Pronunciation of proper nouns in games

[Incognitus]

This is just a study of mine; all of you will be my guinea pigs. I'm limiting this to RPGs, mainly Final Fantasy, since it's safe to say that most people (i.e. you guinea pigs) who come here are familiar with the series, thus some of the names. Feel free to add other games' proper nouns and I'll share how I would pronounce them.

I have had lengthy discussions (and arguments) about pronouncing character names, city names, esper names, etc. with friends of mine. Sometimes our way of saying a name is a tad bit off; sometimes it is radically different. I'll group them by category to make them more organized. (Note: I am leaving out the names in some games if voice actors pronounce them [FFX, FFXII] since it often colors our initial perception of a word's pronunciation)

Characters:
Rydia
Celes
Cyan
Sabin
Gau
Locke
Yuffie
Tifa
Aeris
Quistis
Quina
Amarant
Eiko
Ramza Beouvle
Mustadio

Places:
Damcyan
Thamasa
Narshe
Kohlingen
Mobliz
Tzen
Nibelheim
Dollet
Esthar
Oeilvert

Espers/Summons/GFs/Eidolons/long video sequences:
Ifrit
Shiva
Ramuh
Bahamut
Quetzalcoatl
Catoblepas
Raiden

Bosses & Miscellaneous:
chocobo
cactaur
Zeromus
Necron
Esuna
ether
genji

***

A good way of typing out the way you pronounce things is to break the word up into syllables and use capital letters to denote the syllable that you stress. Examples:

genji: GEN-gee
Catoblepas: kat-TOE-bull-poss

For the word "genji" I pronounce the first G as a hard G sound (i.e. a "guh" sound) and the second as a soft G sound ("juh"). I am sure there is a way to denote this, but I am not going to bother looking for it.

I'll fill out the list of my own pronunciations after a brief James Bond break.

[Victoria]

Hmm... I'd do the text thing, but I think I'll do an audio file of my pronunciations and edit it into my post later. Or I'll do the text ones later.

Whichever come first.

[Incognitus]

Yeah. Audio is an option, but not everyone has access to a working microphone (like me). So that works, too.

[SOLDIER #819]

Rydia - Rye-dee-ah
Celes - See-lees
Cyan - Psy-an
Sabin - Say-bin
Gau - Gaw/Gao (The second being, "I gouged out his eyes with a pretzel.")
Locke - Lah-kay
Yuffie - Yuh-fee
Tifa - Tee-fah
Aeris - Eye-riss
Quistis - Kwih-stiss
Quina - Kwee-nah (The "ee" being "cream")
Amarant - A-mah-rant (A as in "Apple")
Eiko - Eh-ko
Ramza Beouvle Ram-zah Beh-oh-voole
Mustadio - Moo-stah-dee-oh

Places:
Damcyan - Dahm-kyahn
Thamasa - Thaw-mah-sah
Narshe - Nahr-shh (As in marsh)
Kohlingen - Koh-lin-gen
Mobliz - Moh-bleez
Tzen - Zen
Nibelheim - Nai-bell-haim
Dollet - Doll-ett
Esthar - Esh-thar (I could never get the spelling down for this one...)
Oeilvert - Oil-vert

Espers/Summons/GFs/Eidolons/long video sequences:
Ifrit - I-frit (I being "pin")
Shiva - Shee-vah
Ramuh - Rah-maah
Bahamut - Bah-hah-mutt
Quetzalcoatl - Kwetz-ah-kah-tull
Catoblepas - Kah-to-bleh-pahss (I never, ever tried to sound this out seriously)
Raiden - Rye-den

Bosses & Miscellaneous:
chocobo - Choh-koh-boh
cactaur - kak-twahr
Zeromus - Zeh-roh-muss
Necron - Neh-krahn
Esuna - Eh-soo-nah
Ether - Ee-thur (Ee as in easy)
Genji - gehn-jee

--

I haven't played a lot of these in a while, and a lot of them (summons, town names, mythical beasts) I never even really bothered to pronounce since they were so long or had consonants in odd places. A lot of others are just out of habit...If I were to read them today, I'd probably pronounce them differently.

[Chickenballz]

Since I'm ever so busy practicing insane transvestite rituals, I'm just doing one from each section:


Locke - lock...as in, "Locking the door won't save you from Wally."

Nibelheim - knee-bull-HIGHM

Quetzalcoatl - kweh-zee-COLA

And the bosses and misc are pretty given.


And my own personal bit:

Shin Megami Tensei - Shin Meg-GAHM-me Ten-SAY

EDIT: FINE S YOU LITTLE JERKFACE I'LL ADD MORE MEGATEN AND OTHER ASSORTED JUICE.

Megaten - Mega-ten

Koudelka - Koo-dell-ka

Atelier Iris - Ah-till-lee-EH Iris (As in, "Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris" is Ballzy's fight song)

Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Bose - Zee-no-saga penis deux: jen-sets von gut and boss/japanified nietzsche

Nietzsche - knee-CHEEEEEE

Suikoden - Sue-KOH-den

Jam Kuradoberi - Jam ku-ru-berry or just JAM

Potemkin - Po-to-muh-kin

Zhang Liao - ZANG LEE-OW

Ys - WHYYYYYYYYYZ

[Keisuke Takahashi]

Well I usually.. well if coming from Japan, words I sound out tend to have a "Japanese" sound to it... using the Japanese style of phonetics or whatever it's called, to sound out the words... The Phonetics are set up in their Hiragana and their Katakana styles.. which is basically the same sounds, only written differently, but you get the point, using the "A I U E O" style.

Those syllabulls are pronouced "Ah" "E" "Oo" "Eh" "Oh" and continues on ward, if you've taken some form of Japanese language class, you'll understand what I mean... >.>; if not, just try to listen to Japanese, (Anime) when they say words in english.. it's more or less shows what I'm talking about here.

[Incognitus]

Characters:
Rydia - RHIH-dee-ya ("rhih" sounding like the first vowel sound in rickshaw)
Celes - sell-LESS (like the first two syllables in celestial)
Cyan - SAI-yan
Sabin - SAH-bin
Gau - Gao/Gaw (pronounced it like Gao [sounds like gouge] when I was a kid, and now I pronounce it Gaw [like in gaudy])
Locke - Lock
Yuffie - YUFF-ee ("yuff" rhymes with buff)
Tifa - TEE-fuh
Aeris - Air-REEZ (pronounced just like the zodiac Aries)
Quistis - KWIH-stiss
Quina - KWEE-nuh. (I also pronounce it FAHT BAH-stud.)
Amarant - Ah-mer-ont (first syllable "ah" rhymes with first syllable of ostensive , and last syllable "ont" sounds like the first syllable of ontology)
Eiko - AY-koh
Ramza Beouvle - ROM-zuh BAY-oh-vule
Mustadio - Moo-STAH-dee-oh

Places:
Damcyan - DOM-ee-khan (last syllable sounds like "KHAAAAN!" from Star Trek, only not as sustained). I still pronounce this like I did when I was a kid. I believe I mentally switched the 'y' and 'c' characters.
Thamasa - THA-mah-suh
Narshe - NARSH (rhymes with marsh)
Kohlingen - KOH-leeng-in (middle syllable sounds like the first syllable in linger)
Mobliz - MOE-blizz
Tzen - Zen
Nibelheim - KNEE-bull-HIME
Dollet - Doll-LAY (pseudo-French pronunciation)
Esthar - ESS-tar
Oeilvert - AIL-vair (pseudo-French pronunciation)

Espers/Summons/GFs/Eidolons/long video sequences:
Ifrit - EYE-frit
Shiva - SHEE-vuh
Ramuh - RAH-moo (first syllable sounds like the Egyptian sun god)
Bahamut - as a kid: bah-HAH-moot; now: BAH-hah-mutt
Quetzalcoatl - KWEZ-all-coat-ull
Catoblepas - kat-TOE-bull-poss
Raiden - RAY-den

Bosses & Miscellaneous:
chocobo - CHUCK-oh-bow
cactaur - cack-TAR (first syllable sounds like first syllable in cackle)
Zeromus - ZAIR-oh-moose (first syllable sounds like air)
Necron - NECK-ron
Esuna - AY-soo-nuh (second syllable rhymes with soup)
ether - ETH-err (first syllable sounds like the name "Beth" but without the B)
genji - GEN-gee

[Korova]

woot, i have time to post.

For the most part my pronounciations are EXACTLY like yours Kaz... here are the exceptions:

Aeris - AIR-iss
Amarant - AA-maa-rant (i'm not sure how to describe the sounds of the first two syllables beyond the scream: AAAAAAAAAAH)
Eiko - EE-ko (I do admit that my pronounciation of Eiko is not correct, but I can't change it)
Tzen - TZEN (I pronounce it just like a German would.. its a harder Z sound)
Nibelheim - NEE-behl-hime (again, just like a German)
Ifrit - EE-freet (I wonder what is most common, i would swear mine is "correct" hehe)
Raiden - RYE-den (like the bread)
chocobo - CHO-coh-bow (all 3 Os make the same sound, as if it were japanese-like syllables)

edit: I'm fairly sure I pronounce Ifrit the way I do because the mythical creature is often spelled "efreet" in games I played and books i read way before final fantasy.

edit: chickenballz, for some reason i prounce Suikoden: Soy-Keh-Den.. hehe

[Chickenballz]

It's all viddy well Korova my homie. And get this, I think it was at Game Trailers or something, but they pronounced it sue-COY-den. OR MAYBE I WAS HEARING STUFF LIKE WHOA.


Also:

Kakariko - Ka-cairo

La Pucelle - La Pu-cell

Disgaea - Diss-guy-ah

[SOLDIER #819]

edit: I'm fairly sure I pronounce Ifrit the way I do because the mythical creature is often spelled "efreet" in games I played and books i read way before final fantasy.

Yeah, I'm sure it is too. It's sometimes Efreeti (is that the plural?), right? They may came up with those "I"s in Ifrit when they translated the name from English to Japanese and back to English, and then kept with it since it was tradition...I wonder if they corrected that in FFXII. I haven't been able to stop saying Ih-frit though, haha.

Kakariko - Ka-cairo

I pronounce that Kah-kah-ree-koh.

Disgaea - Diss-guy-ah

YES! Someone pronounces it like me. Most people I talk to always pronounced it Dis-gay-uh.

Also, I'd probably pronounce Suikoden has Swee-koh-den.

[Incognitus]

The thread itself isn't about right or wrong pronunciation. I am just wanting to see how different people pronounce things. It is very interesting to see the way other minds wrap around words. But apparently EE-FREET is the correct way of saying it. The Tales series, the Heroes of Might and Magic series, and several others use this pronunciation and the 'Efreet' spelling for the same type of fire elemental demon.

Others that have been mentioned, and some new ones:

Suikoden - SUE-uh-koh-den (and I slur the first and second syllables)
Disgaea - dis-GUY-uh
La Pucelle - la POO-cell
Kakariko - KAH-kuh-REE-koh
Gerudo - gair-OOO-doe (first syllable rhymes with air)
Skulltula - skull-TULL-uh
Sahasrahla - SAH-SAH-RAH-LA (first two syllables rhyme with "bah" and "la")
Agahnim - ANG-ham (way off, I know, but this was my pronunciation for that guy when I was a kid)
Mormegil - MORE-meh-GEEL
Crissaegram - chris-EYE-grum
Magus - MAH-gus (after Latin: MAY-gus)
Marle - MARR-ull (last syllable rhymes with gull)
Masamune - MASS-uh-moon
Murasame - MURR-same (you can tell I don't pronounce things Japanese-ish)
Cyrus - SAI-russ
Schala - SKA-luh
Umaro - ooo-MARR-oh
Ctulhu - kuh-TWO-luu
Eidolon - EE-doe-lawn
Chupon - chew-PAWN
Ragnarok - rag-NAIR-ock
Serge - Surge
Riddel - rid-DELL
Korcha - CORE-chuh (second syllable sounds like "Chuck")
Harle - HARL
Grobyc - GROW-bic
Einlanzer - INE-laan-zurr
Acacia - uh-KAY-kia

Oh, and this one...
Water Temple - sun-ove-uh-BEECH

[SOLDIER #819]

Gerudo - Geh-ruu-doh
Skulltula - Skull-two-lah
Sahasrahla - Sah-hahs-rah-lah
Agahnim - Ah-gah-nim
Mormegil - Mor-meh-geel (What's this from?)
Crissaegram - Kri-sae-gram
Magus - May-guss
Marle - Mah-rull
Masamune - Mah-sah-moo-neh
Murasame - Moo-rah-sah-meh
Cyrus - See-russ
Schala - Skah-lah
Umaro - Ooo-mah-roh
Ctulhu - Kuu-thuu-luu
Eidolon - Ay (think Fonzie)-doh-lone
Chupon - Chuu-pone (Originally shuu-pawn)
Ragnarok - Rag-na-rok/Rag-nar-rukk (I never got this one down. With the second pronounciation, the last two sounds are blended together at the r)
Serge - Surr-gee (as in geese)
Riddel - Rye-dell
Korcha - Core-kah
Harle - Har-ull
Grobyc - Grah-bik
Einlanzer - Ine-lan-zer (Used to be Ine-la-zer when I didn't bother to notice the second 'n')
Acacia - Ay-shee-ah (Again, didn't bother much)

Water Temple - wear-iz-that-fuk-ing-key

[Taco-Calamitous]

I am probably wrong about everything, but...

Characters:
Rydia: RID-ee-uh
Celes: CELL-es (like Kaz) or cell-EES (I pronounced it like this first, because I'd thought I'd heard a name before like that. My friend vehemently told me otherwise, so I bent.)
Cyan: SIGH-on (used to be SEE-un)
Sabin: SAW-bin (or SAY-bin if I'm appeasing my friend)
Gau: Gow
Locke: Lock
Yuffie: YUFF-y
Tifa: TEE-fuh
Aeris: AIR-is
Quistis:KWIH-stis
Quina: KWIH-nuh
Amarant: AM-uh-rant
Eiko: A-ko
Ramza Beouvle: RAHM-zuh BEE-ulv
Mustadio: Muss-TAH-dee-oh

Places:
Damcyan: Damn-SIGH-on
Thamasa: Thuh-MASS-uh
Narshe: Narsh (as in MARSHmallow)
Kohlingen: Cole-ING-un
Mobliz: MO-bleez (kind of like the main character from the Jungle Book)
Tzen: Zen
Nibelheim: NIH-bell-hime
Dollet: D'OH!-Lay
Esthar: ES-thur
Oeilvert: OL'-eh-vert (don't think I remember this one. That's a weird pronunciation I've given it, too, but for some reason I want to say the "eh" part.)

Espers/Summons/GFs/Eidolons/long video sequences:
Ifrit: If-REET
Shiva: SHIV-uh (like "shiver")
Ramuh: RAW-muh
Bahamut: Buh-HA-mutt
Quetzalcoatl: KWEZ-ih-KAW-tle
Catoblepas: kaw-TO-bleh-PAUSE
Raiden: RAY-den

Bosses & Miscellaneous:
chocobo: CHO-ko-bo
cactaur:KAK-twar
Zeromus: zere (like "there") RO-mus
Necron: NECK-rawn
Esuna: Es-UHN-uh
ether: ETH-ur
genji: GEN-jee

Yeah. I am wrong. Heh. Anyhoo...

Wuv, Yer Mom