though the English ~~is~~ are weird
Local names in Britain do my head in
Oh no not in Utica
It's an upper crust thing. A bit old-fashioned as well.
Not a single person in my insane number of years has ever said sinjin
Ive never heard of Sinjin.
Yup, Sinjin is definitely a thing.
Source: I know a St. John and he told me the right way to pronounce his name is indeed "Sinjin"
I am english, in the UK. I have never heard someone say sinjin instead of saint john. The only thing I can imagine is a local accent? But id think its more like sint jin (sint jawn?)
That's not how I've heard it pronounced. Not in the north at least. The T is mute. It's "sinjin" (rhymes with Ken).
Who has a first name of St John?
In Vancouver, Canada, we have a journalist named St. John Alexander who pronounces his first name as "Sinjin." I heard him say it on TV and it sounded weird. His profile even mentions it.
He's often asked about his name. St. John is originally British and is pronounced "Sinjin." His parents discovered it in Charlotte Bronte's novel Jane Eyre.
Pronounced Janer, I assume.
January
From Wikipedia St John Pettifor Catchpool (1890β1971), English Quaker relief worker St. John Ellis (1964β2005), British Rugby League player St John Ervine (1883-1971), Irish writer St John Groser (1890-1966), Anglican priest and Christian socialist St John Hornby (1867β1946), British businessman St John Horsfall (1910-1949), British motor racing driver St John Brodrick, 1st Earl of Midleton (1856β1942), British politician St John O'Neill (1741β1790), Irish MP for Randalstown Saint-John Perse, pseudonym of Alexis Leger (1887β1975), French poet and diplomat St John Philby (1885β1960), British civil servant and explorer in Arabia
Weird. I never would have guessed anyone was named that.
can anyone please explain why this is getting downvoted to hell? this is the first time i hear "sinjin" but it seems to be a thing, from a quick search.
It's my "most people rejected His message" meme moment. π
I guess it's just like the neverending GIF argument. There's a right and wrong answer but people are people.
β It can be pronouncedβ¦β is not the same as, βIs often pronouncedβ
I didn't really say either of those, at least in the post. What's your point?
No, but you said "why do the English pronounce" with no qualification that it's neither the only way nor the most common way.
You're right that it does happen, but your title implies it's the sole or dominant pronunciation.
My point was that it seemed to me as if you were assuming from limited information that the pronunciation was prevalent when the source material provided doesnβt state the prevelence.
I have literally never heard anyone say "sinjin" in my life.
I grew up in Britain no one I knew says sinjin, but Sinclair,warrik (Warwick) etc were the norm
Imagine acting like everyone in England has the same accent. The only thing more ridiculous would be saying that everyone in the US does.
There is also the wedding scene of Bernard and Lydia in the 1997 movie Four weddings and a funeral. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYzQFudZ70k
My best guess would be that saintclair's prononciation was influenced by french, as in french the "t" is pronounced while st john might be more "english", leading to the "t" being silent
Congratulations for being the only commenter who has actually tried to answer the question. That answer of course sounds perfectly reasonable. Please accept this gold star with thanks: β
In french the βtβ isnβt pronounced.
Not in modern french but it was in old french :)
Misunderstood your reply at first sorry :/
Nope you were right, i forgot to add the old french part, thanks for the catch :)
It may be a case of laziness which has started creating a local dialect. This is one of the ways living languages change over time, people start sluring words and sounds together until there is almost nothing left of the original words and there is a new word in their place.
You suck