Pronunciations?

[sandtree.livejournal.com]

I think there was a topic like this a while ago, but I figured since there are new people, and since we're all doing the read aloud thing, it might be fun to bring up again.

So, how do you pronounce certain words and names in the books? And maybe you could tell where you live as well, because accents might play into it. It think it would be interesting to see all the different ways that people pronounce things.

Eugenides: yoo-jen-EYE-dees
Magus: MAY-jus
Attolia: ah-TOLL-ee-ah
Eddis: EE-dis
Sounis: SOO-nis
Nahuseresh: na-HOO-ser-esh

And more that I can't think of, I'm sure.

Comments

[jadelennox]

I pronounce magus with a hard g like the English word magus, and Eugenides with a short i, and Eddis with a short e. Otherwise I roushly pronounce those as you do. Nauseresh I pronounce Na-hoo-SER-esh, to roughly correspond with the pronounciation of Ahasuerus, to which is seems to me to be similar.

[peggy-2.livejournal.com]

Eugenides with a short i, and Eddis with a short e

That's how I think of it (in my head, since I have not yet read any passages aloud) as well.

[fizzko.livejournal.com]

I'm sorta new, never introduced myself, so...yes.

Eugenides: Yoo-JEN-eye-dehs

Same as you for Magus, Attolia, Eddis, Sounis, and Nahuseresh.

What about Ambiades? I've always said "Ahm-bee-AH-dehs".

[jadelennox]

I assume that the names that are spelled as if they are Greek should be pronounced as if they are Greek, even though the mapping of the world onto Greece isn't perfect. So those final "des" in Eugenides and Ambiades are "deez".

[jadelennox]

Though take that "should" with a grain of salt. Ursula LeGuin says that "Ged" is pronounced with a soft "G", but I still won't pronounce it that way. *g*

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

*sends icon love* to fizzko

[rowana.livejournal.com]

*seconds the icon love*

[nutmeg3.livejournal.com]

I'm new and keep meaning to introduce myself, but anyway...

I say:

You-JEN-id-ees (like eugenics, I confess)
MAY-gus
A-TOLE-yuh
Ed-diss (no real accent anywhere)
Nu-hu-SER-ish

But I'm with you on SOO-nis.

[rowana.livejournal.com]

I pronounce Eugenides like Eugenics too, it seems to be the popular way of doing it. :) I find it interesting that so many people seem to say Eddis with a short 'E', as Gen said the Eddisians pronounces it. I think the Sounisians in 'the Thief' all pronounced it 'Ee-dis' with a long E instead.

Welcome to the comm!

[planesonsnakes.livejournal.com]

Eugenides: You-jen-EYE-dz
Magus: MAY-guss
Attolia: ah-TOLL-ee-ah
Eddis: Eh-dis
Sounis: SEW-nis
Nahuseresh: na-HOO-ser-esh
Sophos: SEW-foes
Ambiades: ahm-bee-AH-des

Some of those are the same as you. I live in the Northeast US.

I'm also new, and never introduced myself because I find communities intimidating. So uh, hi.

[rowana.livejournal.com]

Welcome. :) Checkers can be a bit wrathful, but only if you chew gum. ;) We're nice really.

Your pronunciation of Eugenides is interesting. What about 'Gen', does everyone pronounce it 'jen' or is it 'gen'?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I say:

Eugenides: you-GEN-id-ees
Magus: Ma-gus
Attolia: ah-TOLL-ee-ah
Eddis: ED-diss
Sounis: SOO-nis (but sometimes I find myself calling it SOO-niece)
Nahuseresh: na-HOO-ser-esh

[xie-kitchin.livejournal.com]

Eugenides: you-GEN-ah-dēs, soft 'g'.
Magus: MĀ-gus, hard 'g'.
Attolia: ah-TOL-ee-ah
Eddis/Eeddis: EH-dis/EE-eh-dis
Sounis: SOO-nēs
Nahuseresh: na-HOO-se-resh
Sophos: SŌ-fos
Ambiades: am-BĪ-ah-dēs
and, just for kicks:
Philonikes: fil-OH-nuh-kēs (short 'o')/fil-oh-NĪ-kēs (long 'i'). I can never decide.

I grew up in California, but I've spent the last six years in New England. So, my accent's pretty weird...>.>

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

I pronounce them exactly like you do, except I say SOO-nis. Wasn't sure about that last one, but I say Fi(long i)-LON-uh-keys.

And welcome, all new folks. Yay!

[fabricalchemist.livejournal.com]

I believe (for the sake of argument) that the final ruling by MWT was that it's your story as you personally experience it, so however you pronounce the names is the correct way :)

I like this idea, since apparently I pronounce the names completely different from everyone else XD

[avian-xj.livejournal.com]

I agree. Evidently I don't pronounce them the same either. :)

Welcome to all you new people as well!

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

Eugenides: yoo-JEN-id-eez. It's a Greek name. That's the appropriate pronunciation for that spelling as a Greek name.

Magus: MAG-us.... Well, the Oxford English Dictionary Online and Merriam-Webster Online say it should be MAY-gus.

Attolia: at-TOE-lee-uh

Eddis: ED-dis. First syllable as in "Eddie", not "eat".

Sounis: SOO-nis. Like Eugenides, based on the usual pronunciation of English spellings of Greek names.

Nahuseresh: na-hoo-SER-esh. I don't know anything special about pronouncing Mesopotamian names.

-- Dr. Whom, Consulting Linguist, Grammarian,
Orthoepist, and Philological Busybody
[This text prepared with Dragon NaturallySpeaking, mostly.]

[sandtree.livejournal.com]

You know, I used to pronounce it 'MAY-gus', but then I heard people saying 'MAY-jus', and I liked it better so I started saying it that way too. :P Seems like I'm in the minority with 'yoo-jen-EYE-deez'. Although now that I've seen so many people saying 'yoo-JEN-id-eez' I'll probably start saying it like that too... but I like my pronunciation better! XD Oh well.

[mycenaeth.livejournal.com]

Eugenides: Yoo-juh-nigh-dees
Magus: hard G... Mag-us
Attolia: Uh-toll-ee-uh
Sounis: Sow-niss
Nahusaresh: Nuh-whoo-suh-resh

[mycenaeth.livejournal.com]

Niagara Falls, NY. =p

[octopirock.livejournal.com]

I pronounce everything pretty much the same as you, except I pronounce Magus like Magna Carta.

[dannybailey.livejournal.com]

I think I'm the only person who says Sounis as SOW-nis. It makes sense to me. Like the beginning of 'sound'.

Also, I say Na-HUGH-ser-esh. (Hugh like the name.)

Other than that, many of you guys have heard my pronunciations already in my recording. :)

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

But SOW-nis makes it sound like pigs live there. I thought it was goats and sheep. You know, wooly things.

[allthingevil123.livejournal.com]

am i the only person who pronouces eugenides
yoo-GEN-nide-s sorry if thats rubbish phonetically but....
i only pronouce it like that cos my friend who introduced me to the books did so i never thought of pronoucing it differently
oh and i'm in the south of the uk, as is my friend

[rowana.livejournal.com]

Hey, another Brit! I'm not alone! Welcome. :)

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

I listened to the audiobook of The Thief, and here's what they said:

You-JEN-i-dees, or Jen
A-TOLL-ee-uh
Am-BUY-uh-dees
MAY-gus (hard G)
SO-fus
SUE-nis
ED-is

And I think MWT told us:
Nah-WHO-sir-esh
EAR-on-die-tees

Do you think that means his son is DIE-tee?

[peggy-2.livejournal.com]

That makes sense, I guess.

*wanders off looking thoughtful*

[cheezluva.livejournal.com]

Eugenides: YOU - gen - EYE - dees
Ambiades: AM - bee - A - dees
Magus: MAY - jus
Eddis: ee - dis


When I first read the "pronunciation of Eddis" passage, I got sort of confused and had to reread before I understood that the magus was pronouncing it with a short "e" instead of a long one, and I was using the "correct" (eddisian) way.

[peggy-2.livejournal.com]

I hadn't really thought about there being more than one way to say "Teleus" or "Relius," but what is the community opinion?

[sandtree.livejournal.com]

Teleus: tell-AY-us

Relius: reh-LIE-us.

[ex-drashizu726.livejournal.com]

I usually say teh-LAY-us (soft e on the first syllable) and REH-lee-us (soft e, again, on the first syllable). I used to pronounce Teleus so it rhymed with Relius but then decided that if they rhymed, they'd look the same on the page, so I changed it. It should probably be TEEL-ee-us, but at the time that didn't occur to me, just like it didn't occur to me that phonetically, REEL-ih-yus makes more sense. I like my tehLAYus and REHleeus. :)

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

I like my tehLAYus and REHleeus.

So do I. That's not how I've been saying Teleus, but I think your way makes more sense. And sounds better.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Yo, thnidu; Dr. Whom. If I ever get around to doing my readaloud chapters, I have to say Eddis' attendant's name, which is Xanthe. Would that be ZAN-thah?

Agape

[peggy-2.livejournal.com]

Ah-GAH-pee (rather than ah-gape, which is how I used to think it was pronounced).

Re: Agape

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Ah-GAH-pay, latin for love.

[tiloo.livejournal.com]

I prounounced them all like that except Maugus for me it was (may-gus) but shmeh.
But the rest I had no trouble.
But what about Philologos and Aristogiton because i have no idea.

Pronunciations

[(Anonymous)]

I agree with Alison's pronunciations especially you-gen-EYE-deez, and I've been saying his nickname like the girl's name Jen.

And Alison made me realize I was pronouncing Sounis name wrong. I was calling him sue-neez, but her sounding of it makes more sense.

What would it be if it were a queen and not a king? Sounia? Will the kingdom of Attolia become Attolis because Eugenides is king?

Re: Pronunciations

[rosalui.livejournal.com]

I've always wondered about that. D: I pronounce Eugenides "Yoo-gen-EYE-deez," but what about "Gen?" I've always used a hard "G," like in "again," because saying "Jen" is... a girl's name. XDDD