The name "Jordyn" (etc.)

[Charles C Doyle]

This comment (or cluster of comments) somewhat relates to the question of the "barred-I" in unstressed syllables:

The forename "Jordan" has become fairly popular, for both boys and girls.  The traditional pronunciation, I assume (since it's mine!), has the final syllable consisting of something like "syllabic [n]."  In recent years, however, I have been hearing the name pronounced (especially among the under-25 generation) with the final syllable [-dIn].

My dialect definitely manifests and hears the barred-I ("just" adv. vs. "just" adj.), even in unstressed syllables ("roses" vs. "Rosa's"), but I do believe in the last syllable of  "Jordan," recently, it's an [I], not a barred-I.

And what's with the [d]?

One possibility is that a different dialect has proliferated in my region, resulting in the [-din] pronunciation, which is simply new to me.  Another possibility is that a generation biblically-unversed has adopted a spelling pronunciation--which would explain the [d] but not the [I].

That vowel's pronunciation seems to correlate with the common spellings "Jordin" and "Jordyn."

The faddish "y" spelling in girls' names is, itself, a whole nother story—"Ambyr" and "Lauryn" and such (it's downright medieval to see "Alyson" alternating so freely with "Alison"!  And then there's "Alisyn").  Of course, in the spelling of girls' names, a traditional teminal "-y" will often get adorably replaced with "-i" (preferably dotted with a little heart or flower or peace sign)--but that trend is several decades old.

By the way:  How did all the Laura's become Lauren's?

Charlie

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