Pronouncing Acheron: ASH, or ACK?

[Perun]

I pronounce it with 'ch' as in scottich 'loch' or german 'Ich'.

And in Croatian, it's spelled Aheron. And while we're already mentioning, Styks is either Stiga or Stiks, and Tarterus is Tartar.

(For those interested, Greek names are generally translated to Croatian based on the genitive case of the original Greek form, not the nominative case. For example, Artemis (the goddess) is the nominative case, and the genitive is Artemidos. The Croatian version is Artemida.)

Regards.

 

[Ryltar]

I pronounce it with 'ch' as in scottich 'loch' or german 'Ich'.

ACKeron. "ch" is too soft a sound, I think.

 

[Tarril Wolfeye]

I pronounce it with 'ch' as in scottich 'loch' or german 'Ich'.

Which One? They're pronounced differently.

I pronounce it as if it were a german word, somewhere near scottish 'loch', but slightly higher.

 

[Wayside]

I know that the traditional Greek pronunciation is ACK-eron, but with modernization (Asheron's Call, etc) do you prefer to pronounce the name old-school, or new-school?

The Greek pronunciation is actually a sound that English doesn't have, so it's been simplified to ACK. An equivalent would be that back-of-the-throat hocking-a-loogie sound English-speakers tend to associate with German, minus the hyperbole of course.

 

[exile]

It seems the official pronunciation has already been hit upon (and my vocabulary appropriately modified), however I always pronounced it Ahk-er-on.
Chad

 

[RichGreen]

According to the Pronuciation guide in the first dragon compendium it is : @TCH-ur-un

I have no idea how to pronounce the word based on that. What does @ mean?

Cheers


Richard

 

[Huw]

Ancient Greek would be ACK'- (with slight aspiration, like English), modern AKH- (like German ch). Ditto Charon (the boatman).

I say ACK-eron. ASH-eron is wrong, but you've got to admit, does sound good. Since the DnD Acheron has nothing to do with mythological Acheron, there's nothing wrong with changing its pronunciation - they're different places coincidentally spelt the same.

 

[Perun]

Which One? They're pronounced differently.

I pronounce it as if it were a german word, somewhere near scottish 'loch', but slightly higher.

Exactly!

I don't know how to accurately describe the sound... it's not as "sharp" as either, really, and can be somewhat likened to the "wh" in "who", although certain ways of pronouncing the german "Ich" come close (don't know what dialects those would be).

Regards.

 

[Heathen72]

It's pronounced Pa-LAD-in

 

[DragonLancer]

Acheron = ACK-eron

Yep, same here.

When I first started playing D&D I used to pronounce it as ACK-air-on for some reason.