Pronounciation of Justiciar

[Nahat Anoj]

You are kidding me.

What, that I believed "vicar" was pronounced "vye-car?" Or that it's pronounced "vicker?" Or that it sounds too "prim and proper" to me?

I totally admit I'm wrong (both on justiciar and vicar), and I go by the correct pronounciations now. I just prefer the sound of the incorrect pronounciations. The "correct" pronounciations sound like they describe stuffy old people who have polite arguments about pronouncing things correctly while drinking tea.

Incidentally, I was talking about the Shadar-kai* and their practice of self-inflicted pain to stave off the "perilous ennui of the Shadowfell" to a couple of friends at the FLGS the other day. I had pronounced "ennui" as "en-you-i," but they corrected me, saying it was pronounced "on-wee." I felt like an idiot - I blame the French!

*I pronounce this as "shah-dar kye," incidentally.

 

[Nahat Anoj]

I had a player who did that. Also "melee" with the accent on the first syllable, "muh-LEE".

I've heard that too, and for some reason it really annoys me when people pronounce it that way.

Some people in my local group pronounce "eldritch" as "el-drick," which raises my hackles as well. One of them likes to play a Warlock, too ("I use my Eldrick Blast!" *shudder* ). Other people pronounce "scimitar" as "skimitar," which is likewise irritating to me.

 

[Wolfspider]

Let me be more specific. YES, there is a soft difference between the "n" sounds of keen and -ing. However, if I challenge anyone to walk around a local gaming store and count the number of times you can actually hear the "g" at the end of halfling, tiefling, running, singing, or any other -ing word. If you count more than a single instance, then congratulations you live in most well-spoken town in America!

Have you ever thought that you are the exception and not the rule in this instance?

 

[Cam Banks]

I pronounce this as "shah-dar kye," incidentally.

I pronounce it as "SHAD-ar KYE," because it comes from "shadow," I assume. I wonder how the WotC guys pronounce it?

My friend Jim used to pronounce "melee" as "melly." My friend Kurt wins the prize, though. He pronounced "kobold" as "nobold," "charisma" and "chaotic" with the "ch" of "church," he'd write "ogre" as "orge," and he pronounced "breakfast" as "breftas." Looking back at 11-year-old Cam, who would correct 11-year-old Kurt all the time, I was actually a totally pedantic dick. Oh well.

Cheers,
Cam

 

[Novem5er]

The -ing vowel, since I was discussing your representation of it. The first syllable of tiefling is either a hard 'e' or 'i', depending on if you're pronouncing it as an english or a germanic word. And "ring" and "this" do have the same vowel sound.

Maybe it's a Southern thing... but 'round here, 'ring' and 'this' sound nothing alike. Does 'thing' and 'this' use the same vowel sound? What about 'thin' and 'thing'? For us it would be 'thin' and 'theeng'. Obviously, there are regional differences and that was my point. Nobody can say THIS is how it's pronounced, in English, let alone in America. Most of our English words have a British root, and I guarantee you that most Americans sound almost nothing like the Brits.

There are certainly regional differences in how words are pronounced or what words are used, but to suggest that there's no noticable difference in the sound of (frex) "ran" and "rang" anywhere in the US is odd, to say the least. That might be true somewhere, but I've never heard it on the east coast, the west coast, or in the midwest. The 'g' in the 'ng' sound is not silent and nearly everyone pronounces it correctly, in my experience.

Ah, at least around here, there is a very noticeable difference between 'ran' and 'rang'. Rang is a one syllable word that very clearly has a 'g' at the end. The same thing with 'ring'. What I'm saying is that 'ringing' (around here) doesn't have two hard 'g's. It has one for 'ring' and then an -een sound with a very very subtle g at the end that might not even be audible if speaking at normal speeds, but that makes the last 'n' pronounced with the tongue in the back of the mouth and not the front. Around here, we don't say 'half-lin-guh' (however soft that guh, might be). I'm not saying that my pronunciation is correct, as I quite realize that people speak differently across this country. And forgive me for being a little heated last night. The idea that a couple posters felt the need to jump on my case because I didn't add a 'g' at the end of my spelling, when I was talking about the vowel sounds, irked me beyond reason.

Have you ever thought that you are the exception and not the rule in this instance?

Obviously, I'm at least in the minority, and I might be the exception around here. However, I'm not speaking directly for myself. I'm stating my observation from people I encounter weekly. Central Florida is an odd place because we have families that have lived here for multiple generations, we have a large Hispanic population, and we have lots and lots of Northerners moving here every year. That's why the accent here isn't as Southern as say Alabama or Mississippi. Florida is the only state in the Union where one has to go North to get more Southern.

There likely are some people here that say 'ringing' with two 'g's that are quite clear. I would argue that, here, they would be the exception.

But thank you to everyone who questioned me, as now my contribution to this thread has clearly devolved into defending how I type and pronounce -ing words. It's clear to me now that nobody else is annoyed by the vowel sounds in the official pronunciation of Tiefling.

 

[Naszir]

How about a compromise and pronouncing it this way:

Just i kiar (with kiar sounding like liar).

Those who have pointed out that the word Justicar sounds like Just a car have ruined that word for me now.

In return I liked to point out Just a sheer sounds just as silly. Justice with scissors.

While we are on it, Tee fling. I really can't believe, despite of the way it is supposed to sound, that people just accept Tee fling. I always thought it was Tie fling. At least that sounded a bit more sinister.

I see a Homer Simpson with horns running around going, Tee hee hee ... I'm a tee fling, DOH!

Its only my opinion but, gods, really, Tee fling. The name of the race, if pronounced correctly, so does not match the look of the race. Tee fling sounds more like it should be one size smaller than a Halfling.

 

[hong]

Those who have pointed out that the word Justicar sounds like Just a car have ruined that word for me now.

In return I liked to point out Just a sheer sounds just as silly. Justice with scissors.

Justice with scissors sounds AWESOME.

 

[Naszir]

Hmm, Justice with scissors is awesome. Not silly at all. Thanks Hong. Grrr.

 

[Novem5er]

...snip...

While we are on it, Tee fling. I really can't believe, despite of the way it is supposed to sound, that people just accept Tee fling. I always thought it was Tie fling. At least that sounded a bit more sinister.

I see a Homer Simpson with horns running around going, Tee hee hee ... I'm a tee fling, DOH!

Its only my opinion but, gods, really, Tee fling. The name of the race, if pronounced correctly, so does not match the look of the race. Tee fling sounds more like it should be one size smaller than a Halfling.

Thank you! That was the entire point I was trying to make. A word almost always sounds better if it has 2 different vowel sounds in it. Tie-fling, to me, sounds way nicer than tee-fling. In my previous post I spelled it tee-fleen b/c I was trying to emphasize the common vowel sound in both syllables. However, Spatula contributed by saying that the -fling sounds like 'this' not 'bleed', which is an interesting way to say it.

 

[Danzauker]

While we are on it, Tee fling. I really can't believe, despite of the way it is supposed to sound, that people just accept Tee fling. I always thought it was Tie fling. At least that sounded a bit more sinister.

Maybe because you're American.

Since it looks like a German word, I always thought it had to be pronounced like a German word, and it turns out to be right.