# The Offical Name Pronounciation Thread



## MacAddict (Jan 20, 2003)

I just thought it would be a good idea to have something like this for people like me who can't pronounce some Members's cool, elaborate names. I'm pretty sure you can pronouce my name . Let the Spelling commence!

~MacAddict


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## Talierin (Jan 20, 2003)

Mine is pronounced Tal-lee-erin


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## Beorn (Jan 20, 2003)

> _Originally posted by Talierin _
> *Mine is pronounced Tal-lee-erin *



That's probably the only one I pronounce correctly

I pronounce mine Bay-orn, but some people say Bee-orn.


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## Aerin (Jan 20, 2003)

My name, the way I pronounce it, is "ay-ren", though "air-ren" works, too.


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## FoolOfATook (Jan 20, 2003)

It's pronounced... ah, forget it.


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## Niniel (Jan 21, 2003)

Mine would be nee-nee-el, I guess. But actually I never pronounce other member's names, since I'm not talking aloud to my computer.


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## HLGStrider (Jan 21, 2003)

I actually have a reason for posting here... despite my easily pronounced official name.
My unofficial name is pronounced El-Jee... Like the names of the letters, LG. If you sound it out you get in trouble, and I end up Elgie or something.


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## Uminya (Jan 21, 2003)

I still don't see what is so difficult about Ciryaher Penngristion Hyarmendacil   

It is (based on my phoenetic interpretations of my accent...Kem knows this ) Keer-yah-her Pin-grist-shun Hyar-men-da-kill


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## Bethelarien (Jan 21, 2003)

I think mine's easy, too: Beth-el-air-ee-en. Purty simple.


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## Kementari (Jan 21, 2003)

*giggles* i think just Cir (Ker) works too

I dont really know how to pronounce my name 'correctly'...id just say Kem-n-tar-ee


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## Anamatar IV (Jan 21, 2003)

well hehe...I am no longer sure how to pronounce Anamatar.

I have always pronounced it An-uh-ma-tar with slow equal timing on each

but my family all pronounces it ANA-muh-tar quickly with ma slow and quiet.


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## Ecthelion (Jan 21, 2003)

I would assume mines pretty easy, but just in case its said like
Eck-thi-li-on


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## Éomond (Jan 21, 2003)

This is how you say Éomond (well, I'm not too sure but oh well):

Ear-oh-mon-d

You have to say it quickly for it to sound right


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## Elbereth (Jan 22, 2003)

One of the deciding factors of chosing my Tolkien name is that I had to be able to pronounce it. (since my pronounciation of tolkien languages is very poor)

Phonetically, it is pronounced: El-ber-reth or El-ber-eth (depending on whether you choose to put an emphasis on the 'r')

simple right..


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## Asha'man (Jan 23, 2003)

Mine is somewhat straightforward, but people are constantly leaving out the apostrophe.  Asha man.....not Ash a man. And never abbreviate it Asha - I sign my posts "Ash" for a reason. 

Ash


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## Hirila (Jan 26, 2003)

Hee-ree-la.

Oh, you poor English speakers and your pronounciation! I am really sorry for you. 
I am a native German speaker and I don't have ANY problems pronouncing most of the names here!
In fact I take the names the way Tolkien told us to pronounce: for example the combination AI is in German pronounced with the two vocals a-i clearly spoken. Not some strange English way. It's the same with most of the words in Quenya and Sindarin. I pronounce them as they are written. Just like Latin.

I think that Germans or all Germanic speaking people (Nordics included) have an advantage with speaking Tolkien's languages.


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## Samweis (Jan 26, 2003)

> _Originally posted by Hirila _
> *Hee-ree-la.
> 
> Oh, you poor English speakers and your pronounciation! I am really sorry for you.
> ...



By the way English is a "germanic language", too.


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## Hirila (Jan 26, 2003)

Yes, partly at least. But what I meant is the difference how we pronounce our words. If we do it letter by letter, as is mostly done in German or if the squeeze the sounds and make them sound, well, how can you say that... different.


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## Dáin Ironfoot I (Jan 26, 2003)

The French language does not combine well with the names of Tolkien  Where we have long and flowing phrases, Tolkiens names DO NOT run together, in fact, Frodo was changed to Frodon in the French translation so it could flow with the word after it. French isnt a jumpy language, and it always MUST flow, its just how we are!


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## Celebthôl (Jan 26, 2003)

mine is pronounced Kehl-ehb-thohl (the ô is pronounced like the o in of)


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## HLGStrider (Jan 26, 2003)

I like my language... I had to invent my own alphabet so the pronounciation only makes sense in my alphabet because I'm not sure how to use all the weird symbols and stuff to make people read it right... But I like my letters, and I have them down almost by heart... 

I'm learning Spanish, and I sort of like their pronounciation system... but WHO WOULD GIVE A LANGUAGE A GENDER SYSTEM!?!>!>

WHY?

IT MAKES NO SENSE!

IT IS FRUSTRATING!

Blah... La verses el and if there are three boys and two girls in a room it is los but if they are all girls it is las and if... blah!


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## Hirila (Jan 27, 2003)

My dear Elgee, *waves that well-known motherly finger*
you're sure there's something wrong with the gender system in languages? Why oh why is it then in most languages I know? 
German, French, Italian, Danish, Spanish, to name but a few. Seems English is a minority. Hmmm...


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## HLGStrider (Jan 27, 2003)

Obviously because people are plotting to drive me even further insane than I already am...

Gosh, look.. I CAN WORK UP TO 3333 AGAIN! Horray!


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## Lossengondiel (Feb 5, 2003)

> _Originally posted by HLGStrider _
> *I like my language... I had to invent my own alphabet so the pronounciation only makes sense in my alphabet because I'm not sure how to use all the weird symbols and stuff to make people read it right... But I like my letters, and I have them down almost by heart... *



i love to create my own languages as well and i personally think my pronunciation is a whole lot easier that english for that matter

anyhoo, lossengondiel (thats me!) i suppose would be pronounced

loss-ehn-gohn-dee-ehl

pretty simple methinks, no?


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## Valdarmyr (Feb 8, 2003)

Mine's pronounced VAL-der-meer, though I have nothing against armor. Val's good; just don't drag me down into the mire.  

This is a good thread...I'd thought some of your names were pronounced differently.


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## CelebrianTiwele (Mar 9, 2003)

technically, if you are pronouncing an elvish name:
a- is like a in father
e- is like e in were
i- is like i in machine
o- is like o in for
u- is like u in brute
y-is like y in you
ex- my name is pronounced k-ele-br-ee-an t-ee-w-ele

o and to eomer, it is pronounced with a short e and long o i believe


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## ms Greenleaf (Mar 10, 2003)

Well I have never had problems with prononciation and everyone can say my user name though my RPG name is a bit harder*

Charmiana - CHar me an a - accent on first syllable





* note this is the name she usually goes by.


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## Eledhwen (Mar 10, 2003)

> _Originally posted by Hirila _
> *My dear Elgee, *waves that well-known motherly finger*
> you're sure there's something wrong with the gender system in languages? Why oh why is it then in most languages I know?
> German, French, Italian, Danish, Spanish, to name but a few. Seems English is a minority. Hmmm...  *


I think the gender system is a hangover from ancient animistic cultures, and I can never remember whether a gate, a cup, a house or a shoe are boys or girls in the languages I try to learn; I mean, you can't even find out by checking underneath! Also, genderised definite/indefinite articles (a/the) are hard for English speakers to learn.

Eledhwen is stressed on the second syllable. The dh is pronounced th as in that. I wish English would use dh for this sound, or pinch one of the letters other languages use for it.


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## CelebrianTiwele (Mar 12, 2003)

i agree on the spanish article thing. i mean why cant they just have a and the, like us. but the verbs are so much easier. i think all in all, spanish is a much easier language to learn. I LOVE LANGUAGES. i wanna learn spanish and french and elvish..... hmmmm maybe i will be a linguist if i dont make it to hollywood. Yay 22 posts. i can pick up my bow from angoreth now!!!!! 

Much elven love,
Celebrian


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## Rhiannon (Mar 13, 2003)

Rhiannon is Welsh, and is (roughly) rhee-an-un. It means 'great queen'.

Charis, my real name, is karr-iss, and is Greek for grace. 

Stephen R. Lawhead's website has sound clips for both of them, under 'Pronouncements'. (I wasn't named after Charis-the-Stephen-R-Lawhead-book-character, I loved the fact that the pronunciation guide got it _right_). 

I'm another person who likes making up my own languages; mostly my method is to start with a word that I think sounds good, and then work off of that for related words. Consequently, the vocabulary is a bit haphazard. If I want to say something specific, I just make up the necassary words.


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## Emowyn (Mar 13, 2003)

Actually Rhiannon is pronounced Ree-ann-on and means queen or a nymph/elf. I should know this as my name is Rhiannon.


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## Rhiannon (Mar 13, 2003)

> _Originally posted by Emowyn _
> *Actually Rhiannon is pronounced Ree-ann-on and means queen or a nymph/elf. I should know this as my name is Rhiannon. *



I'm sure you're the one to know- the name books I've read, though, all said "Derived from Old Celtic Rigantona meaning "great queen"' or something similar.


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## Emowyn (Mar 13, 2003)

LOL I didn't mean to offend you. I was named Rhiannon after the princess Rhiannon of Dyved. The Celtic equivalent of this lady is epona queen of the moon.


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## Rhiannon (Mar 13, 2003)

> _Originally posted by Emowyn _
> *LOL I didn't mean to offend you. I was named Rhiannon after the princess Rhiannon of Dyved. The Celtic equivalent of this lady is epona queen of the moon. *



I wasn't offended! (Did I sound offended? oops, that's twice today. Bad Charis, get more sleep). My knowlege of Rhiannon (the mythological character) is a bit haphazard, I'm afraid, as it comes from a couple of different places.


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## elfgirl (Mar 22, 2003)

My username is pretty simple, but my RP name might be difficult for some. My RP name's pronounciation is av-a-rye. That all of you might like to know...


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## Brytta (Mar 22, 2003)

Hirila says:



> Oh, you poor English speakers and your pronounciation! I am really sorry for you.
> I am a native German speaker and I don't have ANY problems pronouncing most of the names here!



Any hints at my name? I don't think it sounds like _bright - a_, I give it a stronger 'r' sound. What about the 2 Ts (not Two Towers silly)

Thanks.


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## Sam_Gamgee (Mar 25, 2003)

Cause my name is so hard and all...........you pronounce it Sam Gam-jee...........yeah i know dont let the underscore throw you off or anything.........


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## BranMuffin (Jul 9, 2003)

Bran-Muf-fin, its tricky sometimes so practice often.


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## Lantarion (Jul 9, 2003)

Celebrian I love languages too, immensely! And I agree that Spanish is a lot easier to learn than English. There is a thread about this in the PP I think, but the English language is the most idiotic and illogical language in the world. It is derived from about three or four main contributing foreign languages, and many other smaller groups, and it has evolved for thousands of years! And its verb usage is just inconcievable: only *two forms for each tense!* Take "want" for example.. "want" and "wants" for present, and then there's "wanted". Then you just ad either "have" or "had" to express the proper past tense! IDIOTIC!
Very easy to learn and master, but idiotic nonetheless. 

ANyway, I love Spanish and Quenya in particular because they are so phonetic. That's another HUUUGE flaw in the English language: no phonetics whatsoever. How can you get [thru] from a word like "through"?! There are two consonants at the end, for goodness' sake! If we're suposed to ignore them, what the heck are they doing there in the first place!!? And what is the diphthong "ou" doing there?! 
Ahem, anyway I was saying. I really value phonetic languages, because they represent speech at its basic and beautiful form. This doesn't mean it's somehow unadvanced or simple, it just means that the language has held on to a very humane trait, pronouncing things like they are spelt. (There's a phonetic word in English: _spelt_!) 
That's not to say that the English language is not beautiful! I think it is among the most beautiful, but owing largely to its applicability, malleability and complexity. These things make it a fabulous language for poetry, for example, whrereas Finnish, though sounding beautiful and looking eloquent, can be set into poetry successfully only by skilled poets, because so many rhymes end up sounding too easy or forced when there are so much more words that sound alike.

Uh, sorry.. getting back to the topic. 
'Lantarion' isn't exactly hard to pronounce. Just remember that the 'a's are all the ones found in 'f*a*ther', and the 'r' is actually trilled; not like in French, but like in Italian or Spanish.

PS: Talierin, I have always pronounced your name "Tally-erin", like I pronounce 'Tolkien "Toll-ki-en".. That how they're spelt, so by gum that's how I pronounce 'em! 

PPS: If you want to see a horrendously wierd example of the hugely complex way of spelling words in Englsih, have a look at my avatar..  Where did all those 'c's come from?!


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## Arebeth (Aug 21, 2003)

I think you should say are-beth... I'm practising to pronounce the "r" correctly, though I also have quite a problem with the "th" (I speak French...Nothing to add)



> For Pilgrim it's a long way, to find out who you are.


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## Turin (Aug 26, 2003)

I really don't know the correct pronunciation for Turin but your supposed to put an accent on the u but I don't know how to type it, I guess its pronounced Tur-in.


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## Confusticated (Aug 27, 2003)

It's pronounced the way you'd probably pronounce Tooreen.


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## Turin (Aug 27, 2003)

Really, wow I never would have guessed that. I always thought the "i" was short.


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## Eilana (Aug 27, 2003)

My name is, if you follow the pronounciation of the Sindarin toungue, prodounced Ay-la-na. The 'EI' is prounounced like in gray, according to a site on Sindarin which is www.lothlorien.freewebsitehostin.com.
i love languages and when I heard the elves speaking in the film it sounded so gentle and magical, and so I searched on the internet to find site from which i could teach myself. i already know the numbers! 
I have to agree, German really does help me pronounce some of these names. I live on england and it is my first language, but my mother is german and so I am bialingual. It really does help a lot!


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## Turin (Aug 27, 2003)

Wow, I'm way too lazy to teach myself any languages, though I'm learning other languages in school, right now I'm learning spanish and when I get into high school I plan to learn german.


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## Eilana (Aug 28, 2003)

Well good luck with it! Some people say its a harsh language with all the 'ch's but i think its great!  and it really does help!


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## Frei (Sep 6, 2003)

My name is pronounced 'Fray'. I have had someone think it was 'Free' before.  


Frei.


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## Lantarion (Sep 22, 2003)

Túrin is pronnounced with a short 'i'.. And a long 'u'. 


> *Originally posted by Hirila*
> I think that Germans or all Germanic speaking people (Nordics included) have an advantage with speaking Tolkien's languages.


Well, I agree on the Nordics part  but german is hardly phonetic.. All those -sch- words..!

Oh and a note about the letter 'y': in English it is obviously used as a consonant (e.g. '*y*ou'), and also as a simplified vowel, representing the sound of the letter 'i' (e.g. 'scar*y*). BUT, in FInnish for example, the letter 'y' has is solely a vowel-sound, identical to the 'ü' in German. It's impossible to describe, but it's a lot like the 'e' in "Eww!". 

Frei, welcome to the froum!  Your name looks like a Norse name, like Freia/Freya. Are you from Norway?


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## Éomond (Sep 23, 2003)

> _Originally posted by Éomond _
> *This is how you say Éomond (well, I'm not too sure but oh well):
> 
> Ear-oh-mon-d
> ...



::Shakes head::

Well, after some help from my friends it's actually said:

A-oh-mon-d

Say it fast

well, after thinking about it, it could be:

Air-oh-mond

or that first one in the quote, chose the one you like, just say it fast


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## Khôr’nagan (Sep 28, 2003)

_*Khôr’nagan* (corn-ugh-unn)_ Adunaic, "Lord of Death."

If _core-nug-un_ is still confusing, then think of it as saying "Corn uh gun" really fast.

I thank Lantarion for informing me on the correct pronunciation.


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## Lantarion (Sep 28, 2003)

Always ready to nitpick and serve, sir.


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