I say it as [ˈka.ma.la].
Comma-la
"Kamala"
Ga-ma-la
Car-mullah
The Indian (Sanskrit) name is pronounced ka-ma-laa (meaning lotus), with no stress, and no gap in between the syllables. The first two 'a's are pronounced like the 'u' in rum, while the last is the same sound but longer (so like the 'a' in calm).
The US Presidential candidate's name is pronounced the way she likes, which in this case is closer to ko-ma-laa.
Comma-la (as she tells us to pronounce it), or even Com'la (as it is traditionally pronounced)
"Kahm-lah".
Karma-la... But drop the 'r'
,-la
/kəmələ/ is how it is said. Those weird gyphs are IPA symbols, not sure if they're part of any European languages that uses Latin as their alphabet.
The issue with English is that it is a non-phonetic language. In English, 'a' can sound either like æ, eɪ, ɑː, ɔː, etc (refer IPA). The specific 'a' sound in Kamala has a name, by the way - it is called schwa (ə).
I'm pretty sure a French or a German wouldn't butcher this name, as their alphabets are pretty consistent in phonetic pronunciation - they just map fine with Indian languages, like take for example, Hindi - 'a' -> अ, 'i' -> इ, 'e' -> ए, 'o' -> ओ, etc.
In Devanagari, it is written as कमला (ka + ma + laa), which is the feminine form of कमल (ka + ma + la). In Hindi, every varnmala by default has a short 'a' - adding a ा turns this into a longer 'aa' sound (क् + अ -> क (ka), क् + आ -> का (kaa)).
Yes, I know that Kamala is probably half-Dravidian (Tamil, or Telugu, I think), but it really doesn't matter a lot - sure, there's some differences between Indo-Aryan and Dravidian languages, one of which being the schwa deletion, but apart from that, most letters are almost similar in function.
Anyone else craving olives after reading this thread?
Watch miss marvel and listen how her mother calls her.
Neither! I also had this question. No emphasis on any part, karma-la.
I pronounce it like the toki pona word "kalama"
No, i do not swap "la" and "ma"
Yes. Also, I have no idea.
Emphasis is on the first syllable, is how I’ve heard it.
Rhymes with Pamela.
Kah-muh-luh as it would be pronounced in her mind. Or Camille, if it was anglicized.
