How do you pronounce "Drow"?

[reanjr]

That is, of course, quite true. However I have found that taking the time to spell out a name can save confusion later on. I have seen occasions when players dig up a note of an NPC months later, read what they transcribed and have the DM go 'huh?' Players by no means always hear a name right - you quickly relaise that everyone has subtle differences in accent that can obscure a name.

As a side note: as DM, always say the names of NPCs out loud to yourself when you create them. If you struggle to say the name when you come to it in your notes, chances are your players will too. And worse, a mispronounced name can ruin an otherwise good NPC (as the ref who included 'Aurochbalaenus' found out when he mangled it, and found the poor fellow named 'Orrible-anus' everafter!

Pronouncing it Orrible-anus would just be wrong by English standards (assuming the orrible is pronounced like horrible). In English, multisyllabic words are prnounced with a single primary stress and alternating secondary stress. Orrible-anus would only be a proper pronunciation if the original were something like Auroch Balaenus or Auroch-balaenus. You really can't help those who cannot pronounce their native tongue.

 

[hrafnagud]

I'm a 'drow' as in 'cow' kinda guy. I bow to the OED.

I don't understand why people would ignore the "w" or think it was extraneous...

Surely you jest! How do you pronounce Crow? Or any of a hundred other words I could list if I had the energy. Language is rarely so predictable.

 

[reanjr]

I'm a 'drow' as in 'cow' kinda guy. I bow to the OED.




Surely you jest! How do you pronounce Crow? Or any of a hundred other words I could list if I had the energy. Language is rarely so predictable.

The English language is a hodge-podge mix of different languages and simplifications of old words and spellings. It is a horrible language to learn to spell phonetically. But why would someone, making up a new word, decide to spell it as horribly as the rest of the English language?

That doesn't make sense to me. When I create a new word or name for a campaign, I spell it as phonetically as possible. Spelling it any other way would make no sense. If you are trying to simulate a different language's spelling system, you must realize that Middle English and Old English had no "right" way of spelling things. So you might as well make it as simple as possible. Even if you redefine the phonetics of a fantasy language, it still makes sense to spell everything phonetically, even if it is not English phonetics.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

No, it only makes sense to spell things perfectly phonetically if you assume your fantasy language exists in a vacuum.

If, perchance, *other* fantasy languages also existed - say, Elven and Dwarven, for purposes of argument - various "standard" spellings for Common might be influenced by elven or dwarven script.

 

[Ero Gaki]

Drow as is cow, or how, or wow. That's the way it is. And that's the way it should be. Deal with it all of you "go" people.

 

[reanjr]

No, it only makes sense to spell things perfectly phonetically if you assume your fantasy language exists in a vacuum.

If, perchance, *other* fantasy languages also existed - say, Elven and Dwarven, for purposes of argument - various "standard" spellings for Common might be influenced by elven or dwarven script.

I understand that. But our own languages on Earth didn't have "correct" spellings until fairly recently. Assuming this is the case for your fantasy languages, then why bother spelling anything "correctly"?

And if you are not trying to spell anything "correctly," you might as well spell it phonetically.

Adding non-phonetic spellings to words doesn't add realism to a campaign unless you change the spelling of the words from document to document. But then, you would have to know how each word is spoken to simulate the incorrect spellings of the uneducated.

You would then need a reference for how the word is spoken so that you can go back to it later.

What would you use for this reference? A phonetic spelling.

[edit] Not to mention the fact that you are already imposing the English alphabet upon a language that never saw anything like it. When transliterating to English, most often you come up with a phonetic system to represent the language. The best example I can think of is Tolkien's Sindarin and Quenya. I don't know if the languages are phonetic in the Elvish Tengwar, and it doesn't really matter. They're both phonetic when transliterated to our alphabet.

 

[Deadguy]

Pronouncing it Orrible-anus would just be wrong by English standards (assuming the orrible is pronounced like horrible). In English, multisyllabic words are prnounced with a single primary stress and alternating secondary stress. Orrible-anus would only be a proper pronunciation if the original were something like Auroch Balaenus or Auroch-balaenus. You really can't help those who cannot pronounce their native tongue.

Well, in fairness to the DM, 'Orrible-anus' was what we, the players, came up with when the DM choked on saying the name out loud. He'd assembled the name (from Latin, obviously) on paper but never said it out loud. I think we settled on 'or-OCK-bal-AYN-us' later on. But we could always 'hear' 'Orrible-anus' in our heads!

 

[Keoki]

Frank Mentzer's take

According to Frank Mentzer's article "Ay pronunseeAYshun gyd" in DRAGON 93, it's pronounced both ways. As far as I know, this is the most "official" word on the subject that's been published.

 

[Thorntangle]

Official? Well how about the D&D FAQ on the WotC website:
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/DnDArchives_FAQ.asp

Aarakocra: a-rah-KO-krah
Arquebus: AR-keh-bus
Baatezu: bay-AH-teh-zu or BAH-teh-zu
Bardiche: bar-DEESH
Bulette: boo-LAY
Catoblepus: kuht-OH-bleh-puhs, also kah-TA-ble-pus
Chatkcha: CHAT-k-cha (thri-kreen throwing weapon)
Chimera: ky-MAEE-ruh, or ky-MAIR-ruh (rhymes with "care of")
Chitin: KITE-in
Cuirass: KWEE-rass
Drow: DRAU (as in drowsy; rhymes with now and how)
Dweomer: DWEH-mer (rhymes with "hem her"), or DWIH-mer; sometimes DWEE-mer
Falchion: FAL-chun
Geas: GEE-ass, or GYASS (both with a hard "g")
Gygax: GY-gaks
Halberd: HAL-berd, (not HAL-bread)
Herb: ERB
Ioun: EYE-oon
Iuz: YOOZ or EE-uz
Ixitxachitl: iks-it-ZATCH-i-til or ik-zit-zah-chih-tull
Lich: LITCH (as in ditch), *not* LIKE or LICK
Lycanthrope: LY-kun-throhp, LY-kan-throhp (like lichen rope/my tan rope)
Lycanthropy: ly-KAN-thruh-pee
Mage: MAGE (as in age), *not* MADGE (as in badger)
Melee: MAY-lay
Otyugh: AHT-yuhg
Sahuagin: sah-HWAH-gin
Scythe: syth (rhymes with tithe)
Svirfneblin: svirf-NEB-lin
Tanar'ri: tah-NAHR-ree
Tarrasque: tah-RASK
THAC0: either THAK-oh, or THAKE-oh
Vargouille: var-GWEEL
Vrock: vrahk
Wyvern: WIH-vern (as in did learn), or WHY-vern
Zaknafein: zack-NAY-fee-in

 

[fredramsey]

I'm sure that there will be some who would say I shouldn't even post this since I can't completely cite the reference, but...

I was a firm "OH" pronouncer, but recently I ran across a historical reference for Drow, and it was pronounced like "Cow". So, I changed.

Sorry, I can't for the life of me remember exactly what series, but it was a series of articles on RPG.NET where the author did historical research on Clerics, Dwarves, Elves, etc. But I remember it being pretty compelling.