In Irish mythology and folklore, a geis (/ˈɡɛʃ/; [ˈɟɛʃ]; plural geasa) is an idiosyncratic taboo, whether of obligation or prohibition, similar to being under a vow or spell. The Scottish Gaelic spelling "geas" is also common
So "Gueiss" - rhyming with "Kiss".
"A kiss to break her geas", for instance, is a versic oration showcasing these two words.
Geas = GEE + ASS Lich = rhymes with which Drow = rhymes with cow Melee = Me (as in me, myself, and I) + Lee (as in Bruce Lee)* THAC0 = rhymes with whacko (as in whacko jacko) Otyugh = OTT + EE + UGH (as in OTTer, thEE, and UGly) Treant = TREE + ANT Sahuagin = SA + WHO + UH + GHIN Ankheg = rhymes with gank beg
* I know this is probably wrong but I ain't changin' now.
Geas = GEE + ASS Lich = rhymes with which Drow = rhymes with cow Melee = Me (as in me, myself, and I) + Lee (as in Bruce Lee)* THAC0 = rhymes with whacko (as in whacko jacko) Otyugh = OTT + EE + UGH (as in OTTer, thEE, and UGly) Treant = TREE + ANT Sahuagin = SA + WHO + UH + GHIN Ankheg = rhymes with gank beg
* I know this is probably wrong but I ain't changin' now.
"Melee" isn't even a valid word according to Oxford's dictionary for academics (aka. "Bibles"), but rather a corruption/"variation" of the french "Mêlée", which was imported into english and kept its accents (much like naïve) - they are important to indicate the correct pronunciation of the word, which is actually mɛˈle: meh-lee - as in "Melissa".
And THAC0 isn't even supposed to have such a pronunciation since it is an acronym for "To Hit Armor Class 0" - the correct pronunciation following acronymal patterns would be "tiː eɪtʃ eɪ siː zɪərəʊ" or "Tee aitch ay cee zye-row".
And the correct pronunciation of "Drow" following its scottish roots is "drou" - rhyming with "Throw".
Now when it gets to planetouched races things get rather tricky, since their writing is extremely ambiguous and inconsistent in the CRPGS - I've seen Aasimar being pronounced "ay-SEE-mar", "AH-see-mar" and "EH-see-mar", though I believe the first is the most widely accepted - Tieflings as "TEEF-lings" and "TAIF-lings", again leaning towards the former - Genasi as "GEN-ah-sai" (As in "genocide") "gen-AH-zee (as in "nazi") and "gen-AY-see" (as in "basics"), this time with no leaning towards any of them. Feytouched (Quarter-fey) and Shadowswyft (humans from the shadow plane, better represented in PF's Golarion, there known as "Fetchlings") are pretty obvious though. Zenythri (descended from Mercanes) are, while graphically odd, very unambiguous as well (as in zenith).
There are regional differences as well. Here in the midwest USA, all of your "planetouched races" examples where you cite one over the other are the completely opposite -- in my experience: AH-see-mar, TIEF-ling, jen-AH-see.
Melee-may•lay Drow- I Used to say this with a "oh" sound, like drove, but all the voice acting says drow with an "ow" sound Viconia-Vicky Khalid -ka•leed Jahiera- Ja•hear•uh Ankehg- an•keg Geas-geese
And I agree that the voice acting is correct, unless there is an accent to add flavor to the character. And Khalid and jahiera pronounce each others names correctly.
Thaxll'ssillyia - thaksl-SIL-lia or thak-sel-SIL-lia with stress on the SIL part (ˌʧəks(e)l-ˈsɪl-lɪæ) Nizidramanii'yt - ni-si-dra-MA-ni-yt, stress on the fourth syllable (nɪ-sɪ-drə-ˈmæ-nɪ-ɪt) - or "nisi" for short! :-)
There are regional differences as well. Here in the midwest USA, all of your "planetouched races" examples where you cite one over the other are the completely opposite -- in my experience: AH-see-mar, TIEF-ling, jen-AH-see.
I find it very strange that such things happen there. Doubly so considering my own german-brazilian accent is oddly nearly identical to a subdued Texan, even though my own upgringing was Commonwealth. And Tiefling is indeed TEEF-ling judging by WoTC's own podcast and promotional material; For example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UqFPujRZWo Which is unsurprising considering it is derived from German's tief (teef) meaning "deep".
I always pronounced Kivan as "Ki-Vann." However, when Kivan dies, Viconia will say, "Ki-VONN and I never understood each other."
Likewise, I had always pronounced Viconia as "VICK-oh-nia," but when Viconia dies, Kivan says, "May VY-cone-ia's soul rot in hell."
IIRC, the game manual says Nalia's name is pronounced "Nah-LEE-ah," but in the game, Aerie pronounces it as "Nal-ya," which is how I generally pronounce it.
The manual also says Haer'Dalis is pronounced "Hair-DUH-lees," but I have a bad habit of pronouncing it as "Hair-Dallas."
Thaxll'ssillyia - thaksl-SIL-lia or thak-sel-SIL-lia with stress on the SIL part (ˌʧəks(e)l-ˈsɪl-lɪæ) Nizidramanii'yt - ni-si-dra-MA-ni-yt, stress on the fourth syllable (nɪ-sɪ-drə-ˈmæ-nɪ-ɪt) - or "nisi" for short! :-) Disclaimer: None of these are canon! :-)
Too convoluted... Thaxll'ssillyia = Darkie Nizidramanii'yt = Blackie
Comments
Geez (hard G)
Gee-awss (soft G and hard G)
I've heard it pronounced several different ways across several DnD games.
"A kiss to break her geas", for instance, is a versic oration showcasing these two words.
Lich = rhymes with which
Drow = rhymes with cow
Melee = Me (as in me, myself, and I) + Lee (as in Bruce Lee)*
THAC0 = rhymes with whacko (as in whacko jacko)
Otyugh = OTT + EE + UGH (as in OTTer, thEE, and UGly)
Treant = TREE + ANT
Sahuagin = SA + WHO + UH + GHIN
Ankheg = rhymes with gank beg
* I know this is probably wrong but I ain't changin' now.
And THAC0 isn't even supposed to have such a pronunciation since it is an acronym for "To Hit Armor Class 0" - the correct pronunciation following acronymal patterns would be "tiː eɪtʃ eɪ siː zɪərəʊ" or "Tee aitch ay cee zye-row".
And the correct pronunciation of "Drow" following its scottish roots is "drou" - rhyming with "Throw".
Now when it gets to planetouched races things get rather tricky, since their writing is extremely ambiguous and inconsistent in the CRPGS - I've seen Aasimar being pronounced "ay-SEE-mar", "AH-see-mar" and "EH-see-mar", though I believe the first is the most widely accepted - Tieflings as "TEEF-lings" and "TAIF-lings", again leaning towards the former - Genasi as "GEN-ah-sai" (As in "genocide") "gen-AH-zee (as in "nazi") and "gen-AY-see" (as in "basics"), this time with no leaning towards any of them. Feytouched (Quarter-fey) and Shadowswyft (humans from the shadow plane, better represented in PF's Golarion, there known as "Fetchlings") are pretty obvious though. Zenythri (descended from Mercanes) are, while graphically odd, very unambiguous as well (as in zenith).
Drow- I Used to say this with a "oh" sound, like drove, but all the voice acting says drow with an "ow" sound
Viconia-Vicky
Khalid -ka•leed
Jahiera- Ja•hear•uh
Ankehg- an•keg
Geas-geese
And I agree that the voice acting is correct, unless there is an accent to add flavor to the character. And Khalid and jahiera pronounce each others names correctly.
She always seemed like the chick to have your vitals in a vice anyway.
"Brawn-when"
"Kay-gain"
(both from misreading their names)
"Ex-(z)arr" (and "Ex-vart" for the little blue guys, I still think these sound cool)
Nizidramanii'yt - ni-si-dra-MA-ni-yt, stress on the fourth syllable (nɪ-sɪ-drə-ˈmæ-nɪ-ɪt) - or "nisi" for short! :-)
Disclaimer: None of these are canon! :-)
And Tiefling is indeed TEEF-ling judging by WoTC's own podcast and promotional material;
For example:
Which is unsurprising considering it is derived from German's tief (teef) meaning "deep".
Likewise, I had always pronounced Viconia as "VICK-oh-nia," but when Viconia dies, Kivan says, "May VY-cone-ia's soul rot in hell."
IIRC, the game manual says Nalia's name is pronounced "Nah-LEE-ah," but in the game, Aerie pronounces it as "Nal-ya," which is how I generally pronounce it.
The manual also says Haer'Dalis is pronounced "Hair-DUH-lees," but I have a bad habit of pronouncing it as "Hair-Dallas."
This is official canon
Thaxll'ssillyia = Darkie
Nizidramanii'yt = Blackie