The pronunciation of words from video games

2009-09-23 01:24:17 pm

Unless a game has a ton of voice acting, most of the dialogue and such is presented to you as written text. Each player runs across words that don't exist except for in the game, and then must decide how to say it. I think it's interesting to see how different people come up with different pronunciations. For most of the words, nobody really knows the correct pronunciation unless one of the developers mentions the word in an audio recorded interview. Here's some examples, please feel free to add more.

Deku tree - is it (DEH-koo), (DEE-koo), or (DAY-koo) ?

Epona - is it (EE-poh-nuh) or (EH-poh-nuh) or even (eh-PAWN-uh) ?

Zebes - is it (ZEEBZ) or (ZEE-beez) ?

Kokiri - is it (KOH-kih-ree) or (koh-KEE-ree) or (KOH-kee-ree)...or ??

Flaaghra - is it (FLAY-gruh) or (FLAW-gruh) or.. ?

btw, I use the first pronunciation in all of the above examples.

Thread title:

Baby Sheegoth

2009-09-23 03:05:04 pm

DayKoo Tree

EE pown uh

Zeh Bus (Apparently)

Koh KEE Ri

FLAH gurrah

TheGreenManalishi

2009-09-23 03:31:14 pm

There was a thread like this before.

arkarian

2009-09-23 04:40:13 pm

red chamber dream

heh, i first played oot at a reasonably young age, so my brother and i either misread spelling of shit or didn't know proper pronunciation rules. i say 'dēkoō, ee'poh-nuh, and 'zēbis, as well as 'samis.

for years i said 'käkôrī, but it of course should be kō-kē-rē if you know anything about japanese pronunciation. deku should be de-ku as well, but i think "'dēkoō trē" sounds better due to the repeated ē sound.

Quote from Opium:

Flaaghra - is it (FLAY-gruh) or (FLAW-gruh) or.. ?

wow, never even thought to pronounce it like ether or those. i've always said 'flägrä, probably because i originally thought it was spelt flaahgra.

Tyjet66

2009-09-23 04:56:31 pm

What'd you say?

Zebes: zeh-bess

That's about how I'd pronounce it.

TailsLover

2009-09-23 05:03:50 pm

Merry Christmas

The way I say Zebes: Zee bis
Close enough

Gamma_Metroid

2009-09-23 05:26:42 pm

DEE-koo tree
eh-POWN-uh
I've always pronounced it ZEE-beez, but I'm pretty sure it's ZEEBZ
ko-KIH-ree
FLA-gruh (a as in "at")

Quietus

2009-09-23 05:35:10 pm

Super Secret Area - Dead Ahead!

In order:

Dee-koo
I-poh-nuh
Ze-bess
Koh-kea-ree
Flah-gra (I think I automatically pronounded this like Slogra from Castlevania)

Quote from arkarian:

my brother and i either misread spelling of shit or didn't know proper pronunciation rules.

When I was younger, one of my friends had serious issues with the locations in Super Metroid:

Name - My Pronunciation - His Pronunciation

Crateria - Crah-tier-ia - Crah-tier-ia
Brinstar - Brin-star - Brine-star
Norfair - Nor-fair - No-fair <-- May actually be true...
Maridia - Ma-rid-ia - Madeira <-- Serious laughs ensued
Tourian - Tour-ian - Terrain

I remember the same guy pronounced Crissaegrim (sword from Castlevania), as Kris-a-gram (like kissogram), when I always pronounced it as Kris-I-grim.

I remember for years while playing Secret of Mana, I pronounced Gaia's Navel as Gaia's Nah-vel, because that was my guesstimate, until I later realised what a 'navel' was, and it made perfect sense. laugh new

TailsLover

2009-09-23 05:39:02 pm

Merry Christmas

I always said No fair, because I kept dying in Norfair

TheGreenManalishi

2009-09-23 06:01:36 pm

I used to say 'Zebes' as 'Zebbs', until I heard the voiceover on the Metroid music tracks in SSBB

Opium

2009-09-23 06:03:17 pm

I've always said ZEEBZ since it is spelled like 'Thebes' in Egypt which is of course pronounced THEEBZ.

The two 'a's in Flaaghra make me say FLAY-gruh. I always felt like two 'a's are supposed to make a sharp A sound, like they do in 'Phaaze'. (unless someone around who pronounces it as FOZZ)

Gaius_4

Edit history:

Gaius_4: 2009-09-24 03:39:57 am

2009-09-23 06:12:14 pm

Zebes? I've always said it like Z-Bus, but Z-bess could also work. (I know) er, that's what I believe it sounds like because it stuck in my head from a commercial I seen on T.V. about Metroid back in the 80's.

Deku - Dee-koo
Epona - E-pownuh ("pow" sounds like Tow -as in Tow Truck, or a Toe on your foot)
Zebes - (see above, or below)
Kokiri - koh-kah-ree or Ko-kir-e :-/
Flaaghra - flay-ahgra
teach

I have a similar question. There's a game called Gladiator and the main character has a weird name... Gurianos. And I've always said it like:

Gur-E-ah-nOss'

but it could be Gew-ran-oss (without the short 'i' sound)

An alternate spelling is also Guraunos...

I'll stop here since I don't really want to highjack the thread. Embarassed

ETA:

Almost sounds like he says Zeebiss. Razz

Baby Sheegoth

2009-09-23 06:14:38 pm

her - ee - an - ohs

TailsLover

2009-09-23 06:25:17 pm

Merry Christmas

I can't pronounce flaaghra.

Poision Envy

2009-09-23 09:05:13 pm

Club 27 Goals

Deku tree - DEH-koo
Epona - EH-pawna
Zebes - ZEH-BES
Kokiri - KOH-kee-ree
Flaaghra - FLAH-Ghara

this kind of things comes up a lot when I read fantasy books since they use some of the weirdest words ever for places. Also almost every city in ROOHN-scape can be pronounced differently.

Blarget2

2009-09-23 09:48:15 pm

i always pronounced it Z Beeeeeeeez

Quietus

2009-09-24 04:13:20 am

Super Secret Area - Dead Ahead!

It took me a second to make sense of some of these pronunciations, like Z-Bes, because that reads as Zed-Bess to me. Kick into gear, brain. Rolling Eyes