JK Rowling says we have all been pronouncing Voldegif wrong

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So his name literally means: Flight from Death (Vol de mort)?

this changes everything
 
backslashbunny said:
Wait, what?

The name was changed for American audiences because... the assumption is that we don't know the mythology behind a philosopher's stone? I actually thought it was changed for alliteration, and because JK references a lot of mythology but likes to change it just a little bit and give it a Harry Potter-ish flair.

Really? I'm pretty sure it's fairly common knowledge in America for anyone that knows about the concept of alchemy.

It's actually kind of insulting for other countries to assume that Americans are too stupid to know the difference between a philosopher and a philosopher's stone. How would it be a difficult concept to grasp, at all?
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It was changed because the publishers thought Americans wouldn't know what "philosopher's stone" meant, and because they figured kids would see the word "philosopher" and expect the book to be boring.
 
Stumpokapow said:
given that "philosopher" was too challenging for her american audience, it shouldn't surprise that they also didn't recognize "mort" as french-derived
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backslashbunny said:
Wait, what?

The name was changed for American audiences because... the assumption is that we don't know the mythology behind a philosopher's stone? I actually thought it was changed for alliteration, and because JK references a lot of mythology but likes to change it just a little bit and give it a Harry Potter-ish flair.

Really? I'm pretty sure it's fairly common knowledge in America for anyone that knows about the concept of alchemy.

It's actually kind of insulting for other countries to assume that Americans are too stupid to know the difference between a philosopher and a philosopher's stone. How would it be a difficult concept to grasp, at all?
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I now feel like an idiot for not knowing French and alchemy. And I'm not even American!
 
backslashbunny said:
Wait, what?

The name was changed for American audiences because... the assumption is that we don't know the mythology behind a philosopher's stone? I actually thought it was changed for alliteration, and because JK references a lot of mythology but likes to change it just a little bit and give it a Harry Potter-ish flair.

I'm pretty sure it's fairly common knowledge in America for anyone that knows about the concept of alchemy.

It's actually kind of insulting for other countries to assume that Americans are too stupid to know the difference between a philosopher and a philosopher's stone. How would it be a difficult concept to grasp, at all?
Click to expand...

I remember the first Harry Potter book came out when I was in 4th grade. At that time, the only references I'd ever heard of for alchemy were just that it was generic magic. For a kids book coming out when it did, I don't think the intended audience (kids 9-15 or so) had any reference for what a philosopher's stone was. I know I'd never heard of one.

Sorcerer's Stone sounded like a good title, made the book sound magical, and I knew, basically, what the gist of the plot would be. I remember hearing people say that it was called Philosopher's Stone elsewhere and thinking "why would it be about old guys writing on parchment in the dark ages?," because that was my image of a philosopher.

I think it was a effective change.

Cyan said:
It was changed because the publishers thought Americans wouldn't know what "philosopher's stone" meant, and because they figured kids would see the word "philosopher" and expect the book to be boring.
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From my point of view, they were right.
 
iamblades said:
That ain't how you pronounce it either though.

IIRC the t is not silent in the strictest sense of the term, it is just not aspirated. The glottal stop is still there though.
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thats what I was trying to say earlier. a cunning linguist could probably explain it better.
 
backslashbunny said:
Yeah I just googled this and read it.

I am really surprised. It honestly never crossed my mind that could be the reason... I just think "sorcerer's stone" sounds better because, again, alliteration.

... and I am also, honestly, disappointed that we're apparently perceived as so dumb over here the publishers felt the need to make that change.

:(
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What does whether you know what a philosopher's stone is even have to do with one's intelligence?

How would someone be "so dumb" for not knowing this? Especially as a child or teen in a country where "alchemy" isn't exactly a hot topic.

You are the one being insulting.
 
I liked when early FMA fansubs came out and some dumbass groups would call it the Sorcerer's Stone because apparently the Harry Potter lexicon applies to all media.
 
backslashbunny said:
people know better. It's not like the kids in other countries had a difficult time with this. & hey, if you think I'm being insulting because I expect people to know better, whatever :).
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Insinuating people are dumb for not knowing one trivial fact is insulting; it's not really an opinion.

And by "hot topic" I mean to suggest that it is an incredibly unimportant topic. Knowing about alchemy does not make you intelligent or smart, it makes you knowledgeable of a trivial topic. And that particular trivial topic wasn't really part of mainstream US media; I'm sure there are loads of "titles" you could give books that a US child would know but a UK child wouldn't. Things are more or less popular, language is more or less common in different places. It has little to do with being smart or dumb.
 
Not news for me or most frenchies/west swiss as that's how we saw the name straight away. Grant you, it doesn't sound more menacing in french. I always compared it to "Vol-au-vent" (a pastry)
 
Alavard said:
Because 'mort' is the french word for death, and it is pronounced with a silent T.

In fact, Vol de Mort would basically mean 'Flight of Death'

Edit - As per the above, 'Flight from death' is also correct, and makes even more sense, given what he's trying to do.
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Lol I'm such an idiot. I always thought it meant "steal of death" which doesn't make any sense neither in French nor in English.
 
First thing I thought was poor poor Reginald
2009-06-05-beartato-wrongname.gif
 
Oh, shit, it's "flight of death." The Death Eaters want to defeat death (make death fly or flee). Never thought about it before, but I didn't understand any French until after the series had finished.
 
I swear she mentioned this before. I remember as a kid reading these books learning how to pronounce some of these names and Voldemoore was totally a valid pronunciation that many people said. Sort of like how some people called Hermione... Her moine.
 
Pyrokai said:
You made those last couple up, right?

Anyone who listened to the audiobooks knew how to correctly say his name. It always drove me crazy that it was wrong in the movies.
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The same thing happened with Ras al Ghul in the TDK trilogy. It's not pronounced Rhaz!
 
Flight from death only really makes sense in retrospect. Voldemort is flying from death after being half destroyed, but his initial creation of horcruxes and otherwise gaining power could at best be said to be fending off death, or becoming impervious to death, not flying from it.

I'm not convinced Tom Riddle thought he was flying from death. I think the name is better when it's half wrong and is just a meta nod for those readers in the know, like all of the Latin-ish and African-ish spells that there are.
 
Quick said:
I was pronouncing it with a silent T because that's how the scholastic Harry Potter website told me to pronounce it early on. It had a glossary with audio.

The movies just got me used to saying it with the T now.
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BertramCooper said:
Yep, I remember that pronunciation guide.

You had to click "Voldemort" like three times before it gave you the pronunciation. It would go, "You-Know-Who," and then, "He Who Must Not Be Named," and then finally, "Vol-de-more."

I was confused when the first movie came out everyone was saying "-mort."
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entrement said:
Audio books peeps have known this for a while.



Oh man. I remember that too.
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Holy shit, I'm glad I didn't imagine that. Wasn't it JK Rowling who was voicing that pronunciation guide? That was like, in 2000, around Goblet of Fire.
 
I thought it was obvious.

And "mort" with a hard T just sounds stupid. Why would someone as insecure as Riddle adopt a name that rhymes with "wart"?
 
Wazzy said:
Whatever. You're not supposed to say his name anyway.
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At times like these I remember why I love you Wazzy.

Also with Hermione it is not really an issue because she literally explains how to pronounce her name to Victor Krum in The Goblet of Fire (Her-my-oh-nee)
 
Mr. Poolman said:
First thing I thought was poor poor Reginald
2009-06-05-beartato-wrongname.gif
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Fun fact, I, forever pronounced Beartato as Bear-tah-toe and then i think I realized it's more like potato.

Voldemort and realizing it's theft/flight of death is like mario bush/cloud level stuff for me right now. I know enough french that I should have realized that.
 
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