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vine-draped
catenary bangs
Mar 11, 2019 09:17
5 yrs ago
English term

Cobbe Family

English Art/Literary Names (personal, company)
Dear colleagues,
How do you pronounce "Cobbe", an Irish surname (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobbe_family)? With [i] at the end or without?
Thank you in advance.
Responses
4 +7 Pronounce as "cob"
Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

Non-PRO (2): Yvonne Gallagher, Barbara Carrara

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Discussion

Elena Robert (asker) Mar 12, 2019:
Thanks to all! A special thanks to Charles for the details on the name's history. Yvonne, Charles is right: I need to know the transcription of this name to translate it into Russian.
Charles Davis Mar 11, 2019:
I would guess that the reason for the question may be to determine how it should be transliterated, since for this purpose one needs to know how it is pronounced.
Charles Davis Mar 11, 2019:
Origin of the name Cobb(e) "This interesting name, variations of which are Cobbe, Cobb, Cobson, and Copson, is of early medieval English origin, and is an example of the many early surnames that were gradually created during the Middle Ages from the habitual use of a nickname. In this instance, the nickname, or byname, recorded in Cornwall in 1201 as 'Cobba', derives from a term meaning 'lump', found in both Old English and Old Norse, and used to denote a large, well built, impressive man. The equivalent byname in Old Norse is recorded as 'Kobbi', and the examples of the surname Cobb or Cobbe found in the eastern counties of England are probably derived from this source. In some cases, the surname may represent a short form of the male personal name 'Jacob', from the Hebrew 'Yaakov', which is traditionally held to mean 'he supplanted', from the biblical story of Esau and Jacob."
More here if anyone's interested.
https://one-name.org/name_profile/cobb/
Yvonne Gallagher Mar 11, 2019:
reasons for an extra "b" and possibly "e" would be to distinguish the family name from the meaning of the word "cob" I presume

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/cob

but I don't understand why this is a translation question?
Charles Davis Mar 11, 2019:
@Elena Note that historically the surname of the Irish Cobbe family has also been spelt "Cobb", without an e. This reflects the fact that the e was and is silent.
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=c3EUAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA10-PA1...

Responses

+7
9 mins
Selected

Pronounce as "cob"

As a native UK English speaker, I would pronounce it as "cob". I think the name has a variation without the "e" at the end which would be pronounced "cob" as well. Names like these with slight spelling differences tend to have the same pronunciation in UK English. Your wiki article says the family came from Hampshire in the UK so I think you can rule out the name having an unpredictable Irish pronunciation :)
Note from asker:
Thank you, Emily!
Peer comment(s):
agree Ashutosh Mitra
21 mins
agree Charlotte Fleming
29 mins
agree Charles Davis
54 mins
agree Yvonne Gallagher : Yes, Anglo-Irish family. Not a translation question surely?
1 hr
agree James A. Walsh
2 hrs
agree Jennifer Caisley
3 hrs
agree AllegroTrans
2 days 2 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Again many thanks to all."
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