Today I got another email asking me how I pronounce my name so I thought it would be a good time to turn this blog to the personal for a second.
Asa is pronounced a few ways. I like two of them. The first is a long "A" then "suh" like the word "such" without the "ch". The second is "Ace" like the ace of spades and then "uh" like, well, like "uh" :-) In neither of these pronunciation does the "s" have a "z" sound, though I have heard it said that way before.
Asa is a Hebrew name meaning healer or physician. Asa was the third king of Judah. He was a righteous king who corrected the iniquities of his forebears. He ruled for thirty-nine years.
My parents are not Jewish, I think they just liked the name.
Also, I'm a guy. I'm 31 in June. I live in California.
Posted by asa at April 4, 2005 03:13 PMCall me stupid, but I can't tell the difference between the the two different ways of pronouncing it, at least not on paper. :)
Posted by: Robert Morris on April 4, 2005 03:53 PMAsa - I'm naming my oldest son after you. No, seriously, it is a cool name. Far cooler than mine.
I learned in school that the long A was pronounced like the A in Ace. Apparently it's not standard?
Posted by: tolremeno on April 4, 2005 04:09 PMInteresting, I was just recently wondering about the pronunciation. :-) And about the Jewish thing, too. Thanks for the info!
I'm having a pretty hard time tellinng the difference between the two pronunciations, too. Any chance that you could make an audio recording so that we can hear the difference? :-)
Posted by: Peter on April 4, 2005 04:11 PMHow about an audio pronunciation test-case? :)
Posted by: Jonathan Stanley on April 4, 2005 04:17 PMSurely "Dotzler" causes people more difficulties? Also, long 'A' is the sound in "ace", at least for most British speakers. Maybe you could try writing your full name in IPA.
Posted by: Rory Parle on April 4, 2005 04:35 PMFor those still confused, here's Asa in binary:
010000010111001101100001
I am 31 in june too (29th)! Anyway it'd be cool if you could post a small wav or mp3 with you saying your name....
Posted by: nick on April 4, 2005 05:10 PMI think by 'long A' Asa is talking about the sound of the 'a' in 'father', which when you think of it is literally a "long A" as opposed to a truly "short A" in a word like 'fat'. I know a lot of us were taught that the 'a' in 'ace' is long but in some ways that's actually counter-intuitive. It might best be called the "named A" or something like that.
Posted by: David P James on April 4, 2005 06:09 PMSince we're talking personal stuff here Asa...
Out of curiosity, what kind of car do you drive, if any?
Posted by: Joey on April 4, 2005 07:40 PMJoey, until recently I drove a 1986 silver 325. Unfortunately, that blew up on me last year. Now I share a 1987 Honda Accord sedan with my wife.
- A
Posted by: Asa Dotzler on April 4, 2005 08:04 PMI know of no other definition for "long A" (in American English) than what's represented in the IPA as [ei], like "a" in English "ape". See .
If I recall, "a" in "father" is more like what is believed to be the (real) long A before English vowels were shifted centuries ago ... and in fact, modern long A really isn't even one vowel, it's a diphthong made up of two ... but it's still what we call long A. :-) At least in American English.
Posted by: Robert Morris on April 4, 2005 08:09 PMWell, my address got cut off in my first paragraph after "See". Shows what I get for not using Preview. Here it is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_vowel
Posted by: Robert Morris on April 4, 2005 08:10 PMYou forgot a(long)-shaa, as said by youngins
Posted by: absnath on April 4, 2005 09:20 PMWait a minute.. there's an episode of the Simpsons where there's someone named Ace, it was about the grampa's Hellfish..
aha: The Simpsons - 722 3F19 - The Curse Of The Flying Hellfish
in there's it's: Ace-uh
but I've always thought it was pronounced like this: Uh-s-uh (both Uh's might sound a little different).
Posted by: berkut on April 4, 2005 11:56 PM"Also, I'm a guy. I'm 31 in June. I live in California."
I am actually laughing out loud here. This is what we call "perfect delivery." Thank you for a most excellent laugh for the day. :)
Posted by: Grey Hodge on April 5, 2005 01:20 AM"Hi, my name is Asa Dotzler, and I pronounce 'Asa' as 'Asa'..."
Posted by: Gerv on April 5, 2005 01:26 AMAh-suh sounds too much like Arser...
Posted by: Greg K Nicholson on April 5, 2005 06:06 AMbased on Asa's comments I think he means:
[a:s@]
or
[eIs@]
for Rory, I'd guess Dotzler is pronounced:
[dAtsl@`] (for most Americans)
[dAtsl3] (for most British)
In Hebrew, Asa is pronounced Ah-SAH, with the accent being on the latter syllable. Look at it here written in Hebrew. The little T marking means that an "ah" sound (as in father) follows the letter it's under. The alef (first and third letters) is silent.
Asa is mentioned in Matthew 1:7 in the Messianic genealogy of Jesus Christ.
Posted by: zack on April 5, 2005 10:25 AMAsa: You could easily upload it to wikipedia/wikimedia commons as .ogg and link to it from Asa Dotzler. Then noone would have a problem.
Posted by: Tom on April 5, 2005 10:43 AMLOL, also asa in Japanese means "morning" ..
Posted by: Minh on April 5, 2005 01:57 PMSo, You'll be 31 in June. Congratulations! You'll understand (I hope) I see you as a (really bright) child, as I am 50... I also whish I were 31... ;-)
Posted by: Fabfire on April 5, 2005 04:05 PMI was in a Rehab with a kid named Asa in Nevada. 31 you say. That would put you right about the same age as that kid I knew years ago.
Anyway, Asa is also my Favorite King of Judah and its just a cool name. If I ever have any boys I thought it would be a great name for one.
Later!! Looking forward to 1.0.3.
Posted by: Michael Paul on April 5, 2005 10:37 PM
