'uh-LIE-ah' How is that spelled??

[Bevziibubble]

I would probably spell it Aliyah but I think there are a few different spellings you could choose from

 

[magicstardust]

i think Aliah is closest. Anything with a y is to much like the other pronunciation?
If not said uh-LIE-ah, then it may also be pronounced AH-lee-uh, but i deffo wouldn't pronounce this spelling ah-LEE-ah.
Of course this is all just my opinion. Hope you get it the way you want

 

[MrsPoodle]

Maybe Alia?

 

[kel3639]

There's also Eliah

 

[LauraAvasMum]

Uhlieah ? ûliya ? Ûliâ ? Anything with an A will make it aleah how ever spell it maybe the U with the hats will drag the uhh sound out ( not an english teacher as you can tell ) xx

 

[greenlady]

What about Alaya?

Unfortunately I also hear it in my head as 'a liar' but that's with my Aussie/British accent and probably won't be a problem where you're from

 

[Smudgelicious]

Have you heard of Azzedine Alaia ? 'Alaia' is pronounced uh-lie-ah. I'd spell it that way.

 

[Guppy051708]

I have never heard of that before, but it's nice to have one confirmation...off to google

 

[Guppy051708]

Some of you have already suggested this, but here is confimation

https://www.behindthename.com/name/alaia/comments

 

[pinkribbon]

Alyah? That's a tricky one.

Have to admit I read it the same way as mummy2b21 but I'm British...

 

[The Alchemist]

Are you talking about the Arabic name Aliya? If so, it can be spelled any way. Really, we're spelling the pronunciation of the name. Its correct spelling is in Arabic, of course.

 

[Guppy051708]

yes. the Arabic form, not the English. But since i write in English, it cant be written in Arabic.

 

[Proserpina]

I vote for Alaia as your best bet. Though really, vowels are such variables that any name which has a lot of vowels in it tends to get mispronounced.

(I, too, thought of "a liar" when I clicked on this thread.)

 

[The Alchemist]

yes. the Arabic form, not the English. But since i write in English, it cant be written in Arabic.

Right. What I meant by that is no matter what, the name, or most ethnic names, will always have several spelling variations. Really, all we're doing Is spelling out the transliteration of it. There is no correct way to spell it.

On this name in particular, sometimes, it sounds a little different if an Arabic from the gulf region says it compared to how a Moroccan says it. That's why sometimes it sounds like "ah-lee-ya" while another dialect sounds like what you're aiming at, "ah-lie-yah".

The closest spelling to how it's really said is Aaliya/Aalya. Why that double A? Because its the only way in English to portray the first letter 'ain', which is a 2nd type of A sound in Arabic, and it's pronounced very accented, using your throat muscle.

By the end of the day, it's totally up to you how you want it spelled. Unless someone is Arabic, you're just going to have to correct people. I'm Thai+Arab so I grew up having to correct people how to say my names. Can't really get upset at them; they just don't know.

 

[wannabemomy37]

I would definitely go with Alaiya.
There's also:
Eliah
Elyah
Aliah
Alyah


As I am writing this out, I am realizing that the Y is definitely the vowel making it the "LIE" vs "LEE". The letter I is interchangeable with E or I sound, whereas Y really isn't when followed by an Ah sound.

Eliah is also an awesome spelling, if I do say so myself.

 

[taytay]

Yulia maybe? It's a Russia variant