How do you pronounce Strahd
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Scarycount
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Scarycount
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Joël of the FoS
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Rhymes with "broad", and starts with a "sh" sound.
His family name is even more obscure. I pronounce it as though it were German. So "von" sounds like "fon" and "Zarovich" becomes "Tsah'-rō-fich", with the final "ch" sound rather like the German "ich" or French "r" sound. (Basically sounds like a guttural "k" sound, catching in the throat a little.)
That may explain why Fido's recording has Zarovich ending in a "k" like sound, instead of an "ich" sound.
There are areas of Germany where "ich" is pronounced more like "ish". I suppose you could pronounce it "Tsah'-rō-fish", but that would suggest its original spelling was Zarovig.
His family name is even more obscure. I pronounce it as though it were German. So "von" sounds like "fon" and "Zarovich" becomes "Tsah'-rō-fich", with the final "ch" sound rather like the German "ich" or French "r" sound. (Basically sounds like a guttural "k" sound, catching in the throat a little.)
That may explain why Fido's recording has Zarovich ending in a "k" like sound, instead of an "ich" sound.
There are areas of Germany where "ich" is pronounced more like "ish". I suppose you could pronounce it "Tsah'-rō-fish", but that would suggest its original spelling was Zarovig.
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Joël of the FoS
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Doesn't the German "ch" only sound like "r" or "k" when preceded by: "a" or "o" like the word "Achtung"?HuManBing wrote:Rhymes with "broad", and starts with a "sh" sound.
His family name is even more obscure. I pronounce it as though it were German. So "von" sounds like "fon" and "Zarovich" becomes "Tsah'-rō-fich", with the final "ch" sound rather like the German "ich" or French "r" sound. (Basically sounds like a guttural "k" sound, catching in the throat a little.)
That may explain why Fido's recording has Zarovich ending in a "k" like sound, instead of an "ich" sound.
There are areas of Germany where "ich" is pronounced more like "ish". I suppose you could pronounce it "Tsah'-rō-fish", but that would suggest its original spelling was Zarovig.
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I'm not German...
I suppose von Zarovich could work like this:
http://users.pandora.be/fido/strahd2.wav
I suppose von Zarovich could work like this:
http://users.pandora.be/fido/strahd2.wav
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Rotipher of the FoS
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Anyone got a copy of the "I, Strahd" audiobook? Presumably, that would provide the canon pronunciation, if anything would.
For that matter, it'd give us the canon pronunciation for "Dilisnya" too.
For that matter, it'd give us the canon pronunciation for "Dilisnya" too.
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Catman Jim
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Roddy McDowell pronounced them 'Zarrow-vitch' and 'Dil-is-nee-ah', I don't know if that makes them canon...Rotipher of the FoS wrote:Anyone got a copy of the "I, Strahd" audiobook? Presumably, that would provide the canon pronunciation, if anything would.
For that matter, it'd give us the canon pronunciation for "Dilisnya" too.
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NeoTiamat
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I always pronounced the names as if they were Russian as well.
In that case, it's actually a fairly phonetic name.
Strahd with a 'ah'.
I always thought it a clever name because suffering in Russian is pronounced Strahdaniya. I pronounce it Zarrow-vitch as well, although in my mind its more liky Dil-iz-nya
I'd do a better job of explaining this if I had a cyrillic alphabet on this computer.
In that case, it's actually a fairly phonetic name.
Strahd with a 'ah'.
I always thought it a clever name because suffering in Russian is pronounced Strahdaniya. I pronounce it Zarrow-vitch as well, although in my mind its more liky Dil-iz-nya
I'd do a better job of explaining this if I had a cyrillic alphabet on this computer.
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Luke Fleeman
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I always pronounced the end of Zarovich rhyming with "itch." I can't lingusitically justify it, but it sounds good to me.
I guess that you would go Romanian, since it is a Dracula (Romanian) inspiration; however, the rulers of Transylvania, IIRC, were Szeklers, or Hungarians in charge. So it could, then be Hungarian. Then again, the "von" prefix suggests, well, a German name. It is all over the place.
Therefore, lets make it simple and say I am right.
I guess that you would go Romanian, since it is a Dracula (Romanian) inspiration; however, the rulers of Transylvania, IIRC, were Szeklers, or Hungarians in charge. So it could, then be Hungarian. Then again, the "von" prefix suggests, well, a German name. It is all over the place.
Therefore, lets make it simple and say I am right.
He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you - Friedrich Nietzsche
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NeoTiamat
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I haven't got the foggiest idea where the Von comes from. Unless I'm mistaken, the Zaroviches are the only family in Ravenloft to have a Von in front of their names in the Prussian style. Not even the Dilisnyas or the Petrovnas (both fairly Romanian names) have Vons.
In Germany, virtually all noble families had the Von in front of their names, and yet the Dilisnyas, the Buchvolds, the Petrovnas, the Wachters, Cosco, Gwilym, none of them have the noble Von in front of their names. And yet the first four are undeniably noble, and Gunther Cosco and Alek Gwilym were probably as well.
This leads to the interesting guess that perhaps the Von Zaroviches were possibly originally from somewhere other then Barovia (I'll admit that I don't know Barovian History Pre-Strahd too well, aside from what's in the Gaz I. Was this mentioned anywhere?).
Another thing is that the german Von literally translates into of or from, much like the french or spanish de. Which means that there is the possibility that somewhere out there is an actual place called Zarovich which is the ancestral home of the Von Zarovich family. There is a Lake Zarovich in Barovia, but it was named after the family, not vice-versa. Interesting eh?
Or it could be that the authors tossed it in because it sounded cool. Thats a possibility as well.
In Germany, virtually all noble families had the Von in front of their names, and yet the Dilisnyas, the Buchvolds, the Petrovnas, the Wachters, Cosco, Gwilym, none of them have the noble Von in front of their names. And yet the first four are undeniably noble, and Gunther Cosco and Alek Gwilym were probably as well.
This leads to the interesting guess that perhaps the Von Zaroviches were possibly originally from somewhere other then Barovia (I'll admit that I don't know Barovian History Pre-Strahd too well, aside from what's in the Gaz I. Was this mentioned anywhere?).
Another thing is that the german Von literally translates into of or from, much like the french or spanish de. Which means that there is the possibility that somewhere out there is an actual place called Zarovich which is the ancestral home of the Von Zarovich family. There is a Lake Zarovich in Barovia, but it was named after the family, not vice-versa. Interesting eh?
Or it could be that the authors tossed it in because it sounded cool. Thats a possibility as well.
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Lead Writer & Editor: VRS Files: Doppelgangers; Contributor: QtR #20, #21, #22, #23, #24
Freelance Writer for Paizo Publishing