How do you pronounce mana?

[Haul]

man - uh

[baub]

It's mah-nuh, so many uncivilized people here~

[guineapig]

The word mana has been around for thousands of years. In most languages each vowel has but 1 sound. English is one of the few exceptions where a vowel can sound completely different from itself when occurring twice in the same word.

Since mana is not english in origin the 2 A's should both sound the same.

[guineapig]

In other words: mah - nuh is correct.

[azeth]

Originally Posted by guineapig [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

The word mana has been around for thousands of years. In most languages each vowel has but 1 sound. English is one of the few exceptions where a vowel can sound completely different from itself when occurring twice in the same word.

Since mana is not english in origin the 2 A's should both sound the same.

hmm, so you're saying it should be pronounced Mah-nuh, as the letter A originated as an open back unrounded vowel as in the word "father".

[guineapig]

Of the 2 options given in the poll Man-uh cannot be correct because you would have to pronounce the 2 A's differently from each other.

Don't speak ancient hebrew though so who knows what the vowel originally sounded like but you can bet the sound was always identical.

[Dantes]

Originally Posted by guineapig [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

The word mana has been around for thousands of years. In most languages each vowel has but 1 sound. English is one of the few exceptions where a vowel can sound completely different from itself when occurring twice in the same word.

Since mana is not english in origin the 2 A's should both sound the same.

But it's 2011, and most of us DO speak American English. So it's man - uh.

[Doors]

Originally Posted by guineapig [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Of the 2 options given in the poll Man-uh cannot be correct because you would have to pronounce the 2 A's differently from each other.

Don't speak ancient hebrew though so who knows what the vowel originally sounded like but you can bet the sound was always identical.

I am actually fluent in ancient Hebrew and disagree with your statements.

[guineapig]

Well if you are spelling it manna then you would be correct.
But if you are spelling it mana then it's mah-nuh.

http://media.merriam-webster.com/soundc11/m/mana0001

Wait, that can't be right!

Honestly I am not even certain why there would be a change in the pronunciation between the 2 spellings. I tend not to trust online dictionary word pronunciations.

Originally Posted by Doors [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I am actually fluent in ancient Hebrew and disagree with your statements.

m-kay...

[Dirtnap]

I laugh when people bring up the shaman thing.

Shaman can be pronounced Shah-man or Shay-man. Its pronounced differently in different cultures.