Why is “Lean” pronounced the way it’s spelled, but “Sean” is pronounced “Shawn”?

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I’m over here calling people “Seen” and they’re like nah fam it’s “Shawn” and I’m like well then spell it that way bro, lol.

In: Culture

5 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Short answer: *Sean* is of Celtic origin, while the verb *to see* is Germanic.

There is very little consistency overall in English regarding the way words are spelled and the way they are pronounced compared to other European languages. It’s one of the things that makes English hard to learn for many people.

Anonymous 0 Comments

From what I recall, Sean is a traditional Irish name (like, proper Irish, not English with an accent but a totally different language) and so the letters are pronounced differently from standard English. Likewise, I once had a teacher whose first name was Siobhan and you pronounce it something like “Sha-von”. I think that one’s Irish too.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Seán is an Irish name, so Irish spelling rules apply. You pronounce it according to Irish rules the same way you pronounce Jean according to French and Juan according to Spanish.

Anonymous 0 Comments

I take it you already know

Of tough and bough and cough and dough?

Others may stumble, but not you,

On hiccough, thorough, lough and through?

Well done! And now you wish, perhaps,

To learn of less familiar traps?

http://spellingsociety.org/uploaded_misc/poems-online-misc.pdf