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    Canonfire :: View topic - Greyhawk Pronunciation Q&A
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    Greyhawk Pronunciation Q&A
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    Apprentice Greytalker

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    Mon Jun 06, 2011 3:32 pm  
    Greyhawk Pronunciation Q&A

    So I've been wondering about the pronunciation about a certain city's name for a while, but it seems like such a waste of a thread for such a small query. So, I decided to try to make a thread that may have some usefulness once it outlives my question.

    With that goal in mind, if the rest of you are up for it, I'd like to turn this thread into a place where anyone can ask about (and hopefully receive answers to) the pronunciations of names and words particular to the World of Greyhawk. Of course we should strive for canon pronunciations when available, but best guesses and general consensus are also welcomed (particularly when no canon pronunciation is available).

    So, how do you pronounce Rauxes? It looks pseudo-French to me, making me want to pronounce it "roek-ZEI" (or "roeg-ZEI"), but I can also see it being pronounced "RAHK-zehs" or otherwise... Please halp! Confused
    GreySage

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    Mon Jun 06, 2011 4:26 pm  

    I don't know about a canonical pronunciation, but I've always pronounced it as something along the lines of "RAHK-zehs" myself.

    Being from Louisiana (New Orleans), it doesn't strike me as particularly "french" in pronunciation, but I could be wrong. Wink
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    Master Greytalker

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    Mon Jun 06, 2011 5:44 pm  

    Somewhere I picked up RAH-zees as the pronunciation. That may have been in Frank Mentzer's DRAGON article "Ay Pronunseeayshun Gyd" (or something like that).
    GreySage

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    Mon Jun 06, 2011 7:01 pm  

    I, too, have always pronounced 'Rauxes' as 'RAHK-zehs', but am unaware of any canonical pronunciation for it.

    I'd like to point out that I believe 'Drow' should rhyme with 'cow', but realize that many pronounce it to rhyme with 'know'.

    One name I still am not certain about is 'Chathold'. I choose to pronounce the 'Ch' as in 'Church' and as if it is two words, 'Chat' & 'hold'. I believe that it could be pronounced 'Kathold', with the 'th' as in 'the', just as legitimately.

    SirXaris
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    Mon Jun 06, 2011 7:22 pm  

    SirXaris wrote:
    I'd like to point out that I believe 'Drow' should rhyme with 'cow', but realize that many pronounce it to rhyme with 'know'.
    SirXaris



    According to The Drow of the Underdark (I know it's an FR supplement, but it may still apply here), you are correct. 'Drow' rhymes with 'how' or 'now' or 'cow'. In fact, the little glossary of Drowic words had a word 'dro' which is pronounced as rhyming with 'know', which means 'to live'.

    As for Rauxes, I tend to pronounce the 'au' in it the way Germans would in words like 'Frau'. The 'x' I say as the 'ks' sound.
    Grandmaster Greytalker

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    Mon Jun 06, 2011 10:37 pm  

    BlueWitch wrote:
    SirXaris wrote:
    I'd like to point out that I believe 'Drow' should rhyme with 'cow', but realize that many pronounce it to rhyme with 'know'.
    SirXaris



    According to The Drow of the Underdark (I know it's an FR supplement, but it may still apply here), you are correct. 'Drow' rhymes with 'how' or 'now' or 'cow'. In fact, the little glossary of Drowic words had a word 'dro' which is pronounced as rhyming with 'know', which means 'to live'.

    As for Rauxes, I tend to pronounce the 'au' in it the way Germans would in words like 'Frau'. The 'x' I say as the 'ks' sound.


    FWIW the article, "Ay pronunseeAYshun gyd" by Frank Mentzer in Dragon # 93 says that both pronunciations of drow are correct.

    How do others pronounce Sterich? I assume everybody says the first syllable as "stair." I go for the hard "ch" as in loch for the second. I do it this way because I've seen Sterish as the word to describe people from Sterich and it doesn't make sense to me that you would pronounce both the same. But that could just be me.

    Also, how about Geoff? I've heard most people say it almost like jeff and that's how I used to do it, but now I go with something like g'yeff.
    Black Hand of Oblivion

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    Tue Jun 07, 2011 12:00 am  

    I pronounce "Rauxes" how Golem would say the plural of "rock".

    "What have you been up to Golem?"

    "Oh nothing, masster. We's just been collecting rockses...to bash your head in with, my precious!"

    "What was that last bit there?"

    "Oh, nothing masster."

    Razz
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    GreySage

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    Tue Jun 07, 2011 4:29 am  

    Rawk-ses.
    Stair-ick.
    Jeff.
    Rhymes with cow.
    GreySage

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    Tue Jun 07, 2011 5:32 am  

    Jeff? Shocked

    And to think that I've always pronounced it "Gee-off." Sheesh! Embarassed

    *Don't kick me too hard, Rasgon* Wink
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    GreySage

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    Tue Jun 07, 2011 11:48 am  

    Well, in high school I had a friend named Geoff (short for Geoffrey), so we agreed that his character would come from the Grand Duchy of Geoff.
    Journeyman Greytalker

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    Tue Jun 07, 2011 12:56 pm  

    rasgon wrote:
    Rawk-ses.
    Stair-ick.
    Jeff.
    Rhymes with cow.


    Agree with all of these, especially the Geoff one.

    Flint aka Medriev aka Jeff Laughing
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    Tue Jun 07, 2011 4:04 pm  

    Suel. Is it Sool or SOO-el? Or Sue-EL? (I guess I've gone with "sool" which rhymes with fool.)
    GreySage

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    Tue Jun 07, 2011 4:25 pm  

    TregMallin wrote:
    Suel . . . I've gone with "sool" which rhymes with fool.


    That's how I pronounce it as well. Evil Grin

    And welcome to Canonfire! TregMallin! Looking forward to your continued participation in the forums and future contributions. Cool Happy
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    Master Greytalker

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    Wed Jun 08, 2011 4:34 am  

    rasgon wrote:
    Rawk-ses.
    Stair-ick.
    Jeff.
    Rhymes with cow.


    The above, except Sterich where I go with smillan and the hard ch.
    Grandmaster Greytalker

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    Wed Jun 08, 2011 6:51 am  

    Ragr wrote:
    rasgon wrote:
    Rawk-ses.
    Stair-ick.
    Jeff.
    Rhymes with cow.


    The above, except Sterich where I go with smillan and the hard ch.


    Stair-ick is as close as I expect most people to get. I throw in the aspiration on the end to amuse my players, as apparently do the good folk of Frinton on Sea. Wink
    Master Greytalker

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    Wed Jun 08, 2011 7:02 am  

    Sadly, most of the good folk of Frinton On Sea prefer Stair-lift; not for nought is it refered to locally as "God's waiting room". Wink
    Apprentice Greytalker

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    Wed Jun 08, 2011 9:57 am  

    Woot! Thanks, guys. I love this community. Happy

    I, too, go with "sool", "stair-ick" and "jeff" and dark elves that rhyme with "cow" (though my first gaming group pronounced it the other way). For Chathold, I'm inclined to pronounce the "ch" as in "church".

    How about Nyr Dyv and Dyvers... Are the "y"s pronounced as in "Calypso" or as in "fly"? As the the "y" in my real name (Kynewulf) is pronounced as the former, I'm generally inclined to go with that in most cases, but with "y" you never know.
    Master Greytalker

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    Wed Jun 08, 2011 10:12 am  

    Nyr Dyv has always been as in "fly" for me, purely because Dyvers sounds completely rubbish the other way round.

    When I was a kid the word "div" or "divvy" was always used as a derogatory term for somebody a little lacking in grey matter (polite version), so "Div-ers" would have ended up being the city of the terminally thick when I first started playing. It would never have recovered from that stigma.


    Last edited by Ragr on Thu Jun 09, 2011 9:40 am; edited 1 time in total
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    Wed Jun 08, 2011 2:02 pm  

    I've always prounounced "Nyr Dyv" as "Near Div"; but "Dyvers" as "Divers" (as in "Scuba Divers")....
    GreySage

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    Wed Jun 08, 2011 4:27 pm  

    For me, Dyvers is pronounced with a long 'i' sound while Nyr Dyv is pronounced as 'near deev'.

    SirXaris
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    Wed Jun 08, 2011 4:58 pm  

    For me it's always been "Near Dive" and "Divers." Shocked

    But that doesn't mean that I'm right. Laughing
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    Master Greytalker

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    Wed Jun 08, 2011 5:01 pm  

    maxvale76 wrote:
    I've always prounounced "Nyr Dyv" as "Near Div"; but "Dyvers" as "Divers" (as in "Scuba Divers")....
    This.
    GreySage

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    Wed Jun 08, 2011 6:47 pm  

    Well, how about 'Flan' and 'Flanaess'?

    I've always pronounced them 'Flawn' and 'Flawness' (accent on 'ness'), but I've seen other pronunciations promoted as well.

    SirXaris
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    Wed Jun 08, 2011 7:54 pm  

    maxvale76 wrote:
    I've always prounounced "Nyr Dyv" as "Near Div"; but "Dyvers" as "Divers" (as in "Scuba Divers")....


    That makes sense to me, I'm going to go with that.

    SirXaris wrote:
    Well, how about 'Flan' and 'Flanaess'?

    I've always pronounced them 'Flawn' and 'Flawness' (accent on 'ness'), but I've seen other pronunciations promoted as well.


    That's how I'm inclined to pronounce it, though I can also see Flan rhyming with "can" (Flanaess would still remain "flawness", though) even if I don't favor it.
    Black Hand of Oblivion

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    Thu Jun 09, 2011 12:06 am  

    We always said Gee-off simply because the Grand Duchy of Jeff sounded...um...lame. Laughing

    The Principality of Barry("Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl..." Yes, that makes it even worse. Even Barry White couldn't save it. Laughing)

    The Kingdom of Fritz("They've killed Fritz!" Razz)

    The County of Abercromby(While sounding suitably pompous, it is still lame. Razz)

    The Empire of Hank(Biggest supplier of propane and propane accessories...of course. Wink)

    The only place it works is Fallout 3- The Republic of Dave. Happy

    In *our* Greyhawk? Um...no... the Grand Duchy of Jeff never worked for us. The older pronunciation of Geoff as "Joff", where the "e" is so softly/quickly enunciated that it is barely heard, would be more...palatable to me.
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    Thu Jun 09, 2011 2:28 am  

    We've always called it the Duchy of JOFF, as in Geoffrey perhaps.

    Nyr Dyv has been pronounced with Swedish y's which have no English equivalent but is akin to the French u (as in Côte d'Azure).

    Other pronunciations:
    Raok-ses
    Stair-ich
    Drow rhymes with cow
    Lich not lick.
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    GreySage

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    Thu Jun 09, 2011 8:36 am  

    Gilban wrote:
    Lich not lick.


    That's a funny one as I remember initially pronouncing it as 'like' back when I started in Jr. High School. My friends pronounced it with a 'ch' as in 'church' though, so that's what it soon became for me as well.

    Oh, and here's one for ya! How about 'Catoplepas'? Evil Grin

    SirXaris
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    Thu Jun 09, 2011 8:51 am  

    I've heard "Lich" both ways...."Lich" (rhymes with "itch") and Lick.....I'm partial to the former....

    As for "Flan" and "Flaness"; I always pronounced them as "Flan" (rhymes with "ban") and "Flan-ess" (second part as the letter "S")

    As for "Catoplepas"....I guess I would say "Cat-o-plee-pis".....which now that I think about it sounds like a cat going #1...which is kinda icky...like a demon ought to be, I guess! :)
    Master Greytalker

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    Thu Jun 09, 2011 9:04 am  

    ka-TAH-bleh-pahs

    Last edited by DMPrata on Thu Jun 09, 2011 10:44 am; edited 1 time in total
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    Thu Jun 09, 2011 10:19 am  
    A pronunsiayshun gyd

    Gilban .... your Nyr Dyv pronunciation is interesting. Never really occured to me to think of it that way. And I lived in Sweden back in the Summer of '09.

    Joff - Almost imperceptibly different from Jeff (Because that's how my cousin Geoffry pronounces it)
    Drow rhymes with cow
    Near Divv, but, Dyvers sounds likes Divers
    Stair-itch
    Flan sounds like Han, as in Han Solo, and thus flan-ACE, with a long "a"
    Raw-zees (Now, I'll forever hear golem saying "rockses', though)
    Sool

    In modern parlance, I believe "litch" is correct, but the archaic word it's derived from is properly "lick", but that's a different word.

    cat-oh-BLEP-as?

    I believe it was in the Player's guide to Greyhawk that they also included a brief pronunciation guide as well.
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    GreySage

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    Fri Jun 10, 2011 6:49 am  

    DMPrata wrote:
    ka-TAH-bleh-pahs


    Yep, I misspelled it. Confused And that's the way I've always pronounced it, though I didn't remember where that pronunciation came from. Smile

    SirXaris
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    Fri Jun 10, 2011 10:17 am  

    I pronounce it 'JOFF' as well. as for Nyr Dyv I pronounce it 'Near Dive'

    Is there really a county of Ambercromby? Is it next to the County of Fitch :)
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    Fri Jun 24, 2011 9:36 pm  

    That may have been in Frank Mentzer's DRAGON article "Ay Pronunseeayshun Gyd" (or something like that).Tera Gold
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    Mon Jun 27, 2011 7:35 pm  

    Well in the Temple of Elemental Evil computer game the Canon Terjon pronounces it as Near Dive for Nyr Dyv. Corellon Larethian is pronounced as Core-ah-lawn Lore-ay-thee-un. There was a bit of a problem with my old group with the pronunciation of Iuz. Like I-use, use, Eee-uzz. LOL Iuz in the computer game is pronounced as Eye-ooze.

    Rauxes to me is always been like Gollum saying rocks. Like Rockses...hobbitses.

    How does one say Chimera though? Sha-meer-ah or Kai-meer-uh. I know the Greeks enunciate the CH as a hard K.

    Question
    GreySage

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    Mon Jun 27, 2011 10:15 pm  

    Soft-Paws wrote:
    How does one say Chimera though? Sha-meer-ah or Kai-meer-uh. I know the Greeks enunciate the CH as a hard K.

    Question


    You're correct in that. Chimera is properly pronounced "Ki (hard 'k', rhymes with eye) - mare (as in 'female horse') - ah. -- ki-mare-ah -- Cool

    Now, how about some of those Olman names? Isn't Tezcatlepoca pronounced 'The cats dance the poka'? Razz

    SirXaris

    Edit: Suezou's recent post caused me to realize that 'Aerdy' has different possible pronunciations. I pronounce it as the letters 'R' and 'D', but I've heard the fist syllable pronounced like 'air' alternatively.

    SX
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    Tue Jun 28, 2011 4:41 pm  

    SirXaris wrote:


    Now, how about some of those Olman names? Isn't Tezcatlepoca pronounced 'The cats dance the poka'? Razz

    SirXaris
    SX


    Well, no. It's pronounced just like it's spelled. Happy
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    Tue Jun 28, 2011 7:31 pm  
    And the bard says

    Geoff = JEFF
    Sterich = Stair-itch
    Nyr Dyv = Near Div
    Dyvers = Divers; note that in middle english, this word was pronounced and meant "diverse"
    Iuz = EE-uuz
    Flan = Flan (as in the dessert)
    Flanaess = Flan-EH-ess (this is the Canadian pronunciation, which is correct)
    Rauxes = ROWK-ses
    Drow rhymes with cow, how and now
    Chathold = Chat-uld (short a)
    Suel = sül (with the umlaut)

    Lich is the only one with debate - should it be pronounces as the english CH or the German; which btw both have the same etymology as the softer sound as in "CHurCH...
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