pronounciation of greek

[Spoofa]

how do you say Thureophoroi? I have been trying to say all the greek named units and think I do okay on the pronounciation because i sound like the guy who did the current greek voice mod :laugh4: but I cant figure out how to say that one.

Also, any good sites to learn greek? I know learning off sites are usually hard but I'm bored, plus I've always wanted to learn greek.

[abou]

thu-re-o-pho-roi


The th is pronounced hard - not as it is usually said in words such as the or throw. Same as the ph.

The u is long, similar to the -oo in moon.

E is short as in pet.

O is long as in OH NOES!

OI is a diphthong and pronouned as it is in oil.

Emphasis is, I believe on the penultimate. Thureopho'roi.

[blitzkrieg80]

'oh noes' ~;) i hope that's suppose to be plural and not another instance of the new wave of internet grammar (or lack of)... i are serious now

[Anastasios Helios]

I recommend purchasing the Lonely Planet Greek phrasebook. It teaches loads of phrases and gives good info on pronounciation and grammar. If you use that book as a nice starter....you'll be well prepared for an online course or however you wish to learn.

[pezhetairoi]

Unfortunately, no Greek phrasebook available in the market today teaches loads of phrases to do with the pronounciation of ancient Greek names for military units of diverse and bewildering variety ranging from the pure-Greeks to the Macedonian Greeks to the hodgepodge of tribes that lived in the Balkans. In Chinese we have an expression roughly translated as 'getting to know one another by trading blows'.

It's used to indicate people who become fast friends after initial conflict arising frm misunderstanding, but what the hey, it applies just as well here. ^_^ EB's the best school for ancient Greek, after all, modern phrasebooks teach modern Greek which I am given to understand is sort of different from the ancient species.

And by the way, the 'u' in thureophoroi is not a straight-out oo. There's a slight twist to the pronounciation that Chinese speakers have no problem pronouncing since it's one of our syllables, which seems to me to be best expressed as what we write as a letter u with double dots above it. I can't give a better description, but the guy in the voicemod is actually pronouncing it that way, not as a flat 'oo'.

If it helps, the closest equivalent in the West seems to me to be the way the french pronounce 'tu'. 'tu'-reophoroi, as it were.

[abou]

You're talking about the y-psilon, represented in the Latin alphabet as a Y. That is pronounced similar to the U French tu if short or like in German uber if long. Since we have a U rather than a Y in thureophoroi it is pronounced as -oo.

[Bootsiuv]

I always pronounced it like Thwerafera....is that roughly right?

I would also love to learn greek, considering I am one (well, american really, but I long to learn the language of my homeland).

[abou]

I always pronounced it like Thwerafera....is that roughly right?
Uh... well... uhmmmm... err... no.

[pezhetairoi]

XD I stand corrected. I will now go home and rethink my life. ._.

[abou]

Hmmm... I guess I have that effect on people.:shrug:












:clown:

[Bootsiuv]

Hmmmm, a pity that I am so dumb, then, yes?

Word. :P

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

You could always zoom in on the unit in battle and click on it. It will yell its name, and you will hear the pronouciation.

[Bootsiuv]

MAA makes a good point....unfortunately, the game doesn't tell you how to say "nice tits" in greek. A pity. :shame:

[keravnos]

Well, there is always room for improvement...! :2thumbsup:

In fact this is something very close to what we are working on, right now... :laugh4:

[keravnos]

You're talking about the y-psilon, represented in the Latin alphabet as a Y. That is pronounced similar to the U French tu if short or like in German uber if long. Since we have a U rather than a Y in thureophoroi it is pronounced as -oo.

Abou is right, and the rest of us are wrong.

Actually, this is a :oops: on our part. The unit name in greek is "ΘΥΡΕΟΦΟΡΟΙ" and transliterated in English it would be "Thyreophoroi". But, as any greek will tell you the small form of Y in greek is "υ". It is not exactly a mistake per se, it is an EXACT transliteration.

In small form greek it would be "Θυρεοφοροι" and its exact transliteration "Thureophoroi".

Earlier on, the team had decided, IIRC to keep its "as close to greek" form. It is not something that can be changed without the form that would be changed into being as wrong as the one it has been changed from.

That said, french "tu"+reo+P(h)o+royy (as in rob roy only y is a bit longer) is what you should go for. Pezhetairoi is right here.

[blacksnail]

Our transliterated Greek voicemod script sez: t/hoo-ree-oh-P/HOH-roh-ee

The slashes in front of the H's above was to help prevent those with American English backgrounds from reading it "thoo" as in "Thucydides" or "Cthulhu." For example, the first syllable should lead off with a hard T, similar to "TWO," but immediately upon saying the hard T the actor should try to work an "h" in there. The final syllable should sound like somebody saying "TWO" and "WHO" at the same time. Same with the later syllable, saying "PO" and "HO" together.

[Cash Staks]

Wow. Now I am so utterly confused. I thought I had it pronounced right and I was somewhat correct. Except for the hard T at the beginning. It's those little nuances that seem hard to get...

*Goes back to accounting homework which he understands*

[pezhetairoi]

I'm not getting the P/H part... so you're saying what comes out at 'phoroi' sounds like 'Poroi'? *bewildered* Does the h-sound surface for the letter phi?

[sgsandor]

GYROS!!!!!!!!!!:egypt: sorry I had to say it cause after years of saying it one way and friend a greek got so upset and screamed at the top of his lungs the correct pronuncation of it

[QwertyMIDX]

You gots to aspirate yo!

[keravnos]

I'm not getting the P/H part... so you're saying what comes out at 'phoroi' sounds like 'Poroi'? *bewildered* Does the h-sound surface for the letter phi?

Ancient Greeks didn't have the sound "F" in their language. Just a "P"(h). It was a common Romani joke to have Greeks try to speak words with "F" sound in them.

It was p+h. No real way to describe it, other than what you hear in the mod. I did try to make the sound as correct as I can (although I have made some mistakes, truth be told.)

If you can't do that, stick with "p" sound for P+h or "t" for T+h. It is all good.

[abou]

In EB's defense, I've seen both thureophoroi and thyreophoroi in publications. This leads me to believe that there were pronunciation differences that some old guy in his office knows about that I don't. Polybios actually writes thyreaphoroi (might be due to vowel weakening or something) so it seems to vary here and there.

As far as using U or Y when representing Y-psilon in the Latin alphabet, generally Y is used. However, in the case of diphthongs, U is used. Some examples:

Argyraspidai - just the letter by itself in a syllable
Seleukos - letter in a diphthog: -eu not -ey
Strategou - letter in a diphthong: -ou not -oy

Make sense?