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psiryu
2007-04-15, 12:14 AM
I was having an argument with my friend the other day about the pronunciation of Lich (we were discussing how cool a Gnome lich would be, how could ignore the asomeness of a 3 foot skeley of doom). My friend pronounces it Litch, as it is spelt, and I pronounce it as Lick with a hard CH as with Scottish Gaelic (if you not sure think how Scots pronounce Loch).

Now I'm not here to say who is right and wrong I'm just curious as to how many people pronounce it diffrently.

Dhavaer
2007-04-15, 12:16 AM
I pronouce it like 'leash'.

Darkxarth
2007-04-15, 12:21 AM
I pronounce it lick, without the Scottish emphasis.

I first saw it years before I started playing Dungeons and Dragons, and I first assumed it was pronounced lick. It may have been an old videogame where it was said aloud, or I may have just thought "Hm, I bet that's pronounced like lick." Either way, that's how I pronounce it still.

kamikasei
2007-04-15, 12:23 AM
I pronounce it "litch", like "rich". I have no idea if this is "correct", but it's how I and everyone else I know who's ever had cause to try to pronounce it has done so.

DaMullet
2007-04-15, 12:35 AM
For the same reasons as above, I also pronounce it with a soft CH. And I wholeheartedly agree with the OP, in that gnomish undead casters rule.

Zeb The Troll
2007-04-15, 12:39 AM
I pronounce it "litch", like "rich". I have no idea if this is "correct", but it's how I and everyone else I know who's ever had cause to try to pronounce it has done so.Same here. Until I started visiting GitP forums it never occurred to me it might be different. In 15 years of gaming not one person I've gamed with ever wondered if it was something else. (Not saying this is right, just saying why it never occurred to me it might be wrong.)

averagejoe
2007-04-15, 12:46 AM
Alright, even if "lick" is correct, who the heck is going to take such a villain seriously?

"You go through the dark spooky toumb, and suddenly you meet an evil LICK!"

:smallconfused: "A giant black cat?"

"Nono, those undead sorceror thingies."

"Hah, is that how it's pronounced? Oooohhh, look ouuuut, I'm gonna liiiick you."

This works along the same principals of why no one is afraid of the Dread Pirate Weseley.

psiryu
2007-04-15, 01:14 AM
Alright, even if "lick" is correct, who the heck is going to take such a villain seriously?

"You go through the dark spooky toumb, and suddenly you meet an evil LICK!"

:smallconfused: "A giant black cat?"

"Nono, those undead sorceror thingies."

"Hah, is that how it's pronounced? Oooohhh, look ouuuut, I'm gonna liiiick you."

This works along the same principals of why no one is afraid of the Dread Pirate Weseley.

Ahh yes but when that lich starts casting save or die spells the PC will be pleanty scared.

Culwch
2007-04-15, 01:27 AM
If lich as a word is related to English lych-gate (lych = ME lich = OE lic = body), then Merriam-Webster pronounces it as "litch", rhyming with "rich".
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/lych-gate

Ashdate
2007-04-15, 01:34 AM
There was an amusing story I read once where a party got fireballed after a PC attempted to plug a what they heard from their heavy accented DM as a 'leak.'

- Eddie

averagejoe
2007-04-15, 02:16 AM
Ahh yes but when that lich starts casting save or die spells the PC will be pleanty scared.

Yeah, but they'd still laugh at him.

Hazkali
2007-04-15, 02:35 AM
Same as Dhaver, I pronounce it "Leash" or more accuaratley, "leesh".

Lord Iames Osari
2007-04-15, 02:44 AM
I have only this to say...

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k177/LordIames/seussdestroygmmind.jpg

Amiria
2007-04-15, 03:32 AM
I'm from Germany. I pronounce it leech.

The german word for leech is Egel / Blutegel.

Rift_Wolf
2007-04-15, 03:41 AM
I'm from Germany. I pronounce it leech.

The german word for leech is Egel / Blutegel.

My life is a fountain of useless knowledge. Why in all twelve hells did I already know this when I only got a D in GCSE German?

I've always pronounced it Litch, back in the days of the Iron Liches in Heretic.

As for Gnome Liches, undeniably awesome in theory, but giving up the +2 Con so quickly? This is a major factor in my creation of Undead; hence there's one hell of a lot of vampiric elves out there (And their sucky constitution is negated). As for miniscule skeletal casters of DOOOOOM, how about a Pixie Lich? And why does saying that make me hungry?

MethodicalMeat
2007-04-15, 03:59 AM
I've always pronounced it "litch", it honestly never even crossed my mind that it might be different.

Polarbeast
2007-04-15, 03:59 AM
Since, as far as I know, the plural of these creatures would be "liches," it leads me to believe it's pronounced "litch"... since plural "likk-ez" would seem odd.

Although I'm happy with altering the "i" a bit to give it more of a "leetch" sound.

tsuyoshikentsu
2007-04-15, 04:21 AM
I say "Litch," but my friend Rachel says "Like."

Dhavaer
2007-04-15, 04:35 AM
Same as Dhaver, I pronounce it "Leash" or more accuaratley, "leesh".

Glad you agree, but none the less *avasculate* for misspelling my name.

aberratio ictus
2007-04-15, 05:14 AM
I'm from Germany. I pronounce it leech.

The german word for leech is Egel / Blutegel.

I'm form Germany too, and me and everyone I know pronounce it just like it is written - just "Lich".

It's a little hard to describe in English, but for those of you who know German, we pronounce it like "unheimlich".

Amiria
2007-04-15, 05:24 AM
But lich doesn't sound as unheimlich as leech. :smallwink: And I'd always ask myself - shouldn't there be some kind of prefix ? :smallamused:

Closet_Skeleton
2007-04-15, 05:30 AM
Well, the word certainly isn't Scotch Gaelic. I like to pretend I'm pronouncing it somewhat close to the germanic way. Honestly I'd say it's pronounced 'lich'. Could go for a more 'lique' thing I suppose.

Then again, I used to have a speech impedement so I shouldn't be talking about these things.

aberratio ictus
2007-04-15, 05:45 AM
But lich doesn't sound as unheimlich as leech. :smallwink: And I'd always ask myself - shouldn't there be some kind of prefix ? :smallamused:

Oooch... ich find sogar, dass sich das weit unheimlicher anhört.

The prefix-thing actually is not such a bad idea... it would be quite helpful in describing what kind of Lich you're facing...

Dümm-Lich
Kind-Lich
Herr-Lich
Fröh-Lich
Weib-Lich
Pein-Lich
...

Rykaj
2007-04-15, 05:57 AM
Lich, with a hard Dutch G. For those of you unfamiliar, it's somewhat like the Spanish J, but harder.

Latronis
2007-04-15, 05:58 AM
litch as in Lichen

artaxerxes
2007-04-15, 06:03 AM
Glad you agree, but none the less *avasculate* for misspelling my name.



I am from Scotland... and at least in my gaming group 'Leash' dominates. There have been some experimental Litches, but never a Lick.

Illiterate Scribe
2007-04-15, 06:11 AM
unheimlich ...

that just reminds me of the House of Leaves. Creepy book.

Larrin
2007-04-15, 06:13 AM
I started with Lick but was mocked, so i looked up the pronouciation, found Lich-gate (see above link from Culwch) and was converted to Litch.

BlueWizard
2007-04-15, 06:13 AM
If lich as a word is related to English lych-gate (lych = ME lich = OE lic = body), then Merriam-Webster pronounces it as "litch", rhyming with "rich".
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/lych-gate

This is the correct answer right here. English is based off old Norse and French. Not much Gaellic. Not MUCH I said. The Roman Christians killed most of the native European cultures off.

Frojoe21
2007-04-15, 06:27 AM
You know, after all of this I am tempted to pronounce it "lich" with the "ch" coming from the back of the throat to sound more like "Chutzpa".

Totally Guy
2007-04-15, 06:34 AM
I say Litch, like the English place name.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v44/macdonnell/Lichfield.png

Cyborg Pirate
2007-04-15, 06:38 AM
Ugh... I hate these kind of things.

I pronouces Lich as it is writte: L-i-ch

I do not see the need for adding a 't' where there's no 't', nor why it should be pronounced as 'Lick', considering that if you'd really try to pronounce it as it was intended in its original language, you'll end up with either a strained throat or simply with the pronounciation quite close to Lich.

It's Lich. L-i-ch. There's no need for a 't', no need for a 'k'. Just pronounce it as it's spelled, and you'll be fine.




(this is all said under the assumption that everyone here has been to primary school where he/she has had a proper teacher who actually taught kids how to form letters into words properly. If you were one of the unfortunate to end up with a crappy teacher, I am very very sorry)

Totally Guy
2007-04-15, 06:51 AM
The chaotic chemicals went down the chute and up the chimney.

kamikasei
2007-04-15, 07:36 AM
(this is all said under the assumption that everyone here has been to primary school where he/she has had a proper teacher who actually taught kids how to form letters into words properly. If you were one of the unfortunate to end up with a crappy teacher, I am very very sorry)

That's charming. But of course, as we all know, English is entirely internally inconsistent and never has words whose spelling and pronunciation don't match up in an expected way.

I assume then that you pronounce "rich" as "r-i-ch" to rhyme with "unheimlich"?

Cyborg Pirate
2007-04-15, 08:24 AM
That's charming. But of course, as we all know, English is entirely internally inconsistent and never has words whose spelling and pronunciation don't match up in an expected way.

I assume then that you pronounce "rich" as "r-i-ch" to rhyme with "unheimlich"?

Why would I want to rhyme rich with unheimlich? Unheimlich is german, and I assume I'm trying to use rich while speaking english, considering that there's no german word of 'rich'.

kamikasei
2007-04-15, 08:32 AM
Why would I want to rhyme rich with unheimlich? Unheimlich is german, and I assume I'm trying to use rich while speaking english, considering that there's no german word of 'rich'.

The way the word "rich" is pronounced rhymes with the pronunciation of "lich" that people here are writing as "litch". So if you "don't need to insert a 't'" for lich, you don't need to do it for rich, either. I offer "unheimlich" as a word that rhymes with how it seems you're saying you think "lich" should be pronounced.

To put it differently: English spelling is not universally clear and unambiguous. Insulting people for pronouncing an obscure word differently to you is not helpful.

Cyborg Pirate
2007-04-15, 08:42 AM
The way the word "rich" is pronounced rhymes with the pronunciation of "lich" that people here are writing as "litch". So if you "don't need to insert a 't'" for lich, you don't need to do it for rich, either. I offer "unheimlich" as a word that rhymes with how it seems you're saying you think "lich" should be pronounced.

To put it differently: English spelling is not universally clear and unambiguous. Insulting people for pronouncing an obscure word differently to you is not helpful.

I don't think you understand me. What I said was, pronounce lich as lich, that's it. It may be easier to visualize it by adding a 't' into lich, but honestly, if that 't' shows up in your verbal pronounciation, you're not doing it right. Rich has no 't', neither has lich.

Some people on the other hand, believe that lich should be pronounced as it is in its original language, which brings us to Diets (old germanic), and then try to pronounce it 'lick', which is completely off-key. My advise to those people is: If you can't make the gutteral sound neccesary to pronounce the ch in either german or dutch, don't try it, just stick to the english pronounciation lich (not litch, just, lich).


Personally, I just hate it when people can't just read what the letters say and insist on pronouncing it something else. For me, it's like trying to do maths with someone who's arbitrarily decided that 1+1=3.5.

GolemsVoice
2007-04-15, 08:55 AM
Sometimes it's Litch (or Litsch), sometimes it's Lich ( I think that's a sound reserved for germans, is it? Like unheimlich). I don't know on what it depends. But I somewhat like the ck sound of Lick.

Sakkaku Kaikou
2007-04-15, 08:55 AM
Actually, I think the reason why the t is inserted is to make it clear that it's pronounced like itch, cheese, or chowder. If they had simply spelled it Lich, we would never have gotten anywhere.

And personally, I pronounce it Litch.

Cyborg Pirate
2007-04-15, 09:03 AM
If they had simply spelled it Lich, we would never have gotten anywhere.

This is the part I don't understand. We have the word 'rich' right? What's stopping us from making the one-letter connection of rich and lich, instead of having to add additional letters and such to try and make pronounciation clear?

kamikasei
2007-04-15, 09:08 AM
This is the part I don't understand. We have the word 'rich' right? What's stopping us from making the one-letter connection of rich and lich, instead of having to add additional letters and such to try and make pronounciation clear?

"How do you pronounce 'lich'?"
"I pronounce it: 'lich'."

That tells you... what?

People add letters and such to try and make the pronunciation clearer, because they don't know the IPA (presumably). The alternative is to say what it rhymes with (which people have also done). These measures are necessary if you're to discuss a word's pronunciation. It's not like anyone is suggesting that the spelling of "lich" should be changed.

Irenaeus
2007-04-15, 09:09 AM
What? English pronounciation is very seldom closely related to the letters use to spell the word.
I actually don't know of any language that is worse than English in this respect. If you want to know how a word is pronounced, you have to read it in IPA.

Quick, pronounce 'Gloucester'!

Or 'Xylophone'.

Compare the 'a' sounds in 'father' and 'fall'. Can you honestly say that that 'a' should be the same letter?

And 'rich' is pronounced [ rɪtʃ ].

Cyborg Pirate
2007-04-15, 09:16 AM
"How do you pronounce 'lich'?"
"I pronounce it: 'lich'."

That tells you... what?

People add letters and such to try and make the pronunciation clearer, because they don't know the IPA (presumably). The alternative is to say what it rhymes with (which people have also done). These measures are necessary if you're to discuss a word's pronunciation. It's not like anyone is suggesting that the spelling of "lich" should be changed.

Oh, I do understand trying to make pronounciation clearer. My beef with it is that it's often done horribly wrong.

Take the Iron Kingdoms setting for example. The country called 'Kaydor', by the designers themselves, is spelled: 'Khador'.

Everytime I think about that, I both bust a gut laughing and simultaniously lose a little more faith in humanity. There's absolutely no way, not even with bad english, that khador can be accidentally pronounced as kaydor. Yet I've seen scores of people try to defend it as proper "because english is a messed up language anyways".


But I usually try to turn a blind eye to placenames and such, considering that most of them have originated from older or different languages. Afterall, a placename is usually more then just letters, it's also emotion and history.

Annarrkkii
2007-04-15, 09:25 AM
Archleeshes? Demileeshes? Arclicks? Demilicks?

I pronounce it "litch" as in "glitch." Rhyming with "stitch" or "hitch." The same way "which" does. Admittedly, you'd think that it would have a "t," in that case, as all other words in that sound category, but the other options, I'm afraid, just sound... kinda' silly. Which is no basis for an argument, of course, with words like "nodule" or "peevish" around.

Also, we can safely say the Giant (or rather, Roy and Durkon) pronounces it "litch," as otherwise Durkon would never have mistaken "which is kinda cool" for "lich is binding ghouls."

Cyborg Pirate
2007-04-15, 09:29 AM
What? English pronounciation is very seldom closely related to the letters use to spell the word.
I actually don't know of any language that is worse than English in this respect. If you want to know how a word is pronounced, you have to read it in IPA.

Quick, pronounce 'Gloucester'!

It's that I know people pronouce it as 'Glou-chester', but otherwise I'd just pronounce it as it is written, Glou-cester.



Or 'Xylophone'.


X and y makes Xy. Lo. Phone. Xylophone. I don't see the problem?



Compare the 'a' sounds in 'father' and 'fall'. Can you honestly say that that 'a' should be the same letter?


There are rules in english which govern how vowels are supposed to be pronounced based on the context of the word they are in. Again, I don;t see the problem here.


And 'rich' is pronounced [ rɪtʃ ].

...whuh?

Fhaolan
2007-04-15, 09:32 AM
This is the part I don't understand. We have the word 'rich' right? What's stopping us from making the one-letter connection of rich and lich, instead of having to add additional letters and such to try and make pronunciation clear?

For the same reason that English dictionaries have a pronunciation guide for all words that use obscure phonetic symbols rather than just spelling the word out again. English is inconsistent to the point of insanity as it is the amalgamation of two languages, borrowed words from at least three others, and has several hundred years of pronunciation shifts to top it off. Add into that, that nearly all English spellings were set by moveable-type printers in order to make the words fit onto lines neatly (not for consistency), and this was before some of the pronunciation shifts mentioned before.

Also, English is composed of many different dialects, each of which pronounces words differently. Try aluminum. My parents, being English, pronounce it 'Al-u-min-ium' (they also spell it with the extra i, which I gather is correct British English]. My wife, being American, pronounces it 'A-lum-in-um'.

As George Bernard Shaw said, if you really follow examples of English spellings relative to how they are pronounced, you can spell the word 'fish' as 'ghoti'.

kamikasei
2007-04-15, 09:38 AM
...whuh?

IPA, International Phonetic Alphabet. Represents the sounds of words almost exactly, which is why it's used in things like dictionaries. Really, they ought to teach it in schools.

Cyborg Pirate
2007-04-15, 09:43 AM
IPA, International Phonetic Alphabet. Represents the sounds of words almost exactly, which is why it's used in things like dictionaries. Really, they ought to teach it in schools.

I was just wondering what the point was of bringing it up here, considering that nobody seems to use it.

Fualkner Asiniti
2007-04-15, 09:45 AM
I say it Litch. My DM used to say lick, but he eventually started saying litch

Fhaolan
2007-04-15, 09:48 AM
There are rules in english which govern how vowels are supposed to be pronounced based on the context of the word they are in. Again, I don;t see the problem here.


English is the only languages I know of that you have to use context to spell correctly. In other languages letters, and combinations of letters, represent specific sounds. When these sounds are changed by context, they are represented by *different letters*.

(Oh, just as an On-Topic note, I pronouch lich as lych, as in lychgate. My parents had taught me a smattering of Middle English before I ran into that particular monster entry, so I was already familiar with the word.)

kamikasei
2007-04-15, 09:48 AM
I was just wondering what the point was of bringing it up here, considering that nobody seems to use it.

...Because it's an unambiguous way to represent the pronunciation of a word? And because we're discussion pronunciation?

And as it happens, Wiktionary also gives lich as /lɪʧ/, which seems to settle the issue of what's "correct".

Lòkki Gallansbayne
2007-04-15, 09:51 AM
I was just wondering what the point was of bringing it up here, considering that nobody seems to use it. The point is that people should use it because if had been used from the beginning half of this thread wouldn't have happened. :smalltongue:

FWIW, I say lich to rhyme with rich.

EDIT: For those who are interested, here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPA_chart_for_English)'s a handy chart to start you off on your magical journey to being able to read IPA.

Cyborg Pirate
2007-04-15, 09:53 AM
...Because it's an unambiguous way to represent the pronunciation of a word? And because we're discussion pronunciation?

And as it happens, Wiktionary also gives lich as /lɪʧ/, which seems to settle the issue of what's "correct".

And yet I'm still looking at this poll today, and I'm still occasionally listening to people who pronounce 'stealth' as 'stielthe'. People aren't learning.




English is the only languages I know of that you have to use context to spell correctly.

Nevertheless, the rules for it are still out there, and everyone can learn it, and if everyone really did, there wouldn't be any issues about "do I pronounce it like this or like this?", except for placenames and such.

kamikasei
2007-04-15, 10:00 AM
I don't see your point. But in any case, I've given my answer to the original question, and the "correct" pronunciation has been shown, so I'll leave the thread to other poll respondents.

Gygaxphobia
2007-04-15, 10:00 AM
It's that I know people pronouce it as 'Glou-chester', but otherwise I'd just pronounce it as it is written, Glou-cester.

Actually you're wrong, it's pronounced "Gloster".



X and y makes Xy. Lo. Phone. Xylophone. I don't see the problem?


The standard sound of 'x' is 'cks' like in 'axe'. Coming from the Greek 'xhi'.
In the word 'Xylophone' the 'x' sounds like a 'z'. So 'xy' is not a valid attempt at phonetic spelling.




There are rules in english which govern how vowels are supposed to be pronounced based on the context of the word they are in. Again, I don;t see the problem here.

Wouldn't those rules mean you would pronounce it "lych" with a long-i sound?




Quote:
Originally Posted by Fhaolan http://www.giantitp.com/forums/images/buttons/viewpost.gif (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2402817#post2402817)
English is the only languages I know of that you have to use context to spell correctly.

Nevertheless, the rules for it are still out there, and everyone can learn it, and if everyone really did, there wouldn't be any issues about "do I pronounce it like this or like this?", except for placenames and such.

Again you are wrong unfortunately, English is all about context and exceptions. There are basic rules but they are extensively modified by the large number of different dialects and languages that have been incorporated.
Are you a native English speaker?

Fhaolan
2007-04-15, 10:03 AM
And yet I'm still looking at this poll today, and I'm still occasionally listening to people who pronounce 'stealth' as 'stielthe'. People aren't learning.

I may be misreading the way you spelled that pronounciation, but that sounds like a Southern American dialect to me. I know a lot of people think that accent/dialect is very high-class and all that, but I find it very jarring. Of course my perspective is warped. I grew up in Canada. :smallbiggrin:

Unfortunately, spoken English is still a living language. Dialects are still evolving, and pronounciations are still shifting. Written English is a dead language and like other dead languages, Latin for example, it never changes. Attempts to rectify spellings vs. pronounciations are met with ridicule and derision as many people are convinced that spoken English never changes and that they are the ones pronouncing it right. Everyone else in the world being wrong, of course.

Gygaxphobia
2007-04-15, 10:07 AM
You're very right, in England we often get new bits of 'research' as to who speaks 'correct' English.
There was another thread on it actually. It was a class issue in the past and was snobbery to try and talk 'posh'.
I like to use the Spanish as an example of how a language can be modified by affectation.

Totally Guy
2007-04-15, 10:07 AM
Kobold always gets me, I've been saying Kob-old and my little brothers say Ko-bold.

When listening to US accents I don't think I've ever heard the o sound (like in clock) ever, (I would hear the word as was Clark). Ah, really good example: When Kebab gets spelled Kebob, I see that and want to say it differently (although I'm guessing it's an accepted spelling with the same pronunciation) and it sounds so different it almost hurts when said with the bob bit. So then when I say Kob-old the whole Kob bit sounds different again.

Lòkki Gallansbayne
2007-04-15, 10:15 AM
Kobold always gets me, I've been saying Kob-old and my little brothers say Ko-bold. I've always said it kəʊ.bɒld myself.

Cyborg Pirate
2007-04-15, 10:20 AM
Actually you're wrong, it's pronounced "Gloster".

Ah. Since it's a placemane however, I don't make a fuss out of it. As I've said, a placename is more then just letters, it's also emotion and history.


The standard sound of 'x' is 'cks' like in 'axe'. Coming from the Greek 'xhi'.
In the word 'Xylophone' the 'x' sounds like a 'z'. So 'xy' is not a valid attempt at phonetic spelling.

... maybe it's just me, but when I take x, as it is from xhi, and add a y to it, I do end up with an x that sounds like a z.



Wouldn't those rules mean you would pronounce it "lych" with a long-i sound?


Perhaps. I'd have to brush up on it.



Are you a native English speaker?

No, and maybe it's part of my problem. I grew up with a mixture of malay, chinese (two dialects), russian, bastardised-english, german, dutch and french, and I carry a multitude of accents to go with each. Which essentially means, I have an easy time switching between languages, and, I constantly and consistenly screw up while speaking because in my mind, it all overlaps.

I only learned real proper english later-on. Cambridge 'style' if I recall correctly.

Fhaolan
2007-04-15, 10:24 AM
Actually you're wrong, it's pronounced "Gloster".


Okay, that was mean. :smallbiggrin: I don't think anyone from outside of England (who doesn't have English parents) would ever be able to guess that 'ch' is occasionally silent.

I have so much fun with English spellings. Especially since English spellings are actually for Middle English, not Modern English. If you actually speak Middle English, all those silent letters get pronounced. Knight is actually 'k-night', gnome is 'g-nome'. All those silly things that get you laughed at now-a-days if you try it.

Re: Cyborg_Pirate: Ah! You're not a native English speaker! That makes a lot of sense now. Proper Cambridge is one of many English dialects, one of those regularly taught to 'English as a Second Language' students. Unfortunately, it also attracts a lot of the hoity-toity crowd who are unable to comprehend the living vs dead language problem. The way they speak is, by definition, the correct way and everyone else *has* to be wrong. Because if *they* were wrong, the Sun would implode and the Universe would come to an end... :)

Cyborg Pirate
2007-04-15, 10:29 AM
Knight is actually 'k-night', gnome is 'g-nome'. All those silly things that get you laughed at now-a-days if you try it.

"Ok, character's ready? Good, ok, let's start with you. What are you?"

"I'm a g-nome."

"A what?"

"A g-nome!"

"...you're a dna sequence?"

"No! I'm a g-nome!"

:smallbiggrin:




Actually, come to think of it, I do pronounce gnome with the g (tho not as a seperate syllable), not as just 'nome'

Fhaolan
2007-04-15, 10:34 AM
"Ok, character's ready? Good, ok, let's start with you. What are you?"

"I'm a g-nome."

"A what?"

"A g-nome!"

"...you're a dna sequence?"

"No! I'm a g-nome!"

:smallbiggrin:




Actually, come to think of it, I do pronounce gnome with the g (tho not as a seperate syllable), not as just 'nome'

*LAUGH* Okay, not quite what I meant, but incredibly funny none-the-less. More guh-nome, and keh-nite, to spell it out a bit more phonetically. :smallbiggrin:

Totally Guy
2007-04-15, 10:34 AM
I've always said it kəʊ.bɒld myself.

That would be kəb.ɒld for me then.


The topic title just reminded me of an awful joke about Peter Kay the English comedian. Why couldn't Peter Kay understand his Scottish cousin? He was Gaelic Fred. I say he was Gaelic Fred. Gaelic? Fred?

jjpickar
2007-04-15, 11:15 AM
Microsoft Sam pronounces Lich as "Like" so Like it is.

Quincunx
2007-04-15, 11:53 AM
*LAUGH* Okay, not quite what I meant, but incredibly funny none-the-less. More guh-nome, and keh-nite, to spell it out a bit more phonetically. :smallbiggrin:

To the Danes in my EQ guild, my gnome was "knoom", but more frequently, "kebab". And if you think 3-foot-tall avatar of skeletal doom isn't cool enough, try it with blood-red bones! Kebab, indeed. . .

Matthew
2007-04-15, 01:29 PM
Okay, that was mean. :smallbiggrin: I don't think anyone from outside of England (who doesn't have English parents) would ever be able to guess that 'ch' is occasionally silent.

I have so much fun with English spellings. Especially since English spellings are actually for Middle English, not Modern English. If you actually speak Middle English, all those silent letters get pronounced. Knight is actually 'k-night', gnome is 'g-nome'. All those silly things that get you laughed at now-a-days if you try it.
Actually, we don't know how Middle English was really pronounced - it seems to have varied from place to place - we just have scholarly reconstruction.
Standardised English spellings are a fairly recent invention, though, and they were pretty arbitrary. Pronounce and pronounciation (or pronunciation) seem to me to have been an intentional joke.

Gygaxphobia
2007-04-15, 01:32 PM
Okay, that was mean. :smallbiggrin: I don't think anyone from outside of England (who doesn't have English parents) would ever be able to guess that 'ch' is occasionally silent.

I think English place names are excellent examples!
If you'd never heard Meopham, Gloucester or Edinburgh pronounced you'd be very unlikely to get it right, no matter how good your 'textbook' English is :)

CP, English started of taking words from other languages and pronouncing them properly, just like natives. Over the course of history those words have been changed to a new pronounciation. So we use European words but with English accents for them!

e.g.
French - boeuf ("bo-eff") comes into English as "beef"
German - lager into English as "lar-ger"
Danish - Röd into English as "red"

Thats why I say it has so many exceptions and the rules are unique for each family of words :)

Eldpollard
2007-04-15, 02:59 PM
Microsoft Sam pronounces Lich as "Like" so Like it is.

Yes and it pronounces "Vimes" from discworld with a hard i. As in Vimto.

AtomicKitKat
2007-04-15, 09:40 PM
I pronounce it like Heimlich. Lick with emphasis on the "ick", like you're clearing your throat. Lick-h. That actually sounds far more intimidating than "Lich", which reminds me of Leeches, which are really not that scary.

Telonius
2007-04-15, 09:54 PM
I would think that an actual lich would have to pronounce it something like "leesh." They probably have tongues, but no lips to make the hard "tch" at the end. :smallbiggrin:

Innis Cabal
2007-04-15, 09:57 PM
depends, either as Lisch or Litch, depends on sleep and caffeine

tsuyoshikentsu
2007-04-15, 10:39 PM
People add letters and such to try and make the pronunciation clearer, because they don't know the IPA (presumably).

I pronounce it "LItʃ." :-)

(I know technically you use a lowercase L, but in this font it's hard to tell what it means.

Da Beast
2007-04-15, 10:46 PM
I pronounce it litch, as Pelor intended.

Turcano
2007-04-15, 10:54 PM
The correct Old English pronunciation would be [lɪtʃ]; its German cognate is Leiche [lɑɪçə].

Genome
2007-04-15, 11:31 PM
I say it "litch", but I might switch to the Scottish Gaelic version because it sounds cool to me, or at the very least have some of my characters say it that way.

Flawless
2007-04-16, 01:15 AM
I pronounce it leetch, rhyming with screech.

TOAOMT
2007-04-16, 01:44 AM
I personally pronounce it litch (rhyming with Rich, Hitch, Stitch, Mitch, Ditch, Itch, Which, Witch, and Bi... er... nevermind, kids might read this).

Lolzords
2007-04-16, 06:26 AM
(we were discussing how cool a Gnome lich would be, how could ignore the asomeness of a 3 foot skeley of doom)

You have inspired me.

BEWARE! YOUR KNEES ARE MINE!
http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/9597/gnomelichlolkb2.png