Samhain ?

[poz]

Could someone please tell me the right pronunciation for Samhain?
Ya know, maybe phontically spell it out. thanx!

[loopy]

As far as I've heard, there are a bunch of pronunciations. :)

SAM-hane

SOW (rhymes with cow) - win

are two of them.

[Myst]

Most people I know hate it when people pronounce it SAM-hane.

Everyone I know pronounces it Sow-ayn.

[Nyx]

I've also heard it pronouced "sew-win"
And I have a friend who calls it sam-wane.
Everyone I know says it differently. I'd say pick your favorite one and run with it. :bubbles:


(not much help, are we? :bug: )

~~Nyx~~

[Theres]

Samhain, a Gaelic word meaning (among other things) 'summers end', can be pronounced a number of ways. most appropriately it is 'Sow win' (Irish) or 'Saw vin' (Scottish). NOT Sam Hane! (those crazy Celts!).
the ancient Celts really only recognized two seasons, the light and the dark, and Samhain is the beginning of the dark half and the celebration of the new year. the light half begins with the celebration of Beltane (pronounced as it looks), named for the Celtic sun God Bel (or Belinos).
there are, of course, alternate spellings of both Sabbats.
there are a number of books on the subject of Sabbats. Laurie Cabot's 'Celebrate the Earth' is okay. so is Edain McCoy's 'The Sabbats'. 'A Witches Bible Compleat' by the Farrars is excellent for this and almost any other subject you might be curious about, and should be on EVERY witches bookshelf (imnsho).

[Emy]

http://www.paganpath.com/samhain/samindex.html

Rather high up on this page there is a pronounciation key, and yes, there are several ways to pronounce Samhain. :)

blessings

[kittiepoetrygod]

Sowin, Soowin, Saven, and for those that don't speak Gaelic, Samhane

[phoenixsong]

Well, in my Irish class we pronounce Samhain the month(november) as Sow- wahn, so I guess it's the same fro Samhain the holiday.

[Socharis]

Originally posted by loopy
As far as I've heard, there are a bunch of pronunciations. :)

SAM-hane

SOW (rhymes with cow) - win

are two of them.

I agree

[bansidhe]

i say it sow -wahn...but thats juss me, i know theres lotsa ways to say it. and i wish i learnt gaelic!!! youre lucky phoenixsong, we never got to learn it in belfast !!! :wah:

take care and brightest blessings,
bans. :bubbles:

[random]

I pronounce: sow-en

[Mairwen]

saw-win ...... you know, like "sawin' logs". :D

[yemayasdaughter]

admit that although I KNOW it is predominantly pronounced Sow- ein..... I always pronounce it SAMHAIN... I know, bad girl! badgirl!!!;) I say tomato.. you say tomahto...

[Myst]

I say he-k-ah-tee, you say heck-a-tay... :)

[yemayasdaughter]

Lets call the whole thing off!!! hee hee hee:D :thumbsup: