Greyhawk pronounciations help

[William Ronald]

Hi,

A question I thought of about pronounciations in the World of Greyhawk campaign setting.

Is it Oerth, pronounced like O-erth, or is it pronounced like Orth, so that Oerth will rhyme with fourth?

I thyought of this while visiting the IR thread. Any suggestions?

William

 

[Hand of Vecna]

I vaguely remember rerading a Dragon magzine article from many, many years ago indicating that Oerth is pronounced "Oith" or "Oyth"...

 

[Aaron L]

Like Bugs Bunny pronouncing Earth? I certainly hope not! I've always said O-erth.

 

[grodog]

FWIW, I tend to say either "o-earth" or, rarely, "orth". Frank Mentzer's "Ay pronunseeAYshun gyd" in Dragon #93, however does list OYth (with URth or AYRth as rare variants).

 

[William Ronald]

I am puzzled by the silent r in Oerth if it sounds like Oith. (I know some Chicagoans who could mangle Oerth into Oith, so maybe I should not be surprised. Gary Gygax grew up in Chicago, and I am a native of the city as well. (Now a few blocks from the city limits.)

 

[Crow]

Its O-erth? I always garbled it and pronounced it Oh-reth, or Orth, oops...

 

[Maerdwyn]

I always just pronounced it as basically "Earth" - with the oe as in "Goethe."

 

[Deadguy]

Me Too!

I always just pronounced it as basically "Earth" - with the oe as in "Goethe."

Glad to see someone else made the same connection I did! The only way it ever occurred to me to pronounce Oerth was as 'Earth'. I always assumed that it was a classic fantasy-esque respelling to make it sound familiar yet look unfamiliar. Obviously I was wrong, but I still like my line of reasoning!

 

[William Ronald]

I am giving this thread a bump.

Col_Plahdoh, Rob Kuntz, any advice?

 

[Erik Mona]

I generally go with "O-earth," Mentzer notwithstanding.

--Erik Mona