How do you pronounce "Drow"?

[Michael Morris]

Anyway, here's the Gary Gygax quote:

That quote reminds me of a subtle fact about my setting that only 2 players have picked up on in 12 years - the pronunciation of place names and words in the setting vary - sometimes considerably - within the setting. And those variants are directly linked to certain areas. Astute PC's have learned that NPC's are unconsciously telling them a bit about where they're from just how they pronounce words.

For instance, Dalze is pronounced "Dahll-zee" by the locals, but in the western part of the country, not 40 miles away, the "zee" is lost and it becomes "Dolls" as in childrens Dolls. To the south the word is pronounced Dohlssee, and to the north Dalzay.

Though my world has no drow, who's to say that drow doesn't rhyme with "cow" when the drow themselves use it, but the pronunciation "droh" is used among dwarves and may even be taken as an insult by drow (In the same manner that African-Americans take offense at a certain mispronunciation of negro).

 

[pogre]

As others have suggested:
'därk'elf

 

[Olive]

That quote reminds me of a subtle fact about my setting that only 2 players have picked up on in 12 years - the pronunciation of place names and words in the setting vary - sometimes considerably - within the setting. And those variants are directly linked to certain areas. Astute PC's have learned that NPC's are unconsciously telling them a bit about where they're from just how they pronounce words.

It's like when players ask how something is spelt,. Mu old DM used to say 'how it sounds', arguing that consistant spelling is a feature of the modern world.

 

[Deadguy]

It's like when players ask how something is spelt,. Mu old DM used to say 'how it sounds', arguing that consistant spelling is a feature of the modern world.

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!

 

[Anime Kidd]

*snip*

Droe just makes me think of d'oh. And that's not something that inspires fear. At all.

Great... Now everytime I see Homer Simpson say 'D'oh' Im gonna start thinking he's saying drow (go).

 

[Jehosephat]

not a Chow Yun Fat character wanting me dead, to use an analogy.

Does Chow rhyme with go or cow?

 

[einsamste]

drow

yea i know.. but i had to say my 2 cents =D

i wanted to respond to this following post from woodelf:

However, that hardly is the whole trend. I was around to read pretty much teh first D&D use of "drow", in the drow series modules (or did they get mentioned in Greyhawk before then? i forget). It wasn't until '92 that i *ever* heard drow rhymed with go. It is only among younger [than me] gamers that i've ever heard that pronunciation (which is not to discount any not-younger gamers in this thread that're following that pronunciation, just that i've never personally encountered it). I'm actually surprised, if the trends of the threads on EnWorld are actually indicative, because i would've expected to see it trending the opposite direction. Especially since, if we're going to generalize about whole swaths of gamers by age, i'd expect the older gamers to do things like consult a dictionary--or be old enough to have read the pronunciation guide published in Dragon--while the younger ones are the less-literate and/or less inclined to care about the historic pronunciation or any weight of authority it might have.

Here's a thought that comes to mind: anybody here who both predates the Forgotten Realms version of drow elves and pronounces it to rhyme with "go"?
__________________
woodelf


-- response --
Welll... i started playing dungeons and dragons in 1980, which is generally longer than most the people born that generally replied to this thread i imagine. i still have a origional red book, uncolored dice and pencils in a box. and no you dont want my old school opinion of the recent wizard of coasts ruleset. lol. ahem. anyways. =D So i guesse i count in your catagory and the exception from your experience (ive seen only the oppsoite of what you encountered). From day one me and my friends said it like 'go' and not like 'cow'. It had been like this thoughout my life with anyone i met until i head it for the first time said like 'cow' just a couple years ago. I cant change it its been too long. It just sounds wrong to me, but thats becuase its all i ever knew. Generally ive payed it no mind, and of course the matter isnt that big of a deal. But im just saying ive built homemade drow modules for over 20 years or written storys about them and always called them that. This is how i look at it though. I know Gary Gygax is reported as saying he origionally made it to be like 'cow' but more so i agree with his second statement that followed it doesnt matter what anyone calls them. Its all good. Generally most anyone that knows me and my background history that ive run ino recently that said it like 'cow' has every time changed and started saying it the way i do, just becuase they look at me as one of those old school kind of guys so i must be right lol. ah.. the respect. *grins*.

Something now id like to point out that hasnt been pointed out, that though my journeys around the usa, i have ran into people that say things many different ways, no matter what the origional phrase was. Roof. Root. Hoof are good examples. Up north people say these words like 'ruff rutt and huph' while down south its 'rufe rute (as in boot.. striaght sound), and same with hoof (hufe). We can go back to the original origin and tell people its wrong.. or do what the dictionarys did.. and gary gygax with drow.. and say is either one and at this point its irrelivant. The dictionarys even added both ways of saying it to those words.
So everyone wins cept the snotty legalists. =)
Sorry for the longevity of the response, but i thought this was a funny topic and it was interesting. Also thought some folks might find it interesting to hear an 'old' farts version from the 'other' perspective.
Peace.
-Jason

 

[reanjr]

i completely agree. drow(cow) sounds weak and frail to me, whereas drow(oh) sounds devious(spelling ) and powerful..

Would it help if it were spelled Drau and pronounced rhyming with cow?

The correct pronunciation from Sean Reynolds is rhyming with cow.

Incorrectly pronounced, it makes me think of hoodrats.

"yo, what up Drow?"

In addition, the cow pronunciation seems more phonetic. If it were like go, why not just spell it Dro? I don't understand why people would ignore the "w" or think it was extraneous...

 

[painandgreed]

Whenever there are instances like this within RL, I tend to envoke them into my world. Perhaps some Drow rhyme it with "cow" while other ones rhyme it with "row". After all, are they speaking in an Upperdrak accent or with a Lowerdark accent. One might be derogatory and an insult if used to the wrong person.

 

[reanjr]

Something now id like to point out that hasnt been pointed out, that though my journeys around the usa, i have ran into people that say things many different ways, no matter what the origional phrase was. Roof. Root. Hoof are good examples. Up north people say these words like 'ruff rutt and huph' while down south its 'rufe rute (as in boot.. striaght sound), and same with hoof (hufe). We can go back to the original origin and tell people its wrong.. or do what the dictionarys did.. and gary gygax with drow.. and say is either one and at this point its irrelivant. The dictionarys even added both ways of saying it to those words.
-Jason

Midwesterners, considered by many philologists to be the most correct speakers of American English, pronounce Roof and Hoof with a short oo sound, and Root with a long oo sound. They are all correct in either form, though, as you said.