Settle a bet please! [how do you pronounce...]

[RJ]

There's a free dinner riding on this... is it:

a) Ecco (the Dolphin) pronounced "echo" or "eeko"?

b) "Ico" (PS2) pronounced "eye-ko" or "eeko"?

Definitive answer(s) only- thanks!

[dsullo]

I believe its echo and eye ko

Dustin

[Stark]

I agree - echo and eye ko

[digitalpress]

Same here. ECHO and EYE KO.

Here's another one for ya.

How do you pronounce "IKARI"?

ICK-A-RYE, ICK-A-REE, or EYE-KAR-EE?

[Mayhem]

The latter...

[mattpfeil]

echo for the first one - i know this for a fact cause of the commercials that used to be on TV for these games
eye-ko for the second one (just a guess really)
and i say ikari just like you say atari (ick-a-ree)

[Sylentwulf]

I would say:
Eck-oh
Eye-Coh
ih - kar - ee

I've heard a lot of people say the ICO is SUPPOSED to be EE-Coh

[Tetsu]

How about Herzog Zwei? Is it pronounced "HAY-stock Sai" or "Her-zog Zvai?"

[The Brown Eye]

It is echo and eeko.

[stonic]

-----

[digitalpress]

I say MINE-OHZ

I say HER-ZOG SHWHY

[WiseSalesman]

Correct pronunciation for

Herzog Zwei: it's german, so it would be "Hairtz-og Zv-eye" (for instance, listen to the Rammstein song "Mein Herz Brennt". The way they pronounce "Herz" is the way the first part of Herzog should be pronounced.)
Ecco: pronounced like Echo. In neither Japan nor the Us would a word spelled in that manner be pronouned with a long "EE" sound.
Ico: In japan, it would be pronounced "EE-co". Here, I suppose you could decide for yourself, as, in English, the word would be pronounced "EYE-co".
Ikari: EE-car-EE (at least in any Asian dialect). The word certainly seems. to be of Asian origin. If it were a US word, it would most likely be pronounced as "ICK-AR-EE".
Mine of Minos: I pronounce it "MEE-NOSE", but I'd say that's a matter of personal preference.

(note: I speak marginally fluent german, and a little Japanese. Three years of the former, one of the latter under my belt. You know, just as some "credentials" for where this info is coming from. Also, I'm an English major, so I pretty much know how the english language works, as far as Ecco goes.)

[stonecutter]

I'm going against the grain on "I-ka-rye"
According to people here, it appears I am wrong but thats just how I have always said it.

[ashbourn]

echo and eye-ko
so who won the bet

[rolenta]

My-nose

Of course we could ask Sean and John since it's their company :)

[punkoffgirl]

I always thought Ecco was a no-brainer, and a play on words.. I mean, come ON! It's a dolphin came, and how do dolphins communicate/find their way around? Sonar, or ECHO LOCATION!

[Sega Hitman]

So here's another one. Is "Chrono" pronounced krown-o, or kron-o? I hear both all the time.

-Hitman-

[RJ]

Yeah, that was my reasoning behind "Ecco". The other guy thought it'd be "Eco" for ecology, ecosystem, etc. However, we still disagree on "Ico" due to the dual-pronunciation thing. Just wondering...

[nesman85]

crow-no

here's one that i am curious about. how do you pronounce eproms? i have never heard any one say it in person, only typed.

[WiseSalesman]

Of course it's "crow-no". It's an actual word! Check the dictionary (prefix meaning time).

EPROM should, technically, be pronounced E-P-R-O-M, as it is an acronym. However, many people pronounce it "EEP-ROM". Similarly, I have heard EEPROM pronounced as "E-EEP-ROM".

[slapdash]

Correct pronunciation for

Herzog Zwei: it's german, so it would be "Hairtz-og Zv-eye"

To be more specific, the 'z's should be pronounced as 'ts'; and "Zwei" is one word, one syllable 'tsvai' ('ai' pronounced like the word "eye").



Ico: In japan, it would be pronounced "EE-co". Here, I suppose you could decide for yourself, as, in English, the word would be pronounced "EYE-co".
Ikari: EE-car-EE (at least in any Asian dialect). The word certainly seems. to be of Asian origin. If it were a US word, it would most likely be pronounced as "ICK-AR-EE".


You beat me to it... Given that these are Japanese games, the 'I's should be pronounced 'ee'. Japanese is romanized more in tune with the phonetic alphabet than the English alphabet, so their 'ee' sound is transcribed as the 'i' letter.



Mine of Minos: I pronounce it "MEE-NOSE", but I'd say that's a matter of personal preference.


Yeah, I assume the creators pronounced it as 'mainos' (again, 'ai' as "eye") to have the same vowel as "Mines" (can't remember the term -- with consonants it's alliteration), but I think "Minos" is Greek or Latin and should probably be pronounced 'minos' (again, 'i' as 'ee' sound) more properly.



note: I speak marginally fluent german, and a little Japanese. Three years of the former, one of the latter under my belt. You know, just as some "credentials" for where this info is coming from.

Heh... I had two years of Japanese in college, and am in my second year of German now. Plus I took a linguistics course, where I learned about the phonetic alphabet and other nifty things, like the fact that 'ai' is a diphthong pronounced "eye". :-)

[WiseSalesman]

Yeah, I understand what you are saying regarding the german pronunciations, but I split the syllables, and left out the "ts" so as not to confuse monolinguals :wink: .

As far as the linguistics goes, I'd really like to take that class one of these days. I'm starting to find languages more and more fascinating. I'm good with pronunciations because I was once a vocal music major (I'm a minor now). We were required to learn diction and pronunciations for Asian dialects, German (Austrian), Italian, Latin, Spanish, and many more. I can pretty much nail most pronunciations these days. Of course, that doesn't mean I have any idea what the words mean....

[slapdash]

Yeah, I understand what you are saying regarding the german pronunciations, but I split the syllables, and left out the "ts" so as not to confuse monolinguals :wink: .


I don't know, I think 'ts' is fair game, as many have heard of the tsetse fly...


As far as the linguistics goes, I'd really like to take that class one of these days. I'm starting to find languages more and more fascinating.

If you've got an interest in languages, definitely take linguistics. It was a great class (may have helped that I had a great professor teaching it too).


I'm good with pronunciations because I was once a vocal music major (I'm a minor now). We were required to learn diction and pronunciations for Asian dialects, German (Austrian), Italian, Latin, Spanish, and many more. I can pretty much nail most pronunciations these days. Of course, that doesn't mean I have any idea what the words mean....

Gotcha.

It's funny, I had a Chinese guy once tell me I pronounced his name better than any other American he'd heard. I'm not sure how that happened...

[Kroogah]

Ikari is a Japanese word that means "angry" or something like that. So yes, it's "EE-KAR-EE"

Ah, memories of when Street Fighter 2 first came out...everyone talking about "Rai-yew"...it's "REE-YOO" damn it! Monosyllabic!

And WHY is it that nearly every "non-video-game person" pronounces Pokemon as..."PO-KEE-MAN"????? Even though Pokemon invaded the nation, and little kids everywhere were constantly talking about it, it remained "Po-kee-man" to the hapless parents.

I still run into people who pronounce "Mario" as "Merry-oh"....I'm glad that Super Smash Bros. Melee has an announcer, otherwise the nation would be full of little kids discussing "Super Smash Bros. Mealy"

One more: Zangief. "Zane-geef", "Zane-gif", or "Zahn-gi-eff"?

[allretrogames]

Don't forget when I go to market I gets to look at some Intendo tapes next to those Pokee-Man cards - this is a common pronunciation (and phrase) where I am. Of course when I bought a 3DO system the other month, the guy told me it plays them Playstation games.

[kevincure]

Zan-geef, right? I guess Zahn-geef would be more correct. I've never heard pronounced any of the ways you spelt it out.

[Nature Boy]

I'm 99.9% sure Ico is pronounced "eeco"

I recall an article in EGM or OUSPSM that explained the 'eeco' pronunciation. I can't remember the month but it was in a previews section if I'm not mistaken.

[WiseSalesman]

ZAHN-GEEF <-----(Russian Style)

[johnny arcade]

Most people's pronunciation of ICO, that I've heard anyway, is I-C-O... three letters.

I've always said and heard "Echo" for that dolphin game,

and EVERYBODY I've ever heard say it has always pronounced it
"Ih-car-ee"... for that joystick spinning title.

The others I really have no opinion or personal insights on.

But honestly, nothing gets to me more than when somebody you don't know gets all serious on ya when you butcher a game's name. Say how you want, and feel like a regular valedictorian while you're at it too.

And just for kicks... I think I'm gonna ask for Super Luigi Bros./Duck Punt next time I go to the game shop, and if they don't have it I'm gonna ask about Doubleinski Dragonapadapalous.

[RJ]

lol johnny- lemme check this- they actually SAY "(eye-see-oh)" for ICO? Hmmm...

Thanks for all the input folks- never thought it'd go THIS far...keep going if you must!

[slapdash]

Ah, memories of when Street Fighter 2 first came out...everyone talking about "Rai-yew"...it's "REE-YOO" damn it! Monosyllabic!


Careful now, you say it's monosyllabic, but spell it "ree-yoo", which looks like two syllables... :-)

That's a difficult sound for Americans/English speakers, but it can be done. Picture 'f' & 'y' together to get "few". Now picture 'p' & 'y' together to get "pew". Okay, now picture 'r' (actually, almost more like 'l') and 'y' together to get "Ryu".

One syllable.

Or course, if you think the "ry" consonant cluster is weird or difficult, try learning Russian... "Yes" (IIRC) in Russian is "gdye"; there's another word "mnye". Oy. As I understand it, Georgian gets even worse!



And WHY is it that nearly every "non-video-game person" pronounces Pokemon as..."PO-KEE-MAN"?????

Yeah, why not just "poke (long 'o') mon"? It's 'po-ke (short 'e')-mahn (short 'a')'.


I still run into people who pronounce "Mario" as "Merry-oh"...

Sweet Jesus, you've gotta be kidding...


One more: Zangief. "Zane-geef", "Zane-gif", or "Zahn-gi-eff"?

I don't know my Russian pronunciation very well, but I'm pretty sure it's two syllables: 'zahn-geef'. It's possible that the 'i' is pronounced like/as 'y' so that the name is 'zahn-gyeef', but I don't think so. If there's a Germanic influence for the name, it's definitely 'geef' not 'gyeef', but...

[Kroogah]

Yes, correct, the Japanese pronunciation of "R" is close to "D" in some cases...with the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth.

Japan calls Zangief "Zahn-gi-eff" but I'm sure that's not the actual Russian way to pronounce it.

And no, I'm not kidding about the "Merry-oh" thing....*sigh*

[Tempest]

I've heard people pronouce it "Merry-Oh" as well. The really scarry thing is I've heard people say "Loo-Gi" for Luigi.

I've always wanted to know how you pronounce the arcade game "Zzyzzyxx". Here's a link to the KLOV page incase you have no idea what I'm talking about: http://www.klov.com/Z/Zzyzzyxx.htm


Tempestl

[slapdash]

I've always wanted to know how you pronounce the arcade game "Zzyzzyxx".

I'd guess "zizzix". Otherwise, just snore briefly.

[RJ]

Here's another: from Tecmo's "Deception" series (#2)- is it

KAH-ge-ro
KAH-je-ro
ka-JE-ro
or something else?

[slapdash]

Here's another: from Tecmo's "Deception" series (#2)- is it

KAH-ge-ro
KAH-je-ro
ka-JE-ro
or something else?

The first, I believe, though it could be "kah-GE-ro" too...

BTW, I came across an older Game Pro that said Ico is definitely "ee-ko" and Zahngief is "zahn-jiev". Of course, they said something incorrect in the sentence before that, so take it with a grain of salt.

[bensenvill]

if this means anything at all, I was at the CES show in chicago the year it was released and the developers were prononcing it echo.

~Tj

[Lost Monkey]

Anyone know how to pronounce "Soukyugurentai"?

I would guess:

SOOK-YOO-GOO-RENT-EYE

[davidbrit2]

Anyone know how to pronounce "Soukyugurentai"?


Hmm, that looks Japanese. In that case, here's a pronunciation guide. A doubled vowel is merely a prolonged sound and does not alter pronunciation. Vowels are pronounced thusly:

A: ah
I: ee
U: oo
E: halfway between a long "a" and short "e" sound
O: oh

The sounds are all quite short in comparison to English vowels. That being said, it would sound something like this:

SOO-KYU-GU-RE-N-TA-I

Anyway, regarding other titles...

The name Ryu would be something like a cross between RYU, LYU, and DYU. Also, ?, which is the t group i sound, is sound pronounced as "chi." It's totally different sound than could be used for something like ??. That would be "jyo" rather than "dyo." Thus the r group covers for the d sound. I guess. ;-)

Mines of Minos is taken from Latin, I suspect. Minos is a Roman name. I think it's something like "mean-ohs," or possibly "mihn-ohs."

Yeah, Ikari is the Japanese word meaning anger. It's a noun, which leaves me puzzled as to why the title isn't something like "Ikarino Warriors." What was the full Japanese title of the game? All of this is moot for the NES version of course, which I pronounce "piece of shit." :-D

[Ed Oscuro]

Yes, Soukyugurentai is certainly a Japanese title. I forget exactly which title it is, but it's a Raizing shooter (sounded familiar!) released on the Saturn, at least.

I must've missed this thread before, and I realize that I pronounced a lot of these words much less faithfully than I thought. Good stuff though :)

[MoreEbolaForYou]

what about gradius? i've heard..

grey-dius
graa-dius

i use the second one.

[1bigmig]

Echo the Dolphin
Ih-Car-Ee Warriors
Eyeco
Kid NyeKye ;)

[lendelin]

HERZOG ZWEI: the proposed pronunciations are pertty much on target. It's indeed "ts" for the beginning of the word "zwei".

btw, for a native speaker it's a pretty odd title. It means "Duke Two." Herzog is a title of a nobleman. The first time I heard the title I found it very odd.

btw, there was a pretty bad translation mistake in the GamePro review of Xenosaga. They translated the German subtitle "Der Wille zur Macht" as "the will to make." The correct translation is "the will to power."

("machen" is a verb and indeed means to make; er macht = he makes. "Macht" is a noun and means "power." The reviewer couldn't use a dictionary and mixed up a verb with a noun.)

[Ed Oscuro]

The reason for that bad translation in GamePro seems to be that they just guessed and got lucky with 75% of the words :P

[lendelin]

The reason for that bad translation in GamePro seems to be that they just guessed and got lucky with 75% of the words :P

:) Sounds like their review gardes. :) Just kidding, GamePro is actually good at reviewing.

The odd thing is that all the other german sentences of the review ( and they used a lot) were correct, very good German; but they got the important subtitle wrong.

Foreign languages in movies and games are anyway a strange thing. There are a lot of blockbuster movies, and if German is used it's sometimes truly bad, for a native speaker really amusing. (not just pronounciation, but almost gibberish grammar mistakes. However, in games like Medal of Honor Frontline or Quantum Redshift native speakers were hired, and the German is absolutely perfect. So...if someone kills you in MoH and makes a comment in German, you can die with the consoling thought that your killer is a true German. :) As a rule, games are much better and accurate when it comes to foreign languages than movies.

[Ed Oscuro]

Hmm, maybe I'm wrong? Maybe they just got a really good Babelfish translation for everything else and decided to just wing the title? Odd.

[rbudrick]

Minos is Greek, so the correct pronunciation is MEE-knows

Ikari is Japanese, so it would be ee-KAH-ree. There is so soft "i" sound in Japanese like in the word "lick."

Ecco, is without a doubt, Echo.

Chrono is also Greek in origin, hence Kro-no.

Herzog zwei is indeed HAIR-tszog Tszvai.

Gaiares is supposedly pronounced Guy Are Us (according to an old ad), but since it seems to be a cross between Gaia and Ares, the "a" in Ares sounds more like the "a" in "care" rather than "are." Also, the "es" in Ares is pronounced with an "eez" sound. So, shouldn't it be Guy-AIR-eez? Eh, fuggit.

-Rob

[rbudrick]

As for Gradius, my theory has always been that the name was supposed to be Gladius. But with Japanese, the r and the l are interchangeable.

A Gladius is a type of sword, btw. It has a Latin Derivation (plural is "gladii" in Latin and English. lol), so the pronunciation is Glad-ee-us. So, Grad-ee-us would be the correct pronunciation. Also, since there is no hard "a" in Japanese (like in the word "make"), this is likely the best assumption.

-Rob

[davidbrit2]

As for Gradius, my theory has always been that the name was supposed to be Gladius. But with Japanese, the r and the l are interchangeable.

A Gladius is a type of sword, btw. It has a Latin Derivation (plural is "gladii" in Latin and English. lol), so the pronunciation is Glad-ee-us. So, Grad-ee-us would be the correct pronunciation. Also, since there is no hard "a" in Japanese (like in the word "make"), this is likely the best assumption.

-Rob

Yeah, that's precisely what I've always thought. And I believe gladius can also be used to mean penis or phallus. I wonder which definition they based it on. ;-)

Oh, what about Musha for Genesis? What the hell language is that from (if any?)

[Dr. Morbis]

Here are two that I've always wondered about: Xexyz. Is it pronounced Zecksis or Zezis? The other one is Faxanadu. It comes from the root word Xanadu which is pronounced Zanadu, but I have only ever heard it pronounced Facksanadu. Shouldn't it really be pronounced Fazanadu?

[Kid Fenris]

Here are two that I've always wondered about: Xexyz. Is it pronounced Zecksis or Zezis? The other one is Faxanadu. It comes from the root word Xanadu which is pronounced Zanadu, but I have only ever heard it pronounced Facksanadu. Shouldn't it really be pronounced Fazanadu?

Hmmm . . . Faxanadu's name comes from the fact that it's a remake of Falcom's Xanadu for the Famicon (Fa-Xanadu, get it?), so I'm guessing it should be pronounced Fah-Zanadu.

M.U.S.H.A. was actually invented by Seismic's marketing team, but I've always pronounced it Moo-Shah or Moo-Shuh.

I have no idea about Xexyz. It'd help if we had the Japanese packaging, so we could see how the title was spelled in katakana.

[rbudrick]

I actually bought the Japanese complete version of Faxanadu so I could translate the manual to find out where it fits on the Dragon Slayer timeline (Xanadu was Dragon Slayer 2). It doesn't seem to be the same game though, as the old game Xanadu.....so I'm a bit confused whether it is supoposed to be the same game. Can anyone clear this up? I've got complete versionbs of each if anyone needs docs or scans...

-Rob

[Kairi]

echo and eye-ko for me.

[hu6800]

"Ih Ka Garu"

[jhd7]

Geez, this a good thread! Ya learn something new every day, eh? My question concerns Galaga. Is it

GAL - ah - guh

or

gah - LAH - guh?

I've always used gah-LAH-guh, as it seemslike a derivative of Galaxians (gah-LAX-ianz).

[Cmosfm]

*Didnt read all the posts*

What about Mario - Mah-ree-oh or Marry-oh

I've heard it said both ways, and I know that in the mario 64 he says Mah-ree-oh but the in the old cartoons Ive heard him called Marry-oh before. This is a hard call.

[hu6800]

how bout Xenophobe hahah.

ok this is getting retarded now so one more...

Shin Mew hahah

[Cmosfm]

how bout Xenophobe hahah.

ok this is getting retarded now so one more...

Shin Mew hahah

Its because of my Mario post isnt it! ISN'T IT!!!!!!

*runs away crying*

[hu6800]

Anyone know how to pronounce "Soukyugurentai"?

I would guess:

SOOK-YOO-GOO-RENT-EYE

isnt this a sega saturn game? i think i have it...
what the hell is it?

haha