Only reason I mentioned it is because it's the games press that keeps fucking it up.
Christian Spicer is a huge offender.
The controversial pronunciations thread
- Thread starter chalkitdown1
- Start date
Only reason I mentioned it is because it's the games press that keeps fucking it up.
Christian Spicer is a huge offender.
What makes it incorrect exactly?
You'd unfortunately have a rough time in European gaming circles as Snez is how it is over here. Why is it so grating? Is the entire continent incorrect? A little acceptance goes a long way.
I remember my friend in high school insisting that Suicune from Pokemon was pronounced "soo-iss-een". Took me ages to convince him it was "swee-koon".
This one seems like it would be pretty hard to screw up, considering Mega Man characters are named after music and not fish.
This one seems like it would be pretty hard to screw up, considering Mega Man characters are named after music and not fish.
Yet, Capcom itself messed it up. In Megaman 8, "Megaman" actually calls him Bass, as in a fish. Plus, not everyone knows musical terminology or the alternate names for the characters. To a kid just playing the game, you have Protoman, Megaman, Rush, Roll, and Bass, with that dog/wolf whose name you don't even know. It's easy to miss the references.
Valjean Lafitte
Banned
Mah-ree-oh versus Maw-ree-oh silliness (where's the W?! You're bringing it in from nowhere for no reason!) -
It's-a-me, Mah-ree-oh!
It's the Super Mah-ree-oh Brothers!
Mah-ree-oh!
Mah-ree-oh?
Dear Mah-ree-oh
Super Mah-ree-oh 3D World!
Hello, it's-a-me, Mah-ree-oh, wahoo!
Actually, I don't mind that you guys (and by you guys I include all of NoA with you) pronounce it Maw-ree-oh, as long as you acknowledge that you're pronouncing it wrong
I'm pretty sure that Leslie Swan, Peach's original voice actress, said Mar-ee-oh (or maw-ree-oh, however you want to spell it), and not Mah-ree-oh or Ma-ree-oh. So the mispronunciation of Mario's name made it into at least one game:
Mar-ee-oh, the power of the stars is restored to the castle...and it's all thanks to you! Thank you Mar-ee-oh.
Usually people say "EYE-koh" (drives me nuts in video reviews). The correct pronunciation is "EE-koh".
Some of these I still do wrong, even when I know it's wrong. Like "Xeno" from a couple pages back, I still say "ZEE-noh". Thanks to James Cameron for that, I suppose. And I pronounce Ubisoft "OO-bee-soft" most of the time.
Valjean Lafitte
Banned
You do know that's how its really pronounced though, right?
I say
Geh-roo-do with a hard G.
Muh (the basic M sound) -lon (occasionally Ma-lon, which is probably correct)
Tuh-lon (and occasionally Ta-lon, as with Ma-lon)
Sare-ee-ah
Da-roo-nee-ah
Sheek (although, for many years I say Shike)
Eh-po-na
Nah-boo-roo
Nav-ee (I said Nav-eye for years, and it was hard to change once I learned to correct way to say it)
Muh-jore-ah
Kuh-fay
If anyone finds fault with these pronunciations or knows for a fact that I'm saying it wrong due to an official source saying otherwise, please let me know. Also, how do you all say Kaepora Gaebora? For me its Ki-(as it kite)-bore-ah Guy-bore-ah.
Bonus: I spent far too many years of my life calling the creator of Mario Shigeru My (y as in "eye")-ah-moto. I'm so ashamed.
Agreed. I was gobsmacked the first time I heard it spoken aloud in FFX. For me, it was, AND STILL IS GODDAMMIT, "coke-o-bo".
Valjean Lafitte
Banned
Had you played FFVI before that? If so, did you miss the robotic voice saying Choke-o-bo during that game's Chocobo theme?
I used to call the Chaos (pronounced "Chows") from Sonic Adventure "Kay-ohs", so I probably shouldn't judge..
It's sah-ree-ah. Japanese words are super easy to pronounce one you know the rules but it's really hard to tell otherwise. I didn't know how to pronounce Saria for a long time.
Valjean Lafitte
Banned
Thanks! I figured that was probably the correct way to say it. At the very least I know I'm saying Epona's name right, thanks to the Japanese vocal version of the song.
AlphaDragoon
Member
Pretty sure they use "tee-dus" in the the FFX audio drama as well. That's the official word from SE.
People calling Lara "Laura" always bugs me. They're two different names.
grim-tales
Member
I always wondered why some pronounced the consoles as 'SNEZ' or 'NEZ' when I was a kid, I always pronounced them in my head as S-N-E-S or N-E-S (or Super N-E-S).
Avid Reading Horse
Member
C'mon now. It's definitely S-N-E-S or Super Nintendo, Super N-E-S, or even Super N if you want to Super Cool.
There's no hard rule when you can and cannot try and pronounce something as a word... but Snes and Nes sound stupid. That's all there is to it. If the ESL crowd likes it, fine, whatever. Maybe it sounds ok in your original language. If Brits like it, well, too bad, we don't have to respect your pronunciations.
Chock-o-bo is also ridiculous. But not the worst I've heard. These two dudes from New Jersey that I know call them chuh-KOH-boes. With that super weird stress on the middle syllable. When I heard that shit I thought I stepped into the Twilight Zone.
As for Japanese stuff. I realize there are a lot of Otaku types around here but once again, there should be no expectation that American English speakers are going to have any clue on how to pronounce Japanese words. We're going to take our best crack at it based on how English works. Especially in cases where they involve sounds that don't exist in our language. So "Eye-koh" is perfectly acceptable in that context. Gay-den or Guy-den... Whatever. You want proper pronunciation of that crap? Well then make the title screen read itself, or really just get it out there in trailers and PR. It'll either catch on or it won't. You want properly pronounced Japanese words? Move to Japan.
Let's see... Lara vs Laura. OK, I've never met a Lara in my life. Seems like a completely unnecessary name. I don't care what Mr. I'm Gonna Link a Million YouTube Videos says... When Sam in the reboot says it, it sounds more like Laura than anything. Aside from that it's a bunch of British accents saying it. Which is all well and good, but you call your ma'ams moms, and your moms mums. You're basically an island full of people that fail at the letter "a".
There's no hard rule when you can and cannot try and pronounce something as a word... but Snes and Nes sound stupid. That's all there is to it. If the ESL crowd likes it, fine, whatever. Maybe it sounds ok in your original language. If Brits like it, well, too bad, we don't have to respect your pronunciations.
Chock-o-bo is also ridiculous. But not the worst I've heard. These two dudes from New Jersey that I know call them chuh-KOH-boes. With that super weird stress on the middle syllable. When I heard that shit I thought I stepped into the Twilight Zone.
As for Japanese stuff. I realize there are a lot of Otaku types around here but once again, there should be no expectation that American English speakers are going to have any clue on how to pronounce Japanese words. We're going to take our best crack at it based on how English works. Especially in cases where they involve sounds that don't exist in our language. So "Eye-koh" is perfectly acceptable in that context. Gay-den or Guy-den... Whatever. You want proper pronunciation of that crap? Well then make the title screen read itself, or really just get it out there in trailers and PR. It'll either catch on or it won't. You want properly pronounced Japanese words? Move to Japan.
Let's see... Lara vs Laura. OK, I've never met a Lara in my life. Seems like a completely unnecessary name. I don't care what Mr. I'm Gonna Link a Million YouTube Videos says... When Sam in the reboot says it, it sounds more like Laura than anything. Aside from that it's a bunch of British accents saying it. Which is all well and good, but you call your ma'ams moms, and your moms mums. You're basically an island full of people that fail at the letter "a".
Avid Reading Horse
Member
You know what, I don't even know anymore on "Ubisoft". I think I said "You-bee-soft" originally, but then saw someone claim it was definitely "Ooh-bee-soft" officially which apparently is the exact opposite of reality. My brain can no longer reconcile whether it was initially right or wrong for real... I think so, calling it "ooh-bee-soft" seems a little ridiculous on the surface.
EmptySpace
Banned
a lot of jumping to conclusions here. otaku? japanese is phonetic when chopped by syllables. simple as that. no, we want people to stop being ignorant. a in japanese is always "ah". i in japanese is always "ee". very simple even a 1st grader can learn that in 2 seconds. o is always "oh", not "owh". e is always "eh", u is always "oo". no one needs to move to japan to know that. learn from that and don't pronounce sega as "say-ga" anymore. or gaiden as "gay-den". it's funny because japanese is one of the languages that are easiest to pronounce. no silent letters, no alternate pronunciations for syllables.
imagine a japanese pronouncing ipod as "ee-poh-d", you try to correct them and they say "oh the sound 'eye' doesn't exist in my language, you want me to pronounce it? you'd have to make me move to the states."
Avid Reading Horse
Member
If the Japanese want to call their iPods ee-poh-d then they can go ahead and enjoy. They speak Japanese, if it makes sense to them, more power to 'em. Hell, I don't even really care when the go full Engrish and write out a bunch of shit that makes little-to-no sense. If they're speaking English to you, it may be appropriate to inform of the proper pronunciation. But getting your blood pressure up for how people pronounce Japanese titles while speaking English? That's borderline insane.
Kageshinzo
Member
There there. As long as you know you're wrong.
It's Aerith. When I got my copy of the game back when it was released, it has always been spelled Aerith (and yeah, it was English version, not Japan).
unholyrevenger72
Banned
nah, it's just Zeno, soft e, not the hard A or E sounds.
Now I'm confused.
There's no 'e' sound like easy, it's an 'ay' sound.
Xenoblade (ゼノブレイド Zenobureido)
Xenogears (ゼノギアス Zenogiasu)
Xenosaga (ゼノサーガ Zenosāga)
All I know is it's not it's not like a US Dragonball 'Z' at the beginning of the name, that's the most infuriating mistake, if that's what you're agreeing with.
Valjean Lafitte
Banned
But that is how SEGA is pronounced. One need look no further than Sonic 1 to hear "Say-ga".
Necromanti
Member
It's an 'e' sound like in hell. I can see how certain American accents could render it as an 'ay' sound, though, but that's taking it to an extreme (and would be just as inaccurate, in my opinion.)
matrix-cat
Member
'Zayno' might be closer to the original Greek, but 'eh' sounds in Japanese are just 'eh' sounds, not long drawn-out 'ays'. Think 'get', that kind of sound. Zenno-gears.
OmegaDL50
Member
As far am I aware it's a based on the Ancient Greek ξένος (xénos) with a hard E sound. Meaning foreign or alien.
If you consider the meaning behind the word, each games title is suitable in that regard.
Daffy Duck
Member
I never understand how people pronounce stuff wrong when the game itself says the name for you!
I say xeno as in the second pronunciation of xenophobia.
zee-nuh-foh-bee-uh
I have no idea why anyone would use "say no."
Kageshinzo
Member
Actually, eta (έ
did not have a hard E sound. It's more like a long "eh". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eta
Apparently though, the Great Vowel Shift that took place in the 14th to 18th century turned this into the modern [iː] (which is the hard "ee").
I heard someone pronounce it as "mill-e-e" once.
EmptySpace
Banned
I'm putting a lot of emphasis on the Japanese name, which is intended to represent a foreign word which may or may not be represented by the same type of sound in its original form unless I'm mistaken based on what other people have said.
If they wanted Zee-no they would have went with ジ(ji)no or シ(shi)no was what I felt.
English pronunciation of "Zen (Bhuddism)" seems pretty safe, without holding the 'n' of course.
Zehno/Zenno -------------------------------> Zeeno
In my book.
You just made me realise that I've been pronouncing "Xeno-" (in xenophobia for example) wrong for years (English isn't my first language). No one ever even told me you were supposed to pronounce the x as a z.
Necromanti
Member
I was more commenting on the Japanese name of the game (where there's no leeway in interpretation, really). Up until now, I've been pronouncing the title's prefix the same way I would, say, xenophobia (like in your post, and as others mentioned). I feel like this is a case where it's fine for there to be two pronunciations of the game if there's something symbolized by the title used.
You just made me realise that I've been pronouncing "Xeno-" (in xenophobia for example) wrong for years (English isn't my first language). No one ever even told me you were supposed to pronounce the x as a z.
Ex-eno-blade?
LOL
Don't worry though. There's push and shove in English speakers alone between saying the word xenophobia for example as 'een' or 'en' as in like the letter 'n'.
Everyone I know always called it the SuperNes, so I think Snez might've been just an England-thing in particular
Haha no
, I was pronouncing it as x-enoblade (with the 'x' pronounced like 'axe', but without the 'ah'... If that makes any sense) .Oh okay. I suppose my pronunciation wasn't terrible enough for people to feel like they had to correct me (but it would have still been appreciated...).
Valjean Lafitte
Banned
All I hear is Say-ga.
Also Say-ga, and judging from the top two comments, I'm not the only one who hears that.
Good post. In American English we actually pronounce our vowels differently from the rest of the world. There are a lot of cultures that pronounce vowels in a similar way to Japanese. I realized this when I learned some Hindi words.
I only realised it was id a couple of years ago. Despite having a degree in psychology it had never occurred to me.
Despite knowing better I still pronounce Ryu, Forza and Gaiden wrong. It just feels better, I don't care. Also Shenmue was always Shen-mew to me not Shen-moo. The latter's just a bit too 'cowey'.
Being from the UK, I'm also in the Snes/Nes camp. Why waste a perfectly good acronym?
NoMoreTrolls
Banned
But, conversely, you don't buy your friends a "jift" on their birthdays.
SirMossyBloke
Member
Pronouncing Ubisoft as oobisoft is some really dumb shit.
I think I pronounce Enix wrong though. I don't think it's eeenix.
I think I pronounce Enix wrong though. I don't think it's eeenix.