Re: Rafe or Ralph?? (Vaughn Williams
From
Graham Dragon@21:1/5 to
All on Wed Jul 6 05:33:15 2022
As has already been said, when it comes to personal names then the preference of the individual should be respected.
However, the matter of pronouncing "Ralph" as "Rafe" is not simply personal preference nor a peculiarity of a particular region of the UK. It goes back to the Viking origin of the name.
Originally, "Ralph" was Old Norse "Raðulfr", which in the absence of that rather peculiar middle letter in the modern English alphabet would be written "Radulf" - although few would now choose to spell it in Old Norse. In Middle English the "d" was
dropped anyway, and the "l" became a silent "l". Hence the pronunciation "Rafe" for those who want the association of their name with its Norse origin, and "Ralf" for those who prefer a more modern association.
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