In Reply to: No, he's rolling the R posted by ej on January 05, 2025 at 10:50:53
I taught in Santa Ana for 10 years, so unless there is a regional Spanish pronunciation thing with Mara, I'm sure I've got this.
There is no "R" sound in Spanish. The R is pronounced like we would pronounce a D, but a little bit softer. A single R is not rolled. The double R is rolled. (Speaking of R's and D's, the D sound in Spanish is different, too. It's not not as hard as the English D and the tongue goes up behind the front teeth. So, it's kind of a mix of a d and a th. If it's the first letter in the word, it's a little harder, but still with the tongue against the back of the teeth.
So, pronouncing Mara as some approximation of "Mada", that's within shooting range of how it's pronounced in Spanish.
All that said, I think there is absolutely nothing wrong with anglicizing the pronounciation of a name. I guarantee you that every time I tell a Spanish speaker my name, they respond with the Spanish pronunciation, even though that's not how I said it. And, if you listen to non-English broadcasts, they are going to be Frenchifying or Spanishifying or whatever ifying the pronunciation of English names. Now, here and there, you get "the Pat Wah" situation, where the player insists on the native pronunciation of their name - which is a bit silly. So, you get announcers' hamfisted attempts to pronounce a name like it would be pronounced in their home country. The English soccer announcers' attempts are particularly hilarious.
But if Aday wants people trying to pronounce "Mara" like it would be in Spain, that's his right.
Now, I'm fearing the Blindness is going to come in and slay my pronunciation guide. :-)