Pronunciation Q&A

[§ Gideon §]

Hey, guys. We're at a point in gaming history where voice acting is becoming the norm. Maybe someday, threads like this will be obsolete .

Anyway, the topic is "Pronunciation Q&A," and we're going to put our heads together and settle some things. If there's a video game term--no matter how obscure--and you want to know how to say it, just ask. We'll all do our best to answer.

I'd like to start out with one that should be easy: Zebes. I've always said this as "ZEB-ehs" without thinking twice about it. Then, I read somewhere that the PAL version of Metroid Prime 2 has voice-overs. And "Zebes" is in there. Could it be "Zeebs"? That sounds so much more... geeky .

[Cryomancer]

I said Zebes as Zeebs, I'd assume there is a "proper" greek maybe way of pronouncing this?

Ys is a good one, it's like "ease", I think?

For some reason I used to say Arkanoid as Arakanoid and it rubbed off on my girlfriend. oops.

There are a ton more I can't think of offhand too...

[The-Bavis]

I always said "Zee-bees" in my head, but never had a reason to say that word out loud.

[davidbrit2]

It's pronounced Throatwobbler-Mangrove.

(Yes, I'm going to keep using that tired old joke.)

Anyway, if anybody needs help pronouncing a Japanese word or title or whatever, read here: http://iprc.soest.hawaii.edu/~furue/jp-pron.html

[Wavelflack]

I can't say that I've ever heard of someone pronouncing Zebes with two syllables.

I DID have a friend who had numerous problems pronouncing SF2 character names. Dhalsim came out as "doll-hossum", Guile was "Gweel", and Zangief was "Zangrief". This drove me nuts.

I also routinely encounter "ro-maine noodles" (ramen noodles), "Tai-ken" (Tekken), and of course "Nucular". I really hate "nucular".

I think I went off topic for a minute...

[Promophile]

I also routinely encounter "ro-maine noodles" (ramen noodles), "Tai-ken" (Tekken), and of course "Nucular". I really hate "nucular".

I think I went off topic for a minute...

Nucluar doesn't bug me too badly, but Ro-maine noodles does. Thats how my dad pronounces it . also there is no L sound in Japaneese so often the L sounds like "Erya".

[GarrettCRW]

also there is no R in Japaneese so they are pronounced Lamen.

You have it reversed-there's no L in Japanese.

[Wavelflack]

As far as linguistics go, they seem to reverse the sounds. "I rove you velly much" (etc.)

[Promophile]

also there is no R in Japaneese so they are pronounced Lamen.

You have it reversed-there's no L in Japanese.

Doh yeah. Sorry hectic day and I'm out of it.

[§ Gideon §]

Zebes is actually a sort of goof in translation; it was supposed to be Zebeth. So, I wouldn't be surprised if it's the way I've been doing it (2 syllables). Someone'll show up who's played the PAL version...

I DID have a friend who had numerous problems pronouncing SF2 character names. Dhalsim came out as "doll-hossum", Guile was "Gweel", and Zangief was "Zangrief". This drove me nuts.

How did he proncounce "Ryu"?

[Wavelflack]

He pronounced it "Rye-oo", just like I do. "Roo!" sounds completely fucking homoerotic. I refuse to acknowledge the announcer's chosen pronunciation. He's wrong.

[davidbrit2]

also there is no R in Japaneese so they are pronounced Lamen.

You have it reversed-there's no L in Japanese.

There's no ANY Roman letters in Japanese - we just approximate their phonemes with the letters we have. ;-) Most of the consonants are nearly identical, but some cause a few hangups. The closest things to our 'R' and 'L' in Japanese almost sound like a peculiar mix of 'L' and 'D'. And there's nothing in Japanese that's exactly like an 'F' sound. The closest you get is the FU/HU syllable, where the first consonant is produced kind of like whistling without an actual whistle. But the lips don't touch the upper teeth like an English speaker would expect.

The "correct" pronunciation of "Ryu" is best approximated in English as "DYOO", all as one quick syllable, believe it or not. It's kind of a softened 'D' sound, though.

[Wavelflack]

I guess the japanese are just fucked in the head. They should get a real language.

At any rate, once japanese names and/ or text are "translated" into roman characters, I claim no further responsibility for straightening out their phonetic shortcomings. Ergo, "Ryu" will be pronounced as "Ry-u", and not "Roo." It most definitely will not be pronounced with a "D", nor an "L", nor percussive expression, nor blink code. If they haven't figured out how to approximate a "D" phoneme in the English language, then I'm not going to waste my time correcting for such a shortsighted culture.

[Veepa]

I've always pronounced Zebes as "zee-bus"... Sounds kind of like Jesus... And I've always wondered, is Blanka pronounced "blank-uh" or "blonk-uh".. I've always said "blonk-uh"...

[Milk]

On another note, I hate the handful of fanboys I've seen who insisted on calling that creepy Castlevania chap "Arucard".

[Cthulhu]

If you think you guys are annoyed with the Japanese R/L sound, you should see how the Japanese themselves struggle with it. Most of my kids who have studied English for three years (I'm a middle school English teacher) still can't say (or even hear the difference between) "right" and "light." It's really discouraging. For them and for me.

[Promophile]

Hehe I love hearing Japaneese people say English words. My fav is in Evangelion episode 4 I believe, when they talk about the USS OVER THE RAINBOW.

[Veepa]

Heh... when a Japanese person trys to say "election" he says "erection"..heheh... That's hilarious.

[InsaneDavid]

Since Zebes is going nowhere now, I'll toss in a new word - Gradius.

GRAD-I-us - I've been told this is the correct way to say it.

Grey-dee-us - This seems to be the way most of the people I've known pronounce it.

Graw-dee-us - This is what I've always used although I know it's incorrect.

Also I've Ys as "ease" or "eeece" - doesn't matter, if you care enough to actually sit down and play that wonderfully underrated series then either is fine.

[Aussie2B]

Since Zebes is going nowhere now, I'll toss in a new word - Gradius.

GRAD-I-us - I've been told this is the correct way to say it.

Grey-dee-us - This seems to be the way most of the people I've known pronounce it.

Graw-dee-us - This is what I've always used although I know it's incorrect.

Also I've Ys as "ease" or "eeece" - doesn't matter, if you care enough to actually sit down and play that wonderfully underrated series then either is fine. :D

I recall reading that according to one of the games (Gradius Gaiden, I believe?), the pronunciation is "Grud-ee-us". But because that's totally and utterly lame, I say "Grad-ee-us"/"Grey-dee-us" interchangeably.

As for Zebes, if you want to go by katakana, it's: "ze-be-su", or "zeh-behs" for us English folk ("zeh-beth" could be correct as well). I'm accustomed to saying it like "Zeh-bees", though.