Mōtung:Cead

Perhaps spell this nation as Cead or Cēad? —ᛁᚳ ᚻᚹᛁᛋᛈᚱᛖ ᛁᚾ ᚦᚫᛗ ᛠᚱᛖᚾ ᚦᚪᚱᚪ ᛞᛠᛞᚪ... 04:28, 25 Se Æfterra Gēola 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You're right: "Chad" is the spelling in Modern English, but not in its native languages. Locally in French they call the land "La République du Tchad".

Hogweard 16:35, 22 Blōtmōnaþ 2009 (UTC)

Cool deal, I think Cēad will work, given that we tend to give the vowel a fuller pronunciation. Do the natives use a, or æ as we do in the US? (for that matter, how do you pronounce it?) — ᚹᚩᛞᛖᚾᚻᛖᛚᛗ 04:54, 23 Blōtmōnaþ 2009 (UTC)

I'm no expert on the languages of the southern Sahara, butthen neither are the locals by the sound of it. The official languages thereabouts are French and Arabic. In Parisian French it would be a short "a" pronounced "æ", but in Arabic I believe it is a long "a".

The country is named after Lake Chad, discovered by a Royal Navy expedition in the early nineteenth century, albeit that it was known to the locals since the dawn of time and by the Arabs for not much less! Four countries meet at the Lake shore. (And no, I don't know its name in Hausa.)

The other Chad we know of is Saint Chad: Ceadda. On that model, an "a" would do best.

(It would seem odd to add a macron over the "e" when it is the one vowel not pronounced.)

Hogweard 20:33, 23 Blōtmōnaþ 2009 (UTC)

Alright, a it is then. As far as ēa vs eā goes, it isnt standardized at all, but I've come up with one good argument in favor of ēa: it helps distinguish between one and two syllables. Consider ȝeānlǣht*, which we know to be 3 syllables. Professor Peter S Baker of the University of Virginia (Medieval studies) has stated that the e functions to indicate the pronunciation of the c in these instances, making the comparison of how we use an h now for the very same purpose. Thus, he teaches that cēad would sound the exact same as chad, with no usual ēa diphthong that we're accustomed to in OE. Same as how ȝēa is spoken the exact same as German ja. — ᚹᚩᛞᛖᚾᚻᛖᛚᛗ 02:05, 24 Blōtmōnaþ 2009 (UTC)

+ Also, since you mentioned Ċeadda (vowel length?), would you prefer to use Ċēad or Ċeadda/Ċēadda? This detail wouldnt matter to me at all, I could easily see how it'd have been altered, especially since we do have a historic example. You could flip a coin for it, doesnt really matter to me. — ᚹᚩᛞᛖᚾᚻᛖᛚᛗ 02:10, 24 Blōtmōnaþ 2009 (UTC)