I’m not exactly certain what name Grandma used to refer to her sister-in-law, but it always sounded to me like “See Dee Yuh” or something very close to that with the second syllable merged into the final one. There are some key concepts there: what Grandma actually said and what I actually heard. My interpretation of what she said may have been incorrect. The fact that Grandma only had a lower set of teeth might have made an impact as well.
In hindsight I should have asked Grandma how to spell it. She would have known and she would have told me. I never did ask, but that would have answered the question then and there. In some families the answer might have been “I don’t know, I never had to write it down.” But Grandma would have known how to spell it of that I’m pretty certain.
After all, she learned how to spell Trautvetter at a young age so Celia should not have presented a problem. Pronouncing it was another matter entirely.
4 Responses
Very true! Children can hear and interpret words very differently from what they actually should be. If your grandma was using three syllables, however, I’ll bet her sister in law’s name was probably Cecilia, not Celia. From one who knows, lol ~ Cecelia
And some, ignorantly, mis pronounce things because they just do not know better. Janiece is just the word niece with a Ja in front of it. But mom in law called it Janiecie.She also spelled her daughter’s name Elain with out the e at the end. I could not kindly correct her.
My Mother started to tell a family story and said “your Uncle Pseudem…” and before she could continue, I was on her.
“Mom, who’s Uncle Peudem? How do you spell his name? How does he fit into the family. I never heard of him!”
After she caught her breath from laughing so hard, she said: “I’m trying to tell you “Your Uncle Sued ’em” [them].
Nancy
I got a good laugh out of that!
But seriously that’s how people get “invented.” Good story.