How do you pronounce 'Amen'?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Maximilian75
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
I hate the aymen pronunciation. I use ahmen which is closer to the original Hebrew way to pronounce it. Google for the way it is pronounced by the Jews. It is nothing like aymen.
 
I say ah-men. Growing up as a Protestant ay-men was how the Baptists say it. It is weird to me that Catholics say ay-men. Sometimes I think if the Baptists only knew.
 
exnihilo said:
I say ah-men. Growing up as a Protestant ay-men was how the Baptists say it. It is weird to me that Catholics say ay-men. Sometimes I think if the Baptists only knew.
Click to expand...
Do Baptists in majority Catholic areas say “ah-men” or “ay-men”? Are there Baptists from Poland or French Canada here that want to speak on this?
 
I feel like aymen is more of an American Southern thing than an international baptist thing…
 
That is kind of how I see it. I see it as a more low church pronunciation. I also see it as something you might say when agreeing with someone in a less formal context. For instance my wife will say ay-men when listening to a religious podcast (yes, she is a screen talker!). I am southern so that is my influence on my perception.
 
Having first started using Amen after the liturgical changes of the 60s, I learned its French pronunciation “ah-men” and that’s what I always use. Similar to my habit of singing “Ave Mah-ree-ah” and not “Ave Murr-ee-ah”.
 
I say “ay-men” typically in English Mass, except in certain sung forms of the Our Father. However, if I’m attending Mass in Spanish, I say “ah-men”, which is how it’s traditionally pronounced in Spanish.
 
That’s what I thought. I think I recall hearing it when I visited a synagogue.
 
Because singing a long A sound the way it is normally pronounced by English speakers is generally considered ugly by classically trained vocalists. That is true whether the word is Amen or some other word.
 
Last edited:
If you do a search here at Catholic Answers you will find numerous posts about the pronunciation of “Amen.”

English speaking Catholics (especially those with Irish ancestry) have been saying “ay-men” (when praying in English) for a LONG time.
 
If there was an influence it was a particular low church Protestantism. My old Protestant Church didn’t have drums or sing about hammers or dancing. And we pronounced it ah-men. I wish the parishes local to me where influenced by that form of Protestantism. It would, sadly, be an improvement.
 
Ah-men is correct if pronounced from an understanding of the Latin language. Ay-men to me seems some American inception.
 
Long A. I never and I mean never do ‘a-y-men’. Has kind of a car salesman ring to it to me. (just this side of ‘Eye-rack’ for Iraq) Though I will quickly add that I know plenty of very smart respectable people who have no problem whatsoever belting out ‘a-y-men.’ Live and let live I say. I never make a peep about it.
 
Last edited:
I pronounce it as “amen.” 😉

Short ‘a’ if it’s sung or at the end of an Ave Maria (though I rarely use the Latin version,). Long ‘a’ anywhere else.
For reference I am an American in Illinois.

And from the top of my head, I think one of the priests at my parish who is originally from Mexico says long ‘a’ though I could be wrong. But the reason I bring that up is as this thread makes me wonder if anyone has experience changing how they pronounce “amen” if they moved to a new place where the local pronunciation differs from your native pronunciation.
 
I’m sure most aren’t walking around using Iēsous or Yeshua.

Doesn’t make it less valid.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top