Official Pronunciation Guide for Monsters and Races

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#83 Jan 27, 2018
V2Blast
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Quote from VillainTheory >>

Hi V2Blast, good post, I don't think we've brought attention to this yet. As far as I know, no Tomb of Annihilation creatures have pronunciations, they were released after the pronunciation guide was completed.

I can't speak for the developers but I imagine they might do another pass on recent material once a few more adventures/supplements are released.

Thanks for letting me know.

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#84 Apr 8, 2018
XIX
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Not sure I want to trust Matt’s pronunciation...”siggils” comes to mind :D

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#85 Apr 8, 2018
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Quote from XIX >>

Not sure I want to trust Matt’s pronunciation...”siggils” comes to mind :D

I see your point, but to my knowledge Matt's not picking the pronunciations, just speaking them into the mic - someone at WotC (I think I heard it was Chris Perkins) is making the decisions how things are officially said.

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#86 Apr 8, 2018
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I figured as much, but it was funnier to say it and leave it there 😄

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#87 Apr 9, 2018
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Now just tell me how to pronounce guenhwyvar, and we'll be golden.

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For god's sake. Find a hobby or something. Sheesh.

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#88 Apr 9, 2018
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Quote from 4GnomesInATrenchCoat >>

Now just tell me how to pronounce guenhwyvar, and we'll be golden.

I'll give it a shot!

It's an alternative spelling of the name Guinevere.

This excerpt from Wikipedia article on Guinevere.

The original Welsh form of the name Gwenhwyfar, which seems to be cognate with the Irish name Findabair, can be translated as "The White Enchantress" or "The White Fay/Ghost", from Proto-Celtic *Windo- "white, fair, holy" + *sēbarā "magical being" (cognate with Old Irish síabair "a spectre, phantom, supernatural being [usually in pejorative sense]").

Some have suggested that the name may derive from Gwenhwy-fawr, or "Gwenhwy the Great", as a contrast to Gwenhwy-fach, or "Gwenhwy the less". Gwenhwyfach (also spelled Gwenhwyach) appears in Welsh literature as a sister of Gwenhwyfar, but Welsh scholars Melville Richards and Rachel Bromwich both dismiss this etymology (with Richards suggesting that Gwenhwyfach was a back-formation derived from an incorrect interpretation of Gwenwhy-far as Gwenhwy-fawr).

Also this is from an interview with R A Salvatore:

Salvatore explained that Guenhwyvar had always been a "she." Being a fan of Mary Stewart's Arthurian series, he decided to name her "Guenhwyvar" after Guenhwyfar, the Welsh version of the name for Jennifer or Guinevere.

So, the closest we can find is the Welsh pronunciation of the original spelling of the name, which you can find here.

Though, having listened to all of the official audiobooks as well, the pronunciation varies on those and Salvatore himself has pronounced her name differently in different interviews!

I haven't listened to "The Collected Stories, The Legend of Drizzt" yet though, where Salvatore apparently talks about Guen and some of the other characters.

I hope that helps!

Last edited by Stormknight: Apr 9, 2018

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#89 Apr 9, 2018
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Thanks!

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For god's sake. Find a hobby or something. Sheesh.

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#90 Apr 9, 2018
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Now pronounce Worcester, MA :)

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#91 Apr 17, 2018
LordShadowthorn
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It's kind of sad that even the author can't figure out how to pronounce it :)

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#94 May 23, 2018
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And that's a good thing? :-(

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#95 May 23, 2018
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Quote from Madclergy >>

Quote from subsistcyber >>

It's awesome just to listen to them... we should stitch together a D&D remix with their voices.

This, maybe to the tune of the old Pokemon rap? hahaha

That'd be AWESOME

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#96 Jun 17, 2018
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Excellent! Now there won't be as many pissing contests about pronunciation at the table. I will still be bringing Dragon Magazine #93 with me for Frank's article though.

Nice feature.

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#97 Jun 17, 2018
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Quote from fieldmechanik >>

Excellent! Now there won't be as many pissing contests about pronunciation at the table.

Unless of course the pronunciations are wrong...

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#98 Jun 21, 2018
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Which ones might be wrong? Frank's article or DnDB.

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#99 Jul 5, 2018
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On a similar note. How is Manes suppose to be pronounced? Manes being the low CR demon in the monter manual 5e.

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#100 Jul 5, 2018
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Quote from FrostDragon >>

On a similar note. How is Manes suppose to be pronounced? Manes being the low CR demon in the monter manual 5e.

The way it's spelled.

https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/manes

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#101 Jul 6, 2018
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Ok, if you say so. It just seems a bit strange. It feels like "Manes" is the plural and that the creature should actually be called "Mane". But I trust you. Just hope you see where I'm coming from.

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#102 Jul 6, 2018
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Quote from FrostDragon >>

Ok, if you say so. It just seems a bit strange. It feels like "Manes" is the plural and that the creature should actually be called "Mane". But I trust you. Just hope you see where I'm coming from.

They're the twisted souls of evil people made manifest into a demonic form; why would the creatures of the Abyss use English morphology?

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#103 Jul 6, 2018
firehawk2324
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Quote from FrostDragon >>

Ok, if you say so. It just seems a bit strange. It feels like "Manes" is the plural and that the creature should actually be called "Mane". But I trust you. Just hope you see where I'm coming from.

The pronunciations come from WotC, the people who create everything. They get to decide how everything is pronounced. It might seem wrong for our reality, but we are talking about a fantasy setting here.

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#104 Jul 7, 2018
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Ok, thanks! That makes sense.

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