# Hard-to-pronounce names?



## Overbeing (Oct 9, 2011)

Hey guys,

Since I've been playing 40k I've come across some really strange and unpronounceable names.

To be honest when I started I had some trouble pronouncing Xenos, but now I'm used to it!:biggrin:

What names do you find strange and hard to pronounce???


----------



## IronWarrior123 (Mar 30, 2011)

tzeentch


----------



## TheReverend (Dec 2, 2007)

actually yeah, how do you pronounce tzeentch?! and Slaanesh?


----------



## Zion (May 31, 2011)

I've always gone with ZEEN-ch and SLA-nesh.


----------



## LoboDemon (Oct 25, 2011)

Abaddon:

'A-Bad-un' OR 'Ab-a-don'


----------



## Digg40k (Sep 7, 2008)

Zion said:


> I've always gone with ZEEN-ch and SLA-nesh.


This, except I invariably end up putting a tuh on the front of ZEEN-ch as I am stupid.

C'tan? and even worse Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka?


----------



## Zion (May 31, 2011)

Digg40k said:


> This, except I invariably end up putting a tuh on the front of ZEEN-ch as I am stupid.
> 
> C'tan? and even worse Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka?


SEE-tan and GAZ-gool Mag Ur-uk Thra-ka?


----------



## Digg40k (Sep 7, 2008)

Zion said:


> SEE-tan and GAZ-gool Mag Ur-uk Thra-ka?


I say Cuh-tan and Gaz-Kull Mag Uh-Ruk Thra-ka. Weird isn't it how different people say things?


----------



## lokis222 (Mar 14, 2009)

Zion said:


> SEE-tan and GAZ-gool Mag Ur-uk Thra-ka?


I always went with Keh-tan... not sure why.


----------



## Nicholas Hadrian (Mar 20, 2011)

K-tan, Ga-sh-kool-mag-ur-UK-Thraka, T'sen-t-ch, SLA-A-nesh, Nur-GULE (pronounced like ghoul), ZEE-nos, A-b-addon, Sam-I-el, BELL-e-al (that one drives me nuts, no one at my shop pronounces it right, I'ts Belial damn it! It's a biblical name! It's not pronounced "BELL-I-al" in the godddamn bible!)

As you can tell, down at my shop, he have alot of debates about this stuff.
My advice? Next rulebook GW, take a minute, PUT IN A GODDAMN PRONOUNCIATION GUIDE!


----------



## MidnightSun (Feb 10, 2009)

Lugft Huron. That name makes me nauseous.

Midnight


----------



## chromedog (Oct 31, 2007)

How you pronounce 'slaanesh' will greatly depend on whether there are any double 'a's in your first (native) language. Someone from the Netherlands will say it differently to someone in Denmark or the US.

I use the long 'a' (aaaaah) for example - but this would also sound very different coming from a Bostonian (who only ever use short 'a' in their words).


----------



## aboytervigon (Jul 6, 2010)

Im a suh-tan person myself.


----------



## MidnightSun (Feb 10, 2009)

I say the Chaos God names as they are pronounced in Dark Crusade - Zaynch, Nurgul, Korn and Slaanesh (With a long 'a').

Ghazghkull's easy - say Margaret Thatcher, then say Mag Uruk Thraka, and that's the surname sorted. Alternatively, Mag Uruk (As in Uruk-Hai, or Bartimaeus of Uruk) Thra-kka. Gaz-gull is how I pronounce the first bit, but I've heard some people say Gaz-kull, or a strange G/K mix.

Beel-ee-al, as mentioned, it's biblical.

I draw more from Dark Crusade with C'Tan - Cuh-tan, not Suh-tan.

Abba-don the Despoiler, more emphasis on the Don than on the Abba.

And one that people get wrong at my store and really bugs me is Logan Grimnar. Lo-gan Grim-nar. Not Grim-Nir, or even worse Grin-mar. Bjorn is another offender - it's Bee-yorn not B-jorn, dammit!

Midnight


----------



## Silens (Dec 26, 2010)

I know some shop employees pronounce C'tan as 'see-tan' but I say 'cuh-tan'.

Guilliman is another one. On the Space Marine game they say 'Gwill-ih-mun', my friend says 'guy-lee-mun' and I say 'guh-lih-mun'. Also, I see variance with Sanguinius; I say 'san-gwin-ee-us', some people say 'san-gin-ee-us'.

Slaanesh is easy. Tzeetch is easy. } For me] But I know someone who says tzeentch as 'tuh-zintch' which my friend get particularly annoyed with.


----------



## SynthNine (Oct 26, 2011)

you guys must never have studied ancient languages in school lolol most of the names (not all) but most of the hard ones are the names of angels, greek figures, roman warriors etc and so on.


----------



## Silens (Dec 26, 2010)

For Bjorn, just as a bit of reference, watch the film Thor and listen to how they pronounce Mjolnir (The name of the hammer).

Mee-ol-neer


----------



## MidnightSun (Feb 10, 2009)

SynthNine said:


> you guys must never have studied ancient languages in school lolol All bow down before your superior intelligence. most of the names (not all) but most of the hard ones are the names of angels, greek figures, roman warriors etc and so on.


I think most people realised that, actually.

To add on to this post, or merely to clarify, I'll add that most of the names come from that race's theme's mythology or culture. The Space Wolves are based on Vikings, so look to the ancient scandinavian pantheon for names. Ultramarines - Romans. Dark Angels - Hebrew. Black Templars - Middle Ages, crusade-era. I'm sure that the new Necron SCs have the names of various Pharaohs.

Midnight


----------



## aboytervigon (Jul 6, 2010)

Imotek=Imotep.


----------



## SynthNine (Oct 26, 2011)

MidnightSun said:


> I think most people realised that, actually.
> 
> To add on to this post, or merely to clarify, I'll add that most of the names come from that race's theme's mythology or culture. The Space Wolves are based on Vikings, so look to the ancient scandinavian pantheon for names. Ultramarines - Romans. Dark Angels - Hebrew. Black Templars - Middle Ages, crusade-era. I'm sure that the new Necron SCs have the names of various Pharaohs.
> 
> Midnight


:goodpost::goodpost::goodpost:

OH YEAH OH YEAH!!!!!! 

:yahoo:


Now its funny you say that. If people already know that then dont they have the power to google the names and their origin and see how its actually pronounced? 

Just as a side note. My name is hebrew xD 

DARK ANGELS FTW


----------



## Nicholas Hadrian (Mar 20, 2011)

MidnightSun said:


> Lugft Huron. That name makes me nauseous.
> 
> Midnight


I'd say it's like "Luh-fugue-it Her-on"

Also, Ro-boot Gwee-a-mon and San-gwee-n-us

And Black Templars are actually more strongly Germanic influenced, look at the H.R.E or the Teutonic order.


----------



## Overbeing (Oct 9, 2011)

With tzeentch I've always said, Tu-zee-unch. Although the TU is very brief.


----------



## eyescrossed (Mar 31, 2011)

MidnightSun said:


> Lugft Huron. That name makes me nauseous.


No wonder, because it's actually spelt "Lufgt".


----------



## Scathainn (Feb 21, 2010)

MidnightSun said:


> Bjorn is another offender - it's Bee-yorn not B-jorn, dammit!


Thank you! Coming from a Norwegian speaker this bugs me to no end!



eyescrossed said:


> No wonder, because it's actually spelt "Lufgt".


Actually it's interchangeably spelled Lugft and Lufgt in different sources.

Either way, I've always pronounced it either lug-ift or luf-git, depending on which way it's spelled.


----------



## chromedog (Oct 31, 2007)

Njal.

I've heard it pronounced N-zharl, N-JARl, and (my favourite) Nigel-no-friends.

It's pronounced the SAME as the old English name of Niall (probably has the same roots).

Ny-al. Like NyQuil, but doesn't make you sleepy. The 'J' is a 'y' sound in many languages.


----------



## eyescrossed (Mar 31, 2011)

Scathainn said:


> Actually it's interchangeably spelled Lugft and Lufgt in different sources.


Sauce?


----------



## shaantitus (Aug 3, 2009)

Nigel no friends. Cool, a nickname from my school days


----------



## Fallen (Oct 7, 2008)

how do you pronounce;

CSM - ahriman (ar-he-man?)
DE - Urien Rakarth - i give up
Eldar - ALL the phoenix lords (minus Asurmen) 

at my FLGS we just give bullshit names to characters.

Tzeentch = Obama (Zen-t-ch)
Slaanesh = Porn God/ron jeremy (Slan-esh (like ish (fish), but with an "e" obviously))
Khorne = Corn
Nurgle = zits (nur-ghoul (ghoul is short, the "u" is silent-ish))


Some Lulz too

Mordrak = MoreDick
Justicar Thawn = Justicar Chumbawumba
Abbadon = Failadon


----------



## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

they are all pronounced Jeff
big Jeff 
little jeff
winged Jeff
Jeff with the sword
Jeff with the big head
Jeff with the lady boobies
Jeff from forgeworld or posh Jeff
Jeff with the tracks
Jeff with the whopping great cannon
Jeff with the pages 
Jeff with the hard cover and pages
Six sides Jeffs 
spikey Jeff
Jefflings


----------



## eyescrossed (Mar 31, 2011)

Fallen said:


> DE - Urien Rakarth - i give up


Seriously?

Yoo-ri-en Rack-arth


----------



## Phrazer (Oct 14, 2008)

bitsandkits said:


> they are all pronounced Jeff
> big Jeff
> little jeff
> winged Jeff
> ...


Jeffcellent!!


----------



## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

Phrazer said:


> Jeffcellent!!


your Jeffcome


----------



## Nicholas Hadrian (Mar 20, 2011)

Fallen said:


> how do you pronounce;
> 
> CSM - ahriman (ar-he-man?)
> DE - Urien Rakarth - i give up
> ...


ARR-hee-MON - Ahriman
YOO-ree-en rack-ar-th - Urien Rakarth
AZ-yoor-men - Asurmen
BAA-har-OTH - Baharoth
FYOO-gan - Feugan
JAIN ZAR - Jain Zar
KARAN-dras - Karandras
MAO-gan RAW - Maugan Ra
ARR-h-RAW - Arhra
t-s-en-t-CH -Tzeentch
SL-AA-nesh - Slaanesh
KORN -Khorne
nur-GHOUL -Nurgle
more-DRA-K - Mordrak
JUST-ick-ARR th-aww-on - Justicar Thawn (or JUST-ee-seer, depending on your preference, I've heard it both ways) 
abb-a-don - Abbadon

Once again, just my two cents.


----------



## chromedog (Oct 31, 2007)

I use "OO-reen" Rack-arth but that's because I tend to pronounce '-ie-' as "ee" not as in "eye".


----------



## jaysen (Jul 7, 2011)

M'Vashtek..... is it mu-vash-tek, or mmm-vash-tek like Mmmm cookies?


----------



## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

jaysen said:


> M'Vashtek..... is it mu-vash-tek, or mmm-vash-tek like Mmmm cookies?


the V is silent , its Mash-tech the lord of the potatoe


----------



## Achaylus72 (Apr 30, 2011)

Meee ay amz loooooking 2words tha EEEEEEEEEEEnglshhhhhhh Langwaj vershon ov theeeeze naimz.

I like Jeff.


----------



## Weapon (Mar 5, 2009)

chromedog said:


> I use "OO-reen" Rack-arth but that's because I tend to pronounce '-ie-' as "ee" not as in "eye".


This.

Also, anything in the Tau codex.


----------



## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

surely its URI-en (like the the russian Yuri)


----------



## JAMOB (Dec 30, 2010)

*phoenetics...*



Fallen said:


> how do you pronounce;
> 
> 
> CSM - ahriman (ar-he-man?)
> ...


Most of these are actually really easy, just pronounce phoenetically. And most have historical basis

Ahriman (Zoroastriamist Demon, like Christian devil) Aah-ree-mon

Urien Rackarth (no idea... probably means something in latin) Oor-ee-in Rack-arth (loo)

Maugan Ra (Ra... duh) Mau-gun Rah

Jain Zar (Jainism, indian religion, Zar, Arabic rulers) Jane Zarr

Baharroth (dont really want to look into this... lazy) Bah-har-roth (l0l)

Karandras (again... lazy) Car-and-rass

Fuegan (sounds spanish... like ir/ser fui/fuiste/fue/fuimos/fuisteis/fueron) Fway-gun

Tzeentch (again lazy) t-zeen-tch (lol... i just say it how its spelled)

Slaanesh (random lizard species, latin letter) Slan(long a)-esh

Khorne (milk for the Khornflakes!) yes, corn

Nurgle (lazy... sounds like a disease. it works) ner-gull

lol... i love the lulz you haz there
but...

Mordrack (Mord from danish, murder. Rack from... a rack) more-drak

Justicar Thawn (star wars admiral) Justicar thra-un

Abbadon (a bad one... lol) abb-add-on

lol..............

*EDIT* forgot to look up stuffs for thrawn/abbaddon


----------



## Scathainn (Feb 21, 2010)

JAMOB said:


> Fuegan (sounds spanish... like ir/ser fui/fuiste/fue/fuimos/fuisteis/fueron) Fway-gun


Come from the Latin/Spanish root for fire; _en fuego_ in spanish means "on fire".



JAMOB said:


> Nurgle (lazy... sounds like a disease. it works) ner-gull


Comes from a Babylonian fertility god, Nergal.


----------



## Nicholas Hadrian (Mar 20, 2011)

jaysen said:


> M'Vashtek..... is it mu-vash-tek, or mmm-vash-tek like Mmmm cookies?


I'd say short m, so m'vash-TEK

As for T'au, lets see...
Shas - shass
Shas'vre - shass-vrey
Shas'o - shass- oh
Shas'el - shass-L
O' - oh
Shas'ui - shass-wee
Shas'la - shass-LAW
Kroot - crew-t
Krootox - crew-tox
Knarloc - naar-lock
Kais - kai-ee-ss
Aun'el - ON-ell
T'au - T-ow


----------



## Vaz (Mar 19, 2008)

SynthNine said:


> My name is hebrew xD


Hi, my name's Vaz, nice to meet you.


----------



## SynthNine (Oct 26, 2011)

Vaz said:


> Hi, my name's Vaz, nice to meet you.


I dub thee Sir Smartass!


----------



## Overbeing (Oct 9, 2011)

'Adredian Vaq' out of the book 'Daemon World' by Ben Counter.

I think its all dark tongue or something isn't it, I just keep wondering what the authors where on when they made up these names! :biggrin:


----------



## Supersonic Banana (Jul 23, 2010)

Nicholas Hadrian said:


> JAIN ZAR - Jain Zar


OMG! REALY!?


Also some daemon names really piss me off like Anarkh'ad'nron and K'tzis'trix'a'tzar (i mean seriosly WTF?!) as well as Ail'Slath'Sleresh and the blue scribes P'tarix and Xirat'p (which is coincidently the same word backwards)


----------



## Stephen_Newman (Jul 14, 2009)

Supersonic Banana said:


> the blue scribes P'tarix and Xirat'p (which is coincidently the same word backwards)


The idea of something Tzeentchian being a coincidence?

You must be on crack mate.


----------



## Supersonic Banana (Jul 23, 2010)

Stephen_Newman said:


> The idea of something Tzeentchian being a coincidence?
> 
> You must be on crack mate.


:headbutt: i should probably get some sleep :fool:


----------

