D&D 5E How to pronounce Artificer

[Paul Farquhar]

I'm...not sure who declared that words cannot have two stresses

I think all these rules where designed as guidance for people trying to learn English as a second language, not to dictate to native speakers what is and is not correct.

 

[Charlaquin]

And pronouncing it to rhyme with officer is perfectly reasonable. It is not, however, correct.

I didn’t say it was. Just explaining why I pronounce it the way I do.

There is no central authority that dictates how certain combinations of letters are pronounced (unlike French for example), and the same combination of letters can be pronounced in different ways. Take the homograph "bow" for example. Take a bow for tying a bow onto the bow of the ship. Sometimes spelling has little relation to pronunciation. How do you say Worcester source? Alnwick Castle?

The pronunciation of English words is established by common usage, not spelling, so a word that is not in common usage has no correct pronunciation.

I mean, yeah, but that’s not as fun as arguing about how to pronounce it.

 

[Bagpuss]

I'm...not sure who declared that words cannot have two stresses...

Well now you have be curious. I did say it was a general rule, and if you know anything about general rules in English is there often tends to be more exception than things that follow them.

However it seems to be this chap (among others) might be the one responsible...

Phoneticians such as Peter Ladefoged have noted that it is possible to describe English with only one degree of stress, as long as unstressed syllables are phonemically distinguished for vowel reduction.[20] According to this view, the posited multiple levels, whether primary–secondary or primary–secondary–tertiary, are mere phonetic detail and not true phonemic stress.

From Wikipedia.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Ar-TIFF-is-er sounds like someone intentionally saying a word wrong to be funny, to me.

ARR-ti-FISS-er, with the third syllable just a tiny bit less stressed, flows naturally, and sounds like words are supposed to sound, IMO.

Your PHO-ta-GRAFF-er loves you.

(Heh heh... and this is exactly why I don't lose any sleep over any of it... as said, there's no consistency in English stress whatsoever, so everyone can say it however they want. LOL)

 

[Bagpuss]

Your PHO-ta-GRAFF-er loves you.

Who says PHO-ta-GRAFF-er? Weirdo.

 

[Charlaquin]

Who says PHO-ta-GRAFF-er? Weirdo.

That’s the joke

 

[jmartkdr2]

It's pronounced like gif.

(I accent the first syllable, but wouldn't be confused if someone accented the second.)

 

[CleverNickName]

I pronounce it thusly:

\ ˈal-kə-mist \

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I pronounce it thusly:

\ ˈal-kə-mist \

I really wish dnd had never decided that "alchemy" was just magical chemistry.

Choose your time and place correctly, and the term encompasses mathematicians.

In a more perfect world, Alchemist would absolutely be the class name.

 

[CleverNickName]

I really wish dnd had never decided that "alchemy" was just magical chemistry.

Choose your time and place correctly, and the term encompasses mathematicians.

In a more perfect world, Alchemist would absolutely be the class name.

I suppose I could be persuaded to pronounce it \ˈstēm-ˌpəŋk . ˈwi-zərd\

On a more serious note, I think I would prefer Alchemist to be a Background, if only to divorce it from the "magical chemist" trope.