Zelda Pronunciation

This has been bugging me ever since I saw the commercial for Wind Waker. Now, when I played OoT when I was younger, I pronounced and still do pronounce Hylian as "Hih-lee-an". Then I saw that commercial, in which it said, "In the land of 'High-rule', the wind echoes a legend..." That got me thinking. Is it pronounced "Hih-lee-an", or "High-lee-an"? Then I started thinking of other terms, like "Goron," which I pronounce "Gore-in". Or is it "Gore-on", more like how its spelt? Or "Gerudo" - "Jer-oo-doh" or "Ger-oo-doh?" Or "Deku" - "Dee-koo", or "Deh-koo"? Then I staretd thinking of names. "Saria." Is it "Sair-ee-ah", or "Sar-ee-ah"? You see, this is all too confusing. Perhaps someone reading this knows of a website in which it has the proper terminology? If not, please tell me of your thoughts.

Originally Posted by Kat

This has been bugging me ever since I saw the commercial for Wind Waker. Now, when I played OoT when I was younger, I pronounced and still do pronounce Hylian as "Hih-lee-an". Then I saw that commercial, in which it said, "In the land of 'High-rule', the wind echoes a legend..." That got me thinking. Is it pronounced "Hih-lee-an", or "High-lee-an"? Then I started thinking of other terms, like "Goron," which I pronounce "Gore-in". Or is it "Gore-on", more like how its spelt? Or "Gerudo" - "Jer-oo-doh" or "Ger-oo-doh?" Or "Deku" - "Dee-koo", or "Deh-koo"? Then I staretd thinking of names. "Saria." Is it "Sair-ee-ah", or "Sar-ee-ah"? You see, this is all too confusing. Perhaps someone reading this knows of a website in which it has the proper terminology? If not, please tell me of your thoughts.

high-lee-an
gore-on
jer-oo-doh, though alot of people say it the other way I'd say it's undecided.
I say dee-koo, but again, many say deh-koo
sa-ree-ah, but this one has a very wide range of pronouncements that I've seen.

I think Goron is more like gore-ron and Gerudo maybe jer-roo-doh. I also say dee-koo i dont see why people would pronounce it deh-koo unless the 'e' had an accent or somthing i dont know i also say sa-ree-ah...oh wait i can type them into my computer and default voice the lad can say them, ill go try it now...*goes and trys it*


Right im back. Ok Deku came out dee-koo, Saria came out sa-ree-ah. I took the libity of trying Zora and that came out zor-ra, Goron was a little had to make out what he was saying but im pretty sure it sounded like gore-ron. Im not sure about Hyrule but i pronouce it her-rule. Hylian came out like hil-lian and Gerudo was more of a jer-roo-doh.

I was always under the impression-

Hyrule: High(like elevation high)- rule (as in rule over a country)
Goron: Gore(as in blood, guts)- on (as in on/off)
Saria: Sorry-uh
Hylian: High-lee(opposite side of wind)-in(as in out/in)
Zora: Zoar(as in soar with a 'z')-uh
Gerudo: Jur(J as in Jam)-oo-dough(as in bread dough)
Deku: Dee(As in Waddle Dee)-coo(as in cool without the l)

You could pronounce them other ways, and I've seen people do it, but that's what they most look like, and that's what flows best. It is rather confusing, but that's always the impression of what I was under.

Moblin -- Like Goblin only with a M not a G
Octorok -- Octo like Octopus and Rok like Rock
Kokiri -- Koh (like "oh" with a K) Key (lock and Key) Ree
Hylian/Hylia -- High Lee An or High Lee Uh
Rito -- Ree Tow (like a Tow truck)
Korok -- Core (like the center) Ahk or Core Oak (think center of an oak tree)

Manhandla -- Man handle uh
Gleeok -- Glee Ahk (pretty obvious)
Aquamentus -- Yeah you'd have to be stupid not to get this one.
Volvagia -- Vole (like the rodent) Vah Jee Uh (thank GOD nobody at Nintendo accidentally added an N after the i in this one)
Kakariko -- Khaka (kinda like Khaki with another A and no I) Ree Koh
Sheikah -- Shee Kah

Koholint -- Koho (like soho with a K not an S) Lint (like belly button lint)
Holodrum -- Ho Lo Drum
Labrynna -- La Brin (like Brinstar in Metroid) Nah
Subrosia -- Soo Bro (like Mario Bro) Zhuh (like Shuh with a Z sound)
Parapa -- Pah Rah Pah

Mido -- My Dough
Daphnes Nohansen -- Daph (like Daft) Ness No Hansen (like the "band")
Tetra -- like Tetris with an Ah instead of an Iss
Valoo -- Vah Loo
Jabun -- Jah Buhn
Chu Chu -- Yeah you're an idiot if you can't figure this one out.
Bokoblin -- Boh Koh Blihn

Ocarina -- Ah Kah Ree Nah
Epona -- Ee Poh Nah
Biggoron -- Big Gore Ahn (my cousin thinks it's "bigger-ahn" for some reason)
Medigoron -- Med Ee Gore Ahn

In cases where it's most easily applied, I've always used the Japanese pronounciations, given the origin of the series.

Case in point, Deku. I hear alot of people say Deeku, and that's always struck me as odd, despite the English pronounciation rules being used. でく。 Dehkoo, that's how I've always said it. Same would go for the likes of Kokiri, Saria, Jabun, etc.

As for the pronounciation of Hylia and it's variants, I emphasize the y. "High-lee-an", as you put it.

Actualy I have always said Deku like Deh-ku. Thats just me though. Its Gore-on I'm pretty sure of. Saria and Gerudo I have always said like


Saria- Sar-ie-a

Gerudo- Ger-roo-doh

Hmm....

We should contact Nintendo about it. I'm thinking of sending an e-mail to them, or going to some official pronunciation, but I'm sure Deku is Dee-coo and Gerudo is Jer-oo-dough.

i really don't give a damn how anyone says it until an ingame character pronunces it. to me
hyrule = hE-rule
hylian = hE-lE-an
Gerudo = Ge-roo-do
kokiri = cock-erie

I make a difference between the pronounciations of Hyrule(Hyrulian) and Hylia(n).

Hyrule: High-rule
Hyrulian: High-rule-ee-an (like the article a/an)
Hylia: He(like me/you/he/she etc.)-lee-yah
Hylian: Same, but with an N at the end...

For me, it's usually easy to get it right...because German and Japanese have very similar pronounciation. The only thing where I'm not sure is the Hylian thing...
basically, I say High-rule for Hyrule, but for Hylia/ Hylian I use Hülian...that sounds similar to He-lian, but.. well, a bit different. Do you know the Japanese u? ü is a mixture between u and e...that would be the closest explanation.

What the heck is wrong with you people??

It's

Hylia - HIGH-lee-uh
Saria - suh-RYE-uh
Deku - DEE-koo
Kokiri - Coke-EE-ree
Gerudo - Jer-OO-dough (like bread)

Now here's how my cousin pronounces things...

Gerudo - Ger-dee-oh
Ocarina - Uh-cord-ee-on
Kakariko - Care-ee-oh-kee

Now we all know we can't trust her, eh?

Originally Posted by Kat

This has been bugging me ever since I saw the commercial for Wind Waker. Now, when I played OoT when I was younger, I pronounced and still do pronounce Hylian as "Hih-lee-an". Then I saw that commercial, in which it said, "In the land of 'High-rule', the wind echoes a legend..." That got me thinking. Is it pronounced "Hih-lee-an", or "High-lee-an"? Then I started thinking of other terms, like "Goron," which I pronounce "Gore-in". Or is it "Gore-on", more like how its spelt? Or "Gerudo" - "Jer-oo-doh" or "Ger-oo-doh?" Or "Deku" - "Dee-koo", or "Deh-koo"? Then I staretd thinking of names. "Saria." Is it "Sair-ee-ah", or "Sar-ee-ah"? You see, this is all too confusing. Perhaps someone reading this knows of a website in which it has the proper terminology? If not, please tell me of your thoughts.

High-lee-un

Gore-on

Ger-oo-doh

Dee-koo

Sair-ee-uh

Hyrule: High-rule
Goron: Gore-on
Saria: Sa-rye-a
Hylian: High-lee-an
Zora: Zorr-ah
Gerudo: Ge-roo-dough
Deku: Day-koo

There are no correct pronunciations. So long as people have different dialects there will never be a homogenous way of pronouncing zelda terms.

But so long as I'm here; I've always found that pronouncing Hylia HE-lee-yah rolls off the tongue easier and makes lake hylia sound much nicer. Also, I've found myself using BOTH pronunciations of Deku, based on what kind of deku object is being discussed (deh-ku scrub, DEE-ku nut, deh-ku baba, DEE-ku tree).

could it be
sar-ee-uh
or
sa-ree-uh
???

You guys are forgetting that most of these names are, in fact, Japanese.

Mido: mEE-dOH
Saria: sAH-rEE-AH
Gerudo: geh-rOO-dOH
Deku: deh-kOO
Ruto: rOO-tOH
Marin: mAH-rin
Kokiri: kOH-kEE-rEE
Kokoro: kOH-kOH-rOH

You people must be the same people who still think Sakura is pronounced sAHk-OO-rAH when it's pronounced sAH-kOO-rAH.

Originally Posted by Divine Dragoon

Saria: Sa-rye-a

That's a different way I've never heard of before. I guess the pronunciation doesn't really matter on a forum when you're typing it out. Even if you're talking to someone and you pronounce something slightly off, they're gonna know what you're talking about.

I always wondered the same thing like keese was k-ee-se till I saw the return of ganondorf and he said k-ie-ss, it confused the crap out of me!

Originally Posted by Fierce Deity Li

I always wondered the same thing like keese was k-ee-se till I saw the return of ganondorf and he said k-ie-ss, it confused the crap out of me!

I know! I've always said it like Reese Peanut Butter Cups. "Keas"? Who knows. It's kinda cool to think about though.