Legend of Zelda Pronunciations

[Octo Rocked]

The Zelda games have some names that have obvious pronunciations. No one really argues how Link or Zelda is pronounced. However, there are some words that show up that people seem to have more troubles with. For example:

Gerudo
Is it JER-u-doh or Ger-OO-doh? Or something else entirely?

Malon
MAH-lon or MAY-lon?

Farore
Fuh-ROAR or FA-roar?

This is a thread for both clearing up confusions and adding ones of your own.

[dumb180]

I pronounce those in the following the ways: Ger-OO-doh, Mal-on (as in malware), and Fuh-ROAR.

Those there is an apparently large consensus on 'High-rule', I've heard people pronounce Hyrule as 'Hih'-rule.

I think the crown jewel of pronunciation debates is Sahasrahla. My pronunciation has evolved with this one. When I was seven or so, I pronounced it as if it were spelled Sashrahlaha. Then it changed to Sahasralaha. And now I pronounce it as Suh-hoss-rah-lah.

Rauru
Roar-oo or Row-roo?

Deku
Dee-ku or Deck-oo? (Interesting side note: I know at least one person who pronounces this as "Doo-key" :lol:)

[Dirty Link]

i thought it was Day-ku lol guess i was way off
but yea i also say Ger-OO-doh
Mah-lon
anf i do say fuh-roar
a minor one would be No-vee or Na-vee

[Locke]

I could never decide on Gerudo. Though I think I usually say "Ger-OO-doh"
Farore: Fuh-ror-eh
Deku: Deh-koo/Day-koo
Rauru: Ra-oo-roo
Sahasrahla: Sah-hah-srah-lah (all "ah" sounds)
Kakariko: I used to say Ka-ka-REE-koh, until my friend corrected me. Now it's Ka-KAH-ri-koh.
Jabun is kinda awkward for me. Is it JAB-un, JAB-oon, Jah-BOON?

[Xinnamin]

I've always said Gerudo: JER-u-doh
The goddesses stump me though. I could never decide on Farore and I've heard many for Nayru. I say:
Farore: fah-ROAR-ree (though I've used almost every commonplace pronounciation for her name at least once in the past)
Nayru: NAI-roo (and I'm almost 100% certain I'm wrong here but now it's a force of habit)

[Mikenike]

I pronounce those in the following the ways: Ger-OO-doh, Mal-on (as in malware), and Fuh-ROAR.

Those there is an apparently large consensus on 'High-rule', I've heard people pronounce Hyrule as 'Hih'-rule.

I think the crown jewel of pronunciation debates is Sahasrahla. My pronunciation has evolved with this one. When I was seven or so, I pronounced it as if it were spelled Sashrahlaha. Then it changed to Sahasralaha. And now I pronounce it as Suh-hoss-rah-lah.

Rauru
Roar-oo or Row-roo?

Deku
Dee-ku or Deck-oo? (Interesting side note: I know at least one person who pronounces this as "Doo-key" :lol:)

I pronounce deku Dee-koo. I used to also call kakariko village- Kariko lol. I think that you have to look into the way that the japenease would pronounce our words. Remember that it was originally made in japan and translated TO english and it was not its original language.

[Cucco Lady Anju]

Deku: De ku
Gerudo: Ge ru do
Nayru: Nay ru
Malon: Ma lon
Kakariko: Ka ka ri ko


I pronounce everything literally pretty much.

[Kell]

I always try to keep in mind that the etymology of any particular word can completely change it's probable pronunciation. For instance, if the word "deku" originated in French, it's most credible pronunciation would be rather different than if it was rooted in German. Now I know that some people say things like "well we know that all these words are rooted in Japanese", but that isn't quite true. The Japanese will quite often derive words, names and pronunciations from English (which in turn draws influence from many other languages) simply because it sounds or looks cool, therefore making the "all proper Zelda names are Japanese" statement a very poor rule of thumb. An age-old example of this phenomenon would be the Dragonball character, Bulma. Her name is not initially recognizable as an English word, but it's actually a reference to the Japanese pronunciation of "bloomers", which is buruma.

okay so we've got
Gerudo- guh-roo-doh
Farore- fuh-roar-uh
Nayru- I always pronounced it as nigh-roo, though I think it should actually be pronounced neigh-roo
Rauru- Roar-oo
Sahasrahla- Suh-hah-sruh-lah
Deku- day-koo

These last three, I'm pretty firmly convinced that my proposed pronunciation is correct, when taking basic phonetic rules into account.
Malon- rhymes with talon, like on a birdy's feet.
Epona- ee-pown-uh. I've heard people pronounce it with a short e sound, but if that were the case it would be spelled Eppona. This is a case of willful overcomplication.
Kakariko- I've heard a good few people pronounce this name so that the first "kak" is made to rhyme with "rack" and the accented syllable is "ri", which is made to rhyme with "rick". If it were indeed pronounced as kack-uh-'rick-oh, then it would be spelled Kakkarikko. However, spelled as it is, the most phonetically accurate pronunciation is kuh-'care-i-koh, with the accent on the second syllable and the i sounded short. I understand proper names (especially in fiction) don't always rely on concrete phonetics, but some are a bit more straight-forward, and I believe Kakariko is one of them.

My new year's resolution: stop turning everything into an essay.

[Mute]

I think a lot of people have different pronunciations of Farore. I, myself, pronouce it "Fa-Ro-Rey". I try to keep it close to how it'd be pronounced in Japanese if it was spelled that way. However, I've also always pronounced Gerudo as "Geh-roo-doh", using "Geh" instead of "Jer".

The only thing is that I've never even attempted to say Sahasrahla. So I really have no idea how to pronounce it. Of course, there's always Koume and Kotake. I assume they're "Ko-ew-meh" And "Ko-Tah-Keh". But I'm probably far off on those too.

Oh, it just came to me: What about Majora? I've been told by some that the J is silent or said another way, but I've pronounced it "Ma-Jorr-Uh" since I've heard of it.

[Locke]

I've always pronounced Koume and Kotake "Koo-may" and "Ko-tah-kay."
I have no idea how to pronounce Volvagia...
Oh, and Linebeck... I say "Lin-eh-beck" (short 'i') but my friend says "Line-beck"

[rnddim]

I think that you have to look into the way that the japenease would pronounce our words. Remember that it was originally made in japan and translated TO english and it was not its original language.
Things like Kakariko and Deku were transliterated, not translated (sorry about the correction, I can't stand it). Translation is where you write down the meaning of a word in another language. Transliteration is writing down the pronunciation of a word in another language. For example, the transliteration of ムラ is 'mura', and the translation of ムラ (mura) is village.

I agree though, that in order to pronounce them correctly, one must look at the pronunciations of kana (japanese alphabet, to put it simply). For me right now, I pronounce the following (excuse the IPA, which allows a clear pronunciation guide. I'm into languages and such):

Deku is DEH-koo(IPA: dɛkuː)
Farore is FAH-roar(IPA: fɑːroʊr)
Nayrou is NIGH-roo(IPA: naɪruː)
Rauru is RAW-roo (IPA: rɑːruː)

[GerudoDesert]

Ocarina.. (OH-KA-RE-NA)

And some people prenounce it: AWK-A-REE-NA

[CZG]

I'm dutch, so nothing sounds really weird to me. Our language is messed up anyway.... I could use sounds from pretty much every language and it still wouldn't stand out much between all the other words.

I pronounce them as english words mostly, just as everything is in english in the whole game. Some things have a bit of a japanese touch, which seem to be fairly good to pronounce by dutch people, even if it's used together with english in a complete sentence.

With names like Farore, I don't have the english roar in it, which is somehow created inside the mouth, but more like a nasal tone, like they would do in france for example. It still sounds more like roar, but partly like ro-re in which you kinda swallow the first letter 'r'. The emphasis is more on Fa anyway.

On some things, like Nayrou you will notice many people go for Nayroo or Nayruu. The combination of the letters 'ou' is actually some sound we use in dutch language, so it never was a big problem to begin with. Just don't put too much emphasis on the 'y' and it will sound quite like a normal name over here, although problably nobody is actually called Nayrou ....

[Wii Guy 09]

I always have trouble pronouncing Navi.
Nay-vee
Nah-vee
Nah-vie (as in pie)

How do you pronounce it?:S

[Megamannt125]

It doesn't matter, you should pronounce it how you want to.
For instance how I pronounce some things:
Sah riya
Deeku
Nah vee
Fay roar
Ter mine ah
Kaf eh
Brine (I read Byrne wrong, but even after realizing that I like Bryne better)

[Locke]

I always have trouble pronouncing Navi.
Nay-vee
Nah-vee
Nah-vie (as in pie)

How do you pronounce it?:S
I'm pretty sure it's Na (as in 'at') vee, short for "Navigator"

[Apple]

Gerudo: Ger-oo-doh
Navi: Nah-vee
Kokiri: Ko-kee-ree (was koh-kor-ee when I was younger)
Deku: Deh-koh (I don't know where the oh came from)
Sahasrahla: Sah-rahsh-ah-lah (I don't know about this one either)
Malon: Mha-lon
Farore: I used to pronounce it like "Pharaoh" but now it's Fay-rore or Fah-rore
Rauru: Roar-oo
Kakariko: Kah-kar-ih-koh
Koume and Kotake: Koom and Koh-take
Saria: Sah-ree-ah
Termina: Ter-min-ah
Kafei: Kaf-ee-eye (yeah... weird, I know.)

[CZG]

I though of another one.... Not really Zelda, but still.
Final Fantasy X, you get a bonus disk with creators of the game talking about characters and stuff.

They point out that you call the main hero Tidus in a short sound, not like Tie - dus. We all disagreed on that after playing for 100 hours with a character. We all call him Tie - dus up to this day...

I simply disagree on the creator of the game (or at least that name), simply because of my opinion... Heh.
After all, I paid good money for it.

[Linkette]

My accent is a bit weird so I just say how Japanese people talk. Except Gerudo. I say JER-u-do.
And i pronounce Deku as Deck-u.

[athenian200]

I know that a lot of my pronunciations are wrong. The only one I really corrected was Deku. I used to pronounce it "Deek-you" or "Doo-koo," before finding out it was "Dee-koo."

With a large grain of salt, here goes nothing:

Kokiri - Kook-a-rye

Saria - Sorry-uh

Hyrule - High-rule

Hylia - High-leia

Malon - Mal-in

Talon - Tal-in

Kakariko - Kah-car-ick-oh

Impa - Im-puh

Ganondorf - Gah-nun-doorf

Darunia - Dar-you-nuh

Goron - Gore-on

Zora - Zore-uh

Ruto - Roo-toe

Jabu-Jabu - Jah-boo, Jah-boo

Din - Den

Farore - Fa-roar

Nayru - Neigh-roo

Navi - Nah-vee

Nabooru - Nah-boo-roo

Gerudo - Juh-rah-dough

Gibdos - Gibe-dose ("Gibe" sounds like "give" spoken by someone who has a cold, and not like "Jibe").

Stalfos - Stall-foes

Keese - Key-see

Skulltula - Skull-too-luh

Gohma - Go-ha-muh

Dodongo - Dough-don-go

Barinade - Bear-uh-neighed (sounds like Barricade, but with an "n" instead of a "c")

Volvagia - Vole-vague-ee-uh

Morpha - More-fuh

Koume - Co-youme (sounds like "fume" with the first syllable replaced with "you")

Kotake - Coat-ache

That's all I could think of... I really hope they're all right. It's been a while.

[miku]

This is how I pronounce the following..

key:

A = a as in cat
AH = as in sock or talk
E = e as in get or net
EI = neighbor, weigh, say
I = as in speak / eat / see
IH = as in in / tip / give
AI = jive / hive / lie / why
O = as in low / mow / snow
U = as in moo, new, canoe
UH = i'll let this double as short U and a schwa since they're pretty close anyway (what, but, hut, shaniqua)


Kokiri - ko-KI-ri

Saria - SAH-ri-uh

Hyrule - HAI-rul

Hylia - HAI-li-uh

Malon - muh-LAHn

Talon - tuh-LAHn

Kakariko - KAH-kah-RI-ko (i know someone who pronounces it "kuh-KIR-ih-KO".. annoys the hell outta me)

Impa - IHm-puh

Ganondorf - GA-nuhn-dorf

Darunia - dah-RU-ni-uh

Goron - GOr-ahn

Zora - ZOr-uh

Ruto - RU-to

Jabu-Jabu - Jah-bu-JAH-bu

Din - Dihn

Farore - fah-RO-re

Nayru - NEI-ru

Navi - NA-vi

Nabooru - nah-BU-ru

Gerudo - ge-RU-do

Gibdo - GIHb-do

Stalfos - STAl-fos

Keese - KIs

Skulltula - skuhl-TUHl-uh

Gohma - GO-muh

Dodongo - duh-DAHn-go

Barinade - BEr-ih-neid

Volvagia - vol-VAH-gi-uh

Morpha - MOR-fuh

Koume - ko-u-me or koh-me, basically like in japanese.. pickled plum, lol.

Kotake - ko-tah-ke

[ironknuckle1]

i heard someone say
OAkarina
instead of how i say it which is how it is spelled
ocarina

[Water-Is-Evil]

I pronouce Deku like this Doo-koo, Because when I was young I thought it was spelt Duku so now I just say Duku, Along with my friends and family :D

[Mikau94]

Gerudo, I say Guh-rude-oh and others say Jer-ude-oh

Deku- Day-Ku
Ocarina -Oh-ka-ree-na
Termina- Ter-min-uh
Rauru - Rar-oo
Koume - Koh-ume
Kotake - Ko-Tay-K
Linebeck - Line-bek
Kakariko - kuh-kar-ick-oh
Navi - Nav-ee l (nav like navigator)
Malon- Muh-lon

[Chiraku]

I used to say Or- ack- ina insted of ocarina, LOL, and I used to say By- Ron instead of Byrne, and I say Na-Vie, and I do say De-Ku, and High-rule (hah, a pun :) )

[LozzyKate]

Ocarina- Oh-kar-ina
Navi- Nah-vy
Impa- Im-pah
Epona- Ee-pon-a
Deku- Dey-ku
Nayru- Nay-ru
Farore- Fah-rore
Din- Din
Ilia- Uh-ll-yia
Malo- May-lo
Talo- tay-lo
Saria- Sare-a

[Steve]

Let's see:

Dee-koo
Ok-ar-ee-na
Nay-roo
Fah-rore
Gir-oo-do
Ill-ee-a
Na-vee