An Announcement on Pronouncement - pronouncing hero names

If continuing the Japanese pronunciation of the Sakura family, which is more or less obvious Japanese in origin.

Namahage - Would actually be Nah mah haa geh (almost like heh, but with g in front)

Mitsuko - Me Tsu Ko

Inari - Yee nah lee (Japanese have challenges pronouncing the r sound in their native tongue, so they get very close with the l sound)

Chochin - Chou Chin

Sumitomo - Soo Mee Toe Mo - The same reason one would “not” pronounce Toyota as Two-yota.

Danzaburo - Dan zah bu lo (r sound challenge)

Ameonna - Ah meh Onna

Kageburado - Kah geh bu la do (again, (g)heh and the r sound challenge, and do is pronounced like doe)

3 Likes

Thanks for this in particular. That initial “y” was not what I was expecting.

1 Like

I’m inclined to pronounce the J’s in Marjana’s and Jahangir’s names as [j]-glides or Y sounds, like in most Germanic and Slavic languages. So Marjana would be “mar-ya-na” and Jahangir would be “ya-han-gheer”.

I haven’t seen anybody mention Kelile. Her name has always confused me. Kee-lyle? Kay-leel? Kay-lee-lay?

Also @Drumnadrochit - Since you’re knowledgeable about Aife’s pronunciation, how would a Gaelic/Celtic person pronounce Caedmon?

Caedmon is actually Old English. My sources tell me that the correct pronunciation is “Cadmon”.

1 Like

The they could be Twins topic kind of reminded me that I forgot to address these two.

Wu Kong - The pronunciation is more or less the same as it appears. Wu is like “Woo”, but the Kong, is not the same as the Kong in say King Kong or Guardian Kong. Rather, closer to the sound of “Cone.” The origin for the Monkey Lord, is taken from the Sun Wukong (孫悟空), of the Chinese fictional work, Journey to the West. While he was a monkey that was of extraordinary birth (bore from the splitting of a huge rock that has been taken in the essence of the elements for ages), he did not have any extreme difference in physical appearance than any other monkeys dwelling in the mountains nearby.

Throughout his training, he was capable of wielding a wide variety of weapons, he still favored a Bo / Polearm type weapon, which incidentally was shown to be given to the 2* hero Hou, while he himself holds that long blade in his appearance within this game.

Hou - Not pronounced like How or Hue, but is actually “Ho” as the closer pronunciation. Believe the simple way to address that is that the word is actually 猴, or the Chinese word for Monkey. What he wields is actually the type of weapon that Wu Kong favors in all of the literary works that featured the Monkey Lord. Hence, in a way I kind of looked at Hou as the undeveloped Wu Kong, one of his subordinates, or perhaps even the multiple copies of himself which can create using his magic.

2 Likes

All the "ah"s are like ‘ahhh’, or the first syllable of ‘father’ in a Southern British accent:

Marjana - Mahr-YAH-nah
Caedmon - KEED-mon
Jahangir - Jah-HUNG-eer
Khagan - KAH-gahn
Aife - EE-fuh
Kailani - Kye-LAH-nee
Mnesseus - NESS-ee-uhs
Zeline - Zuh-LEEN
Gadeirus - Gah-DAY-ruhs
Aegir - EE-ghir
Kelile - Keh-LEE-luh (but I call her Kelly when I’m annoyed)
Cyprian - SIP-ree-uhn
Zudak - ZOO-dahk

The Chinese-/Japanese-derived names I pronounce roughly as they would be in those languages - my parents are East Asian.

@Drumnadrochit
Is ‘Caoimhín’ roughly Kee-veen/Quee-veen? Going off a girl I knew called Caoimhe, pronounced Keeva.

5 Likes

I’m curious. Is the “gh” in his name pronounced like the “gh” in ghost, cough, or through?

I’m pronouncing it Anzog because it matches the Tolkeinesque orc names.

images%20(4)

@zephyr1 possible merger for your consideration

merge com·plete

/mərj/
/kəmˈplēt/

:heart_decoration:

7 Likes

Here ya go! Enjoy :grin:

1 Like

Anz-gogh

10 Likes

Is Richard pronounced the French way, or the English way? Or the German one?
Also, I’m still a bit unsure about Tiburtus. TEE-burt-US? TIE-burr-tuss?

1 Like

@NittanyLionRoar how do you pronounce Aegir?

I say A-jeer

A few other newer additions

Kunchen - kunCHEN
Miki - Micky
Gobbler - crud bucket

1 Like

I cannot give this a like due to the unfortunate circumstance that it is not a Van Gogh painting.

Solid pun, though. 20 Bards worth.

4 Likes

@JonahTheBard I’m probably wrong but I say EE-gerr

3 Likes

I say 40k. :rofl: however that is spelt

It is undoubtedly from “aegis.” That would generally have me pronouncing it “Ee-jir.” YMMV.

1 Like

Yer, I recognise the etymology…I could be convinced

1 Like

Personally, I just usually pronounce him dead, about 30 seconds after the fight starts :wink:

5 Likes

I knew someone named Ariel, pronounced Are-E-el, that I called Air-E-el. After a long enough period we were out and someone asked her her name, and she said it the way it’s supposed to be said, but I was already in too deep, so I’ve just resorted to sticking with Air-E-el. That said, this is how I pronounce the names, with a US midwestern flair, and the ones I’m in too deep with, I’m just going to stick with. I hope Aife doesn’t take offense.

Frida = Free-duh
Evelyn = Ev-el-in
Sumitomo = Sue-me-toe-moe
Ameonna = Am-E-oh-nah
Aegir = Ay-ger
Zimkitha = Zim-keeth-ah
Zeline = Zay-leen
Alasie = Ah-lass-E
Kiril = Key-ril
Chao = Chow
Alberich = Al-bur-ick
Caedmon = Kade-min
Tarlak = Tar-lick
Lianna = Lee-an-na
Horghall = Horg-hall
Elena = E-lay-nah
Sonya = So-nee-ah
Li Xiu = Li-zoo
Namahage = Na-ma-ha-gee
Chochin = Cha-chin
Mnesseus = Min-es-sis
Jahangir = Jah-han-geer
Karil = Care-ill
Tyrum = Teer-em
Brienne = Bree-en
Gadeirus = Gad-air-ess
Kunchen = Kun-chin
Anzogh = An-zog
Aeron = Air-on
Thoth-Amun = Thaw-th Aw-men (I think I hate this one the most)
Domitia = Doe-meesh-ah
Kadilen = Cat-ul-in
Khagen = Kay-gen
Magni = Mag-nee
Kelile = Keh-lee-el
Tiburtus = Tib-burt-us
Kashhrek = Cash-reck
Dawa = Da-wa
Aife = ay-fee
Ragnhild = Rag-nuld
Kailani = Kay-lah-nee
Valen = Val-en
Isshtak = ish-tek
Toril = Tor-il
Farid = Fa-reed
Sigrunn = See-grunn
Prisca = Pri-shah

And scene…

3 Likes