Hyborian Age pronunciation guide?

[GentlemanSavage]

Hi all, new to Conan and am reading up on it before I receive the game. I'll be GMing so I want to be pronouncing words correctly. Does anyone know of a pronunciation guide for all things Conan? The most annoying example for me is Cimmerian pronounced with an initial 'S' or 'K' sound? Also, is the second syllable pronounced 'mur' or 'mare'?

This might seem like meaningless drivel but I'd appreciate any help. Thanks.

 

[VincentDarlage]

That has been argued for years among Howard fans. Use whatever pronounciation you desire is my thought on the matter. Unlike Tolkien, Howard didn't leave behind a pronounciation key.

 

[Iron_Chef]

I've always pronounced it as "sih-MARE-ee-an"; isn't that how they say it in the movie?

In the movie, Zamora is "Zah-MO-rah", but I've always pronounced it as "zah-MORE-eh". I've started pronouncing it the movie way when I remember, and also saying "Hanuman" as "hah-NOO-maahn" instead of "han-oo-MAN". I'm trying to make everything sound more "exotic" than my American accent normally allows... us Americans try to pronounce everything as blandly and phonetically as possible. :wink:

 

[VincentDarlage]

That is how I pronounce each of those as well. I ought to do the same thing and try for the more exotic pronounciations.

 

[E Nicely]

So is Belit bay-leet or be-lit ?

 

[Faraer]

Rusty Burke posted this yesterday:

Novalyne Price Ellis told me -- emphatically -- that Bob Howard
pronounced the name of his most famous character "KOn'n" (that's
emphasis on first syllable, long O sound, and the "a" in the second
syllable virtually unpronounced). She made an emphatic point of
this in her 1988 Worldcon talk on REH, too, and told me that she and
Clyde Smith had talked about it, and he asked her why everybody
wanted to say "ko NAN".

She also said he pronounced Conan's homeland "Simeereea". This is
odd, since Bob had enough knowledge of Gaelic that it looks like
he'd have used the "K" sound.

 

[VincentDarlage]

Nice to know I've been pronouncing Conan correctly (not that I knew it was correct, mind you). I just thought 'Ko' was a stronger syllable than 'nan', so I put the emphasis on the syllable I liked.

Now I have an argument to put forward when people try and correct me.

 

[Orkin]

Wow. I've always insisted on Cimmerian as "Kim Mary Ann". Guess I still will, I mean, Bob Howard isn't going to come back from the grave and throttle me is he?

Now I'm going to have nightmares... :shock:

 

[Johannixx]

So is Belit bay-leet or be-lit ?

I always saw it as "Beh-LEET", but that's just my 2 cents.

 

[Ordovician]

So Conan is said more like Conan O'Brien? Blecch.

 

[JamesMishler]

Pretty sure it should be Bel-it, "Bel" (alternative "Baal") being the Canaanite element for "lord," as in "Bel-zabul" or "Bel-amon."

 

[AGNKim]

Wow. I've always insisted on Cimmerian as "Kim Mary Ann". Guess I still will, I mean, Bob Howard isn't going to come back from the grave and throttle me is he?

Now I'm going to have nightmares... :shock:

Don't ask how I got this far back, but I was reading this and had to laugh. My name is Kim (AGNKim = A Guy Named Kim) and my wife's name is Marianne (Mary Ann). Now we have a Conan connection.

 

[decker423]

I've always pronounced it as "sih-MARE-ee-an"; isn't that how they say it in the movie?

In the movie, Zamora is "Zah-MO-rah", but I've always pronounced it as "zah-MORE-eh". I've started pronouncing it the movie way when I remember, and also saying "Hanuman" as "hah-NOO-maahn" instead of "han-oo-MAN". I'm trying to make everything sound more "exotic" than my American accent normally allows... us Americans try to pronounce everything as blandly and phonetically as possible. :wink:

R.E. Howard was an American, there is a plausable explanation (with a book with the title "Conan the Phenomenon") that Conan is an American Phenomenon. Therefore, everything in the Hyborian world should have an American accent. Even the Nordheimer, Shemite and other foreign sounding stuff. :lol:

 

[decker423]

I need to correct myself. R.E. Howard was from Texas. Therefore an American "southern" (specifically Texas or southwestern accent) should be used for pronounciation.

 

[PrinceYyrkoon]

Howard sometimes stole, albeit obscure, historical names. Cimmeria is pronounced Sim-ER-iea when talking about the historical place. Later named the Crimea.

 

[decker423]

My comments were intended to be light hearted and serve as an inspiration of laughter for tongue-in-cheek the RE Howard genre. Thought that was obvious. Sorry, I won't assume again. :lol:

 

[PrinceYyrkoon]

My comments were intended to be light hearted and serve as an inspiration of laughter for tongue-in-cheek the RE Howard genre. Thought that was obvious. Sorry, I won't assume again. :lol:

Yeah, I laughed, and then got serious.

 

[Brisco]

When in doubt, trust Vincent.

Personally, I avoid the soft "c". I like to imagine the Cimmerians as the Cymrics, even though they are based on a different people.

The internet says:
"The Cimmerians or Kimmerians (Greek: Κιμμέριοι, Kimmerioi) were ancient equestrian nomads who, according to Herodotus, originally inhabited the region north of the Caucasus and the Black Sea, in what is now Ukraine and Russia, in the 8th and 7th centuries BC."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cimmerian

So if the origin is Greek, it would still use the hard "k".

Just to be different, I talk about "KOH-nan" normally (as Arnie says it), but in game I use "kon-an". That's when players sit up and pay attention. He's also shorter, but no less formidable "in real life". i.e. when the players met him in the Tide of Blood.

On the topic of acents, in Tide of Blood, there is a journal of a dead explorer. I read it out in my best Steve Irwin voice. It totally ruined the tension and mood, but it went down very well. In my defence, we were waiting for all the players to turn up, then I went back to savage drop bears and killer crocs. "Crikey!"

Cheers,
Brisco.

 

[Supplement Four]

Here's two I have trouble with:

Zuagir = Zway-gear ?


Or, how about: Khawarizmi ?

 

[kintire]

Zuagir = Zway-gear ?

yes.

Khawarizmi

K(h)-ah-wahr-is-me.

First K aspirated. At least, that's my take!