Chimera - How's it pronounced?

[Dr.Epic]

Just a quick question. I heard someone use the word chimera the other day and pronounce it a way I never heard before. I just want to check this is the right pronunciation because I've heard it this way from many source and always thought this was the correct way.

Is the "ch" pronounced like a "ch" sound in "chain" and "choose" or more of a "k" sound like in "kite"? I pretty sure it's the latter, but heard someone use it like "ch" and just want to be sure.

[Yora]

It's greek, and the greek letter chi is definately as in chain, not a K. K is the greek letter kappa.

[Totally Guy]

Like in kite. And chaos.

[Yora]

True. In english languages foreign words are never pronounced the same way as they are in their original language.

[Dr.Epic]

Like in kite. And chaos.


True. In english languages foreign words are never pronounced the same way as they are in their original language.

I knew it. I constantly am surprised at home incompetent my one teacher is.

[Cespenar]

I've heard and know it as "ky-mee-rah", if that makes sense.

[Asta Kask]

I've heard it as 'ch' in Bach.

[Yora]

Careful. Americans would pronounce that Bak.

English is not really a germanic language. More our "special" little brother. :smallamused:

[Heliomance]

Pretty sure the root of English is Germanic.

But I've heard both ky-MEER-ruh and CHI-muh-ruh. I think the first one's correct, though.

[llamamushroom]

I've heard something like "shimmerer", but personally it's "k-eye-mair-a" for me.

And are you sure that the "ch" in chimera is "chain"-like in Greek, Yora? Several other Greek-derived words I know use "ch" as "k" - schism and Christ leap to mind (it was Reformation Sunday recently, ok?).

[Yora]

It is. But the english stripped it of almost all it's grammar and changed the pronounciation of pretty much everything. And there are so many sounds that I don't think exist in any of the old germanic languages.
Except maybe in Dutch. :smallamused:

[llamamushroom]

Ah, right, the whole "English is slightly less-than-accurate in reproducing words" thing. Thanks for clearing that up for me.

Yeah, Dutch is a little odd. Not as odd as Danish, but still very unusual.

[Asta Kask]

BTW, in Sweden the preferred pronounciation seems to be k-imera.

[Heliomance]

I've heard something like "shimmerer", but personally it's "k-eye-mair-a" for me.

And are you sure that the "ch" in chimera is "chain"-like in Greek, Yora? Several other Greek-derived words I know use "ch" as "k" - schism and Christ leap to mind (it was Reformation Sunday recently, ok?).

Also chiral and Chiron.

[Raddish]

I used to pronounce with the Chi sound but now used a K sound... I really don't know why I changed.

[Xuc Xac]

The "ch" is pronounced like an English K. In ancient Greek, the letter chi was an aspirated velar stop (a "breathy" k) and later it became a fricative (a raspier "throat-clearing" sound). In modern Greek it has two pronunciations depending on the following vowel. In "khimaira", it's the fricative like the "ch" in the German "ich". It never sounded like the "ch" in the English word "chain" (except when pronounced by people who have seen it in books but don't know how to say). The modern pronunciation doesn't really matter because we got the word from classical sources that predate the modern pronunciation.

[Kneenibble]

The "ch" is pronounced like an English K. In ancient Greek, the letter chi was an aspirated velar stop (a "breathy" k) and later it became a fricative (a raspier "throat-clearing" sound). In modern Greek it has two pronunciations depending on the following vowel. In "khimaira", it's the fricative like the "ch" in the German "ich". It never sounded like the "ch" in the English word "chain" (except when pronounced by people who have seen it in books but don't know how to say). The modern pronunciation doesn't really matter because we got the word from classical sources that predate the modern pronunciation.
The zombie speaks alhtheia.

[Coidzor]

kai, kim, and chim are all ways I've heard. Fun times, really, listening to people that say it differently talk about it until they've settled upon a shared pronunciation without even verbalizing that they were doing so.

[thubby]

I've heard all of them, and, at least at my college, they both get used differently.

a multi headed beast/thing is a kai-mera
but this (http://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=50156) is chim-er-ick coils

[DeadManSleeping]

In the original language, it was rendered χίμαιρα. The Greek letter χ is pronounced like "k" or "kh" (English can't render it right, that's just an approximation). The ί is pronounced like "ee", the μ is just m, αι is "ah-ee", ρ is r, and is "ah" or "uh".

In short, it's "kheemaeera", or "khimaira" for short.

The modern English version, it's still got the "hard" ch, but the vowels have been rendered into versions that sound more normal in English speech.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Fullmetal Alchemist pronounces it with a hard "k" sound. The answer is obvious. :smallwink:

[Fiery Diamond]

Probably the most common English pronunciations are Kai-mair-uh and Kih-mair-uh, though I have also heard people say Kee-mair-uh less commonly.

I tend to say Kih-mair-uh, though I have said Kai-mair-uh occassionally.

To clarify, "Kih" here is representing an unaccented syllable with a schwa-ish sound. You could probably also write it -K'-, as in K'mairuh, since there's hardly any vowel sound at all.

[Keld Denar]

Mission Impossible 2 (the 2000 one) pronounced in Kï-MEE-rah, IIRC.

[Mando Knight]

English is not really a germanic language. More our "special" little brother. :smallamused:

But the english stripped it of almost all it's grammar and changed the pronounciation of pretty much everything. And there are so many sounds that I don't think exist in any of the old germanic languages.
The roots are very strongly Germanic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanic_language). The Norman invasion in 1066 had a major influence in the differences beyond the standard regional dialect separation. Almost anything in English that's not taken from early French (and by extension, butchered Latin) is derived from proto-German. Of course, there are loan words from almost every single other language on Earth, but those are the two primary sources. Talk to any linguistics professor, or take examples throughout the evolution of English into its modern form. English is its own language, full and proper, but German and English are, at pretty much the most distant, kissing cousins.

[Maralais]

English is not really a germanic language. More our "special" little brother. :smallamused:

More like "traumatized" by being invaded by the french in his youth.

Well, I have been swordsaged by an hour anyway. I pronounce it as it is pronounced in FMA as well.

[Lord Seth]

Ah, right, the whole "English is slightly less-than-accurate in reproducing words" thing.Well that's hardly unique for English; just look at how words from English (or other languages) come out in Japanese.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

More like "traumatized" by being invaded by the french in his youth.

I dunno, I know some people, indeed, youths, who would looove to be 'invaded' by the French. :smallamused:

[Lateral]

I dunno, I know some people, indeed, youths, who would looove to be 'invaded' by the French. :smallamused:

You, sir, have blown my mind. And not in a good way. More like, caused it to implode from horror.

...Hopefully 'youths' is, in this context, referring to pubescent youths. :smalleek:

I've always heard it pronounced kə-MER-əh or ki-MER-əh with a short I, but I'm not sure how faithful that is to the original Greek. Wikipedia sez that the stress falls on the second syllable, so it's chi-MER-a, but I can't read phonetic renderings.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

heh. Can I sig-quote that?
And doesn't "youths" always refer to pubescent youths? Like, teenagers?
Cuz I'm talkin' about certain 17-year-old girls I know.


In case you were wonderin.


I'm talking about them having sex with Frenchmen, see.

[Lateral]

heh. Can I sig-quote that?
Feel free. It's a way cleaner quote to sig than the last one of mine someone sig'd. (I said 'Taint is fun.' In the context of alternate campaign systems.)

And doesn't "youths" always refer to pubescent youths? Like, teenagers?
Cuz I'm talkin' about certain 17-year-old girls I know.
I thought it usually applies to anyone under 18, usually younger than.. well, I suppose usually younger than one year older than whatever age I am at the moment. When you're living it, your perception is kinda skewed. :smallredface:


I'm talking about them having sex with Frenchmen, see.
Oh, really? I had no idea. I thought you were talking about teenagers who want French people invading their country of origin and making it part of their empire. [/sarcasm]

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Oh, really? I had no idea. I thought you were talking about teenagers who want French people invading their country of origin and making it part of their empire. [/sarcasm]

Oh, good thing I cleaned that up. After all, the Quebecois, while speaking French, hate France and the French, while the Anglos traded Guadaloupe and Martinique for Canada so long ago, 'twould be a shame to give it back!

Then again, most of the girls I know are south asian in descent, so the French already invaded, the Brits were just better at it.

[Maralais]

heh. Can I sig-quote that?
And doesn't "youths" always refer to pubescent youths? Like, teenagers?
Cuz I'm talkin' about certain 17-year-old girls I know.


In case you were wonderin.


I'm talking about them having sex with Frenchmen, see.
Don't. Just... Don't. (http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/texplainthejoke.jpg)

[Castaras]

I thought it was Shhim-air-a. But then again, I can never pronounce anything correctly.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

I've always pronounced it kai-MARE-uh

[Scarlet Knight]

According to Merriam Webster : kaɪˈmirə

[Rising Phoenix]

It's greek, and the greek letter chi is definately as in chain, not a K. K is the greek letter kappa.

As a Greek I can tell you that this is incorrect. In Greek Chimera is written with an 'x' not a kappa, the way we say chimera in Greek sounds like:

"He-me-ra"

and in Greeklish is spelled: xeimaira

In English I always say it Ka-i-me-ra.

[Maxios]

I pronounce Chimera as ch-mer-uh most of the time. The rest of the time, I pronounce it as chi-mer-uh.

[Keld Denar]

Moar anecdotal evidence! There is a song by The Tea Party that pronounces it ki MEE Rah (or something like that).