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Arion Elenim
Senior Scribe

933 Posts

Posted - 01 Oct 2002 :  20:21:43  Show Profile  Visit Arion Elenim's Homepage Send Arion Elenim a Private Message  Reply with Quote  Delete Topic
Okay...

We all know that Drizzt is pronounced DRIST (see FR Lore Book, 3rd ed), and Gwenhwyvar is GWEN-ih-VHAR, Alustriel is AH-LOOS-TRIEL (or AH-LUST-REAL, I forget), but why can't Lloth ever be said the same way?

Sometimes she is Lloth (pronounced in BG II-Throne of Bhaal as "LOWTH" - which rhymes with "growth"), and sometimes she is called Lolth (which goes something like LAWL-TH). And some folks (like yours truly) favor a bastardization of the two - LAWTH.

What's more, I still don't know why Salvatore used to spell Tempus with an "o" instead of a "u", and now it's back to a "u"!

However, say what you will about dwarves, they keep it easy - all of their first names have no more than three syllables and all of their last names consist of a simple combination of one or more of the following words: rock, stone, hammer, axe, beard, pounder, battle, war, crusher or shield.

Sigh. (collapses his head onto the scribe's desk)

My latest Realms-based short story, about a bard, a paladin of Lathander and the letter of the law, Debts Repaid. It takes place before the "shattering" and gives the bard Arion a last gasp before he plunges into the present.http://candlekeep.com/campaign/logs/log-debts.htm

king-tiax
Learned Scribe

United Kingdom
327 Posts

Posted - 01 Oct 2002 :  20:34:09  Show Profile  Visit king-tiax's Homepage Send king-tiax a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Well, you said Dwarves,you are asking me to say somthing,I will, but mot about Dwarves, How do you say Erkenbrand, I think it's
ER-ken-BR-and (lleader of the Red wizards).

My name is Tiax, I would ask yours but I don't care to become aquainted with the dead.

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Lord Rad
Great Reader

United Kingdom
2080 Posts

Posted - 01 Oct 2002 :  20:38:35  Show Profile  Visit Lord Rad's Homepage Send Lord Rad a Private Message  Reply with Quote
LOL. Sounds like you really cant take any more Arion

I remember reading somewhere (cant remember where though, maybe someone else can help me out) that "the spider queen" is spelt in both ways - LLOTH and LOLTH (id assume this to be a feeble answer from TSR at the time for a continued typo in a product which was later queried ) I always see the "correct" was as Lloth but oddly have alwayse pronounced it as "LAWL-TH" !?!

I guess things stick with you at the time of reading, i still always pronounce FAERUN as "FAY-RUN" instead of the correct way of "FAY-ROON", despite the ^ over the "u" which says otherwise

Lord Rad

"What? No, I wasn't reading your module. I was just looking at the pictures"

Edited by - Lord Rad on 01 Oct 2002 20:39:36
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Arion Elenim
Senior Scribe

933 Posts

Posted - 02 Oct 2002 :  03:31:49  Show Profile  Visit Arion Elenim's Homepage Send Arion Elenim a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Something I forgot to mention:

I heard somewhere or from someone that Lolth was the spelling used by humans as the double "l" was confusing for our primitive tongues...the elves and particularly the drow spell it Lloth, but your guess is as good as mine on pronouncing it...

Oh, and in the original Baldur's Gate game, Volothamp Geddarm pronounces that he has "traveled the breadth and length of Faerun" and prounounces it yet a third way: "FERREN". I really like the way that sounds....

My latest Realms-based short story, about a bard, a paladin of Lathander and the letter of the law, Debts Repaid. It takes place before the "shattering" and gives the bard Arion a last gasp before he plunges into the present.http://candlekeep.com/campaign/logs/log-debts.htm
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Mumadar Ibn Huzal
Master of Realmslore

1338 Posts

Posted - 02 Oct 2002 :  08:41:12  Show Profile Send Mumadar Ibn Huzal a Private Message  Reply with Quote
What is the right pronounciation anyway. In an area as wide as Faerun, there are bound to be dialect variations. The fact that Volo pronounces Faerun as FERREN, might just be explained as such. The same goes with many other names and words. It doesn't bother me, instead it tends to add another level of detail to the campaign.

Edited by - Mumadar Ibn Huzal on 11 Oct 2002 17:00:17
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The Great Drizzt
Learned Scribe

USA
280 Posts

Posted - 03 Oct 2002 :  07:20:39  Show Profile  Visit The Great Drizzt's Homepage Send The Great Drizzt a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I agree with the last post.
But everyone I know pronounces Drizzt-Dritts, thats how I do to, and I know its not right, but when I read it like that, it just stuck, I think it just sounds better, even in BG1, Drizzt himself says Drist, oh well I like my way best.(What pisses me off most of all, is when people pronounce it Drizzit,...........ooooooohhhhh it makes me mad) Ok, enough of my bitching for now I guess!
The Great Drizzt

"Don't poke Drizzt, 'tis highly unsociable!" Drizzt Do'Urden -BG1
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Lord Rad
Great Reader

United Kingdom
2080 Posts

Posted - 03 Oct 2002 :  09:06:29  Show Profile  Visit Lord Rad's Homepage Send Lord Rad a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Mumadar Ibn Huzal wrote:
What is the right pronounciation anyway


I read somewhere (maybe the old grey box) that Faerun is officially pronounced FAY-ROON.

Lord Rad

"What? No, I wasn't reading your module. I was just looking at the pictures"
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Mumadar Ibn Huzal
Master of Realmslore

1338 Posts

Posted - 03 Oct 2002 :  09:57:28  Show Profile Send Mumadar Ibn Huzal a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Rad

quote:
Mumadar Ibn Huzal wrote:
What is the right pronounciation anyway


I read somewhere (maybe the old grey box) that Faerun is officially pronounced FAY-ROON.



Faiths & Avatars also mentions this pronounciation. But again to illustrate my point. How many 'official' english words are pronounced differently depending on where you are.

And what is offical? How many people speak an 'official' language correctly? Does all of the UK pronounce words the same way the Queen does?
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Arion Elenim
Senior Scribe

933 Posts

Posted - 03 Oct 2002 :  20:24:08  Show Profile  Visit Arion Elenim's Homepage Send Arion Elenim a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Well put.

My latest Realms-based short story, about a bard, a paladin of Lathander and the letter of the law, Debts Repaid. It takes place before the "shattering" and gives the bard Arion a last gasp before he plunges into the present.http://candlekeep.com/campaign/logs/log-debts.htm
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Drummer Boy
Senior Scribe

USA
395 Posts

Posted - 10 Oct 2002 :  05:02:53  Show Profile  Visit Drummer Boy's Homepage Send Drummer Boy a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I think I read in the Dark Elf Trilogy that the drow pronounce it Lloth, but the deep gnomes pronounce it Lolth
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Drummer Boy
Senior Scribe

USA
395 Posts

Posted - 10 Oct 2002 :  05:05:29  Show Profile  Visit Drummer Boy's Homepage Send Drummer Boy a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Actually, I read in the Baldur's Gate game manual that Drizzt is pronounced "Dritst." By the way, that's a clever observation about the Dwarven names.
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eilinel
Learned Scribe

France
296 Posts

Posted - 10 Oct 2002 :  05:31:39  Show Profile  Visit eilinel's Homepage Send eilinel a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Anyway Eilinel is pronounced Ei -like fare- li -like decease- nel -again fare-

thank you


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Piergeiron
Acolyte

Sweden
11 Posts

Posted - 21 May 2005 :  16:04:28  Show Profile  Visit Piergeiron's Homepage Send Piergeiron a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I pronounce it Lol-th, Drizzt (toned s and then the 't'(I don't think it's that hard to pronounce)), Faerűn as either FeyRoon or Fay-roon.

My NPC's in Leilon pronoucen their town, Lee-eh-lon, but i'm not so sure what Waterdhavians call themselves? Water-havians or Water'avians or even Water-davians?

Edited by - Piergeiron on 21 May 2005 16:05:15
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Piergeiron
Acolyte

Sweden
11 Posts

Posted - 21 May 2005 :  16:09:31  Show Profile  Visit Piergeiron's Homepage Send Piergeiron a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Some of my pronounciations are affected by my interests in languages and linguistics, so I try to stray from anglo-saxon pronounciation if I can get away with it. For example I'd like Cyric to be "Sue-reek" not "S-eye-rik".

Tyr is a no brainer I just pronounce it Swedish: "Tuer" like in Tuesday.
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Kaladorm
Master of Realmslore

United Kingdom
1176 Posts

Posted - 21 May 2005 :  16:11:17  Show Profile  Visit Kaladorm's Homepage Send Kaladorm a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I've always pronounced it Drizzit, since it seemed more natural.
Everyone seems to pronounce it a different way, so I assumed I could be wrong, but I'm positive I remember in either one of RAs books, or perhaps in one of the BG/IWD titles, there's a little kid that says 'What's a Dri-zzit?'
I think it was in the last of the dark elf trilogy where he's on the surface, and tells the kid his name but he thinks thats what his race is, and that was his response. So why would he say that unless Drizzt did pronounce his own name Dri-zzit?

edit: just ready the above post. Pretty sure it's seer-ick and teer. According to Faiths and Pantheons (great great book) it's allso Lolth pronounced loalth,

Edited by - Kaladorm on 21 May 2005 16:13:55
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Piergeiron
Acolyte

Sweden
11 Posts

Posted - 21 May 2005 :  16:14:30  Show Profile  Visit Piergeiron's Homepage Send Piergeiron a Private Message  Reply with Quote
That's a good point. I just went with "drizt" simply because drow and other elven tounges aren't supposed to be easy for humans to pronounce :-)
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Piergeiron
Acolyte

Sweden
11 Posts

Posted - 21 May 2005 :  16:21:01  Show Profile  Visit Piergeiron's Homepage Send Piergeiron a Private Message  Reply with Quote
"Seerick" is what I stick to, but in Tyr's case we are swedish so it would be strange to pronouce this nordic god's name any other way.

"We" as and my gaming group. :-)

Edited by - Piergeiron on 21 May 2005 16:24:22
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Chosen of Bane
Senior Scribe

USA
552 Posts

Posted - 21 May 2005 :  16:39:25  Show Profile  Visit Chosen of Bane's Homepage Send Chosen of Bane a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Faiths and Pantheons (page 40) spells the name Lolth and gives a pronunciation guide (loalth).

I used to pronounce Cyric as Sai-rick (like the weapon, sai) because I read the avatar series before any I had any sourcebooks that had his name in it. Now I have changed to "seer-ick" as given in Faiths and Pantheons. Actually, if I remember correctly they give pronunciation guides to every deity in that tome.

As for the others, I say "Fay-roon" or "far-in", I guess it really depends on who I'm talking to and how they pronounce it. I do like the idea of various dialects pronounching Faerun differently

I never really saw how Drizzt could be pronounced anything but "Drizzt". I'm not aware of any words where a "Z" makes an "S" sound so I was actually surprised to see people pronounce it "Drist".
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Piergeiron
Acolyte

Sweden
11 Posts

Posted - 21 May 2005 :  16:44:01  Show Profile  Visit Piergeiron's Homepage Send Piergeiron a Private Message  Reply with Quote
With "toned s" i meant the way the letter "z" is pronounced in english. It would seem strange to pronouce it "drist" when there are in fact not one, but _two_ "z's" in his name!

My players do say "drist" since the "toned s" (or was it called "voiced s" anyhoo the english "z") is alien to swedish, so I cut them some slack.

Edited by - Piergeiron on 21 May 2005 16:46:25
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Thelonius
Senior Scribe

Spain
730 Posts

Posted - 21 May 2005 :  16:48:57  Show Profile Send Thelonius a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Chosen of Bane

I do like the idea of various dialects pronounching Faerun differently



I really liked your observation here Chosen of Bane.

And returning to the topic... in Spain Drizzt is is spelled "Drist" though I have heard it as "Drizt", and LLoth is spelled in both ways depending of who is talking "Lawth" or "Lawlth".

"If you are to truly understand, then you will need the contrast, not adherence to a single ideal." - Kreia
"I THINK I JUST HAD ANOTHER NEAR-RINCEWIND EXPERIENCE"- Discworld's Death frustrated after Rincewind scapes his grasp... again.
"I am death, come for thee" - Nimbul, from Baldur's Gate I just before being badly spanked
Sapientia sola libertas est
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Kaladorm
Master of Realmslore

United Kingdom
1176 Posts

Posted - 21 May 2005 :  22:01:51  Show Profile  Visit Kaladorm's Homepage Send Kaladorm a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Lloth and Lolth.
Got to be a typo though in all fairness :) It's quite a lame coverup
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Kuje
Great Reader

USA
7915 Posts

Posted - 21 May 2005 :  22:48:09  Show Profile Send Kuje a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Kaladorm

Lloth and Lolth.
Got to be a typo though in all fairness :) It's quite a lame coverup



Lloth is canon for awhile and there's many sourcebooks why it is.

For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet and excite you... Books are full of the things that you don't get in real life - wonderful, lyrical language, for instance, right off the bat. - Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird

Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium
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Lina
Senior Scribe

Australia
469 Posts

Posted - 23 May 2005 :  06:08:51  Show Profile  Visit Lina's Homepage Send Lina a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Pronounciation is always difficult especially with unique names, and long names. Slang and accent also play a role in pronounciation. For example, on "Rove Live", Rove was interviewing an American entertainer who brought up that Australians pronounce Pamela Anderson as Pa-me-ler Anderson rather than the American way Pa-me-lah Anderson.

My pronouciation of these words are as follows:

Lloth as loth (rhymes with cloth)
Drizzt as Drist
and
Menzoberranzan is shortened (in mind as well as speech) to Me-no-ber-a-zan

“Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows! Buried in the flow of time. In thy great name. I pledge myself to darkness. All the fools who stand in our way shall be destroyed…by the power you and I possess! DRAGON SLAVE!!!”

"Thieves? Ah, such an ugly word... look upon them as the most honest sort of merchant."
-Oglar the Thieflord
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gribble_the_munchkin
Acolyte

United Kingdom
18 Posts

Posted - 10 Aug 2006 :  16:48:30  Show Profile  Visit gribble_the_munchkin's Homepage Send gribble_the_munchkin a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Don't forget that the Ll in Lloth is textbook welsh. Although i live with a D&D gaming welshman and he doesn't pronounce it that way.
We pronounce it Lol-th
We've gotten quite good with the Elven names too, here again the welsh influence is strong. Look up Welsh village names for some good character names :)

I always have regional accents in mind for areas/races. Certain areas just seem to have certain feels to them. For instance:

Dwarven's easy as all dwarves are Scots. This we know for a fact, check out Bruenor as proof. This of course makes Catti-brie even cuter than she already is.

Zhentil keep i've always thought of as kind of Russo/Germanic, lots of harsh guttural tones in the accent.

Tethyrians are all frenchmen
Calishites are Arabic
Amnish are Dutch
Western Heartlands are English as is most of the sword coast
Moonshaes are Celts
Cormyr comes out English


I'm an Englishman myself so obviously all the above are coloured by my own exposure to various languages and my own cultural bias'.

Does anyone else have vague ideas along these lines?

"We are sorry, you have reached an imaginary number, please rotate your phone 90 degrees and try again"
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Sian
Senior Scribe

Denmark
596 Posts

Posted - 10 Aug 2006 :  17:09:30  Show Profile  Visit Sian's Homepage Send Sian a Private Message  Reply with Quote
i would rather say that Dwarves is Scandinavians from the viking ages :)

what happened to the queen? she's much more hysterical than usual
She's a women, it happens once a month
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GothicDan
Master of Realmslore

USA
1103 Posts

Posted - 10 Aug 2006 :  20:21:06  Show Profile  Visit GothicDan's Homepage Send GothicDan a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Dwarf is obviously Scandinavian. They use the bloody Futhark, for Bel's sakes. The word "Dwarf" is Germanic in origin. That's a really simple one.

Planescape Fanatic

"Fiends and Undead are the peanut butter and jelly of evil." - Me
"That attitude should be stomped on, whenever and wherever it's encountered, because it makes people holding such views bad citizens, not just bad roleplayers (considering D&D was structured as a 'forced cooperation' game, and although successive editions are pointing it more and more towards a me-first, min-max game, the drift away from 'we all need each other to succeed' will at some point make it 'no longer' D&D)." - ED GREENWOOD
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Sian
Senior Scribe

Denmark
596 Posts

Posted - 10 Aug 2006 :  21:29:27  Show Profile  Visit Sian's Homepage Send Sian a Private Message  Reply with Quote
... and dwarves as a whole (with superb smithing and everything) is right off the Norse Myth ... in fact ... so is elves :p (though not as exclusive)

what happened to the queen? she's much more hysterical than usual
She's a women, it happens once a month
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GothicDan
Master of Realmslore

USA
1103 Posts

Posted - 10 Aug 2006 :  21:40:16  Show Profile  Visit GothicDan's Homepage Send GothicDan a Private Message  Reply with Quote
What is that you say?

Svartalfir? Ljossalfir? Never ;)

Planescape Fanatic

"Fiends and Undead are the peanut butter and jelly of evil." - Me
"That attitude should be stomped on, whenever and wherever it's encountered, because it makes people holding such views bad citizens, not just bad roleplayers (considering D&D was structured as a 'forced cooperation' game, and although successive editions are pointing it more and more towards a me-first, min-max game, the drift away from 'we all need each other to succeed' will at some point make it 'no longer' D&D)." - ED GREENWOOD
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