Hmm, I say either say the 'al' in gala like the 'al' in the word "malice" or the 'al' in "Allah" (couldn't think of a better example for the second one, "ball" is too much of an "o" sound to work) I have never said gala like the name "Kayla". (I'm from New England if location matters)

I agree with Brus and Hairy Scot.

Yeah, I would think so. In french it's kind of a "yeuh" sound. I've always said day-bew.

I think the problem comes from the fact that when you say "text," some people think it sounds like "texed" (pronounced like "text", similar to "faxed"), so adding an -ed to that would be weird (texeded).

Personally, I believe that the root verb is text, and to make it past tense you add the -ed. Texted sounds fine to me, because the "t" at the end of "text" is just that. It's a "t". It's as if you took the word "grant" and made it past tense: granted. Why isn't that uncomfortable to say? (You don't think of it as "granned" in your head, you think of it as "grant". Same as you say grant-ed not grand-ed.)

Does anyone agree with me?