Ahhh-men or Ay-men?

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shipwrkd said:
Because after answering this we have to ask is it soda or is it pop :confused:
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or is it “cola”? or is it “coke”/…:confused:🤷:whacky:

Actually the thread reminded me of an old joke about the difference between nuns and lay single women…
Nuns say Ahmen
Single women say Ahhhh…Men !😃

Peace
James
 
I always thought this pronunciation was just regional.
I grew up in Philadelphia, and everyone I knew said Ay-men.
Therefore, I am fairly certain that the correct pronunciation is Ah-men.
 
I clicked this because when I was Roman Catholic a woman told me "Roman Catholics should always say “Ah-men,” never “Ay-men.” I had no clue why that was and it’s always sort of bugged me (not that she said it, I was curious about the reasoning). I wonder if she said that because of the Latin pronunciation. She was a traditionalist. I’d wondered if Eastern Catholics said it differently.

In my Orthodox parish we say “Ah-men” but that might be because “Ay-men” would make us all sound like the Fonz if we were singing it. In Slavonic and Greek it’s something like “Ah-mean” (Saying “mean” like “she’s mean to me.”)
 
Ay-men for English. Aaah-men for latin. I used to do it latin all the time, but adjusted when it was brought to my attention.
God hears it both ways, but, especially in latin, it should be pronounced properly.

CB
 
It is just they way words are pronounced in different regions. It is the difference like the word tomato being pronounced “tomayto” or “tomawto”.

If you are singing or chanting in latin you would pronounce amen as ahmen because that is the correct latin pronunciation. Otherwise, neither pronunciation is right or wrong.
 
What does the GIRM say about this liturgical abuse of mispronouncing it “Ay-men”?
 
I go ay-men. My dad go’s ah-men. I tried doing his way, and it was harder:shrug:
 
hannajomar said:
I always thought this pronunciation was just regional.
I grew up in Philadelphia, and everyone I knew said Ay-men.
Therefore, I am fairly certain that the correct pronunciation is Ah-men.
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lol!!! I grew up in the Philly area as well, but where I was it seemed that there was a mix if people saying it both ways. Here’s a question for you… Do you say “wood-er” or “wah-ter”? 😛

I say the latter because I had a speech impediment as a child and spent several years working with speech therapists who taught me how to speak with more of an homogenous American accent. Every time I said something that was “Philly”, I’d be corrected. That made for a lot of teasing growing up with how wrong I pronounced certain words. lol! Every once in a while, though, I hear my Philly accent come out with certain words.
 
Joe_5859 said:
If you’re singng, it’s Ahhh-men.

If you’re speaking, it’s Ay-men.

🙂
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I decided I wasn’t willing to have two pronunciations, so I always say Ah-men–singing, speaking, English, Latin.

But to the OP’s question, no, it doesn’t matter. It is personal preference. It’s linguistically incorrect to say Ay-men if you are saying a prayer in Latin, but that doesn’t make it a sin or anything. 😃 There’s lots of other bits in Latin that people mispronounce, and they’re not sins either.

Do whatever you feel comfortable with. 🙂

–Jen
 
Say it how you like. If we were stickler’s about pronunciation, Jesus should be pronounced yeh-zoo:rolleyes:

In ordinary conversation, I’ll usually say “ay-men”. In referencing, for example, “The Great Amen”, I’ll say “ay-men”. But, in prayer and liturgy, I say “ah-men”. I do all that without a second thought. I think the “ah-men” of mine stems from singing, as “ay-men” doesn’t render well in sustained notes.
 
I was raised in and converted from a fundmentalist denomination where it was always pronounced ay-min, I was southern. Being taken to grandparents Baptist country church I would often hear “aymin” in a basso profundo.

On my way to Catholicism I went to liturgical Lutheran and Episcopal churches and they always said and sung ahmen.

I was shocked at my first Mass when IO heard aymen, it was like I was in the Baptists again.
 
In the spirit of gender inclusivity, it should actually be Ahh-person.
 
If you want to be correct, say “Ah-men.”

If you want to be American, say “Ay-men.”

It means to the effect of “so be it,” “I believe it,” etc. If you’re thinking that when you say it, I don’t think God cares how you pronounce it.
 
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