Pronounciation

[Gwyn]

Okay folks, I hope this doesn't sound ridiculous. Here I am, been a pagan/magician for some 7 years now but I have no idea how to pronounce "grimoire." I have so very little (almost no) face-to-face contact with other pagans or magicians so I've just never spoken the word aloud or heard it spoken. How nuts is that? Here is how I've always said it in my head....."GRIM-wahr".....similar sounding to "armoire."

Can you show me, via computer, how you pronounce this word? I feel like a total idiot.

[Myst]

Actually that's how I pronounce it too.

And it doesn't sound ridiculous - it's hard to know how to pronounce a lot of words we use :)

[cherrywind]

I have heard it said, and I've only ever heard it like grim-OR-ay.

I suppose it's like a lot of other words though, where there are different pronounciations for the same word :).

[Theres]

like deity!
(dee-ity, day-ity?)
i've always pronounced grimoire as you guys do too.

[Gwyn]

Thanks for your reply.....good to know you pronounce it the same. I just was so curious about how others spoke the word, whether aloud or in their minds as they read. I'm glad you didn't think the question was ridiculous!

[Gwyn]

Greenman and cherrywind, thank you for your replies too......I like the "grim-or-ay" way of saying it actually. I always pronounced it like a French word. I assume the word is French? Who knows, lol.

[Ben Gruagach]

If the word "grimoire" is prononouced as the French would say it, it wouldn't have the "Ay" sound at the end unless the e had an accent over it (the slash that goes from lower left up towards the upper right.) You need the accent to make it the "Ay" sound.

So I think the word "grimoire" is most likely pronounced "grim-wahr" (sort of like armoire - "arm-wahr"

I tried to look up an official pronounciation in my various dictionaries (a Funk & Wagnalls and two different Websters) but none of them listed "grimoire." I didn't have any better luck finding it online in the dictionaries, either.

(I grew up in eastern Ontario, Canada, near the Quebec border so I took French classes all through school.)

; )

Ben

[Gwyn]

Thanks, Ben! So my pronounciation was probably correct.....I am just too good for my own health :)

Kidding, but thanks again for the input, I appreciate it.

[Myst]

What I found amusing is, upon looking this up, I learned when Latin was taught and most people were illiterate, grammar became not only the study and understanding of writing, but was thought to provide access to supernatural knowledge (since most people couldn't read, they suspected any writing could be magical).

Thus, gramaire in old french referred to the study of reading and writing and thus access to magical hidden knowledge, and became the modern french grimoire, and glamour.

http://www.wikipedia.com/wiki/Grimoire

[Loon]

Originally posted by Myst
And it doesn't sound ridiculous - it's hard to know how to pronounce a lot of words we use :)

There needs to be a Pagan Pronunciation Guide or something. ;)

[Storm]

It was in the movie Warlock as grim-wa. The Grand Grimoire...he pronounced it gran grim-wa.

[Storm]

incidentally. How do you pronounce Hekate. Is it Hek-atee?

[Ben Gruagach]

My Dictionary of Classical Mythology (by J.E. Zimmerman) says that Hecate is pronounced "HEK-a-tee" with the emphasis on the part I put in capital letters.

; )

Ben

[Myst]

Originally posted by Storm
incidentally. How do you pronounce Hekate. Is it Hek-atee?

Some pronounce it heck-ate and some pronounce it heck-ah-tay too

I prefer the latter.

hehe another thing about pronunciation - half the time things are pronounced differently by different people anyway

[SnowStar]

hmmm...I'd always been back and forth on "hek-ate" or "hesh-ate" as a pronounciation for Hecate. Don't ask me where I'm getting the 'sh' sound out of that, but I always felt that the pronounciation "hek-ate" HAD to be too simplistic. Then again I'm always making things more complex than they need to be. :)

However, I must almost embarassedly admit that I actually finally learned the 'proper' pronounciation for a lot of words that I'd otherwise only read on Charmed. :o Okay, so the show is sort of a vice of mine...though lately, despite the suspense (can't wait for the new season!) I'm beginning to wonder if the writers are starting to run out of ideas. I swear if they start trying to stretch the storyline into more seasons than they have ideas for...(happens with too many shows I like)

Anyway...yeah...I'm just gonna stop before I digress further.

[Wyrdsister]

Originally posted by Loon
There needs to be a Pagan Pronunciation Guide or something. ;) Here here!! :D Perhaps we should collect some pronunciations and post them in the New Pagans forum for future reference.

Wyrdsister

[Faery-Wings]

Originally posted by Wyrdsister
Here here!! :D Perhaps we should collect some pronunciations and post them in the New Pagans forum for future reference.

Wyrdsister

I like it! I have no idea on how to pronounce many Pagan words. Like Ben said, they aren't in regular dictionaries. Has anyone ever found an online Pagan Dictionary? I know I haven't but wish I had. ;)

[Nissala]

If you are in need of help with the pronunications of deities then this will help:

http://www.pantheon.org/miscellaneous/pronunciations.html


it has been posted before I am sure but just in case this page was missed, I am reposting it

Brightest Blessings,
Nissala

[Laiste]

Thanks for that link Nissala!!:D

[manstranger]

Originally posted by Myst


Some pronounce it heck-ate and some pronounce it heck-ah-tay too

I prefer the latter.

hehe another thing about pronunciation - half the time things are pronounced differently by different people anyway

i'm pretty sure that spelled with a K is the latin version, and thus Hek a tay. Hecate .. who knows?

[Kurohyou_tama]

I'm so gladd that I know that long-time witches and pagans and wiccans are as confused as I about somethings. Hehe ^_^

[Deranged Hermit]

Wow I didn't realize how old this thread was until I saw a post by Wyrdsister. :) Since I'm here, I'll go ahead and ask...how do you pronounce ankh? I've never actually heard it said, and I've read that it's not pronounced the way it looks. _inabox_

[Salanthos]

Does anyone know the pronunciation of athame? I remember seeing a joke about those who don't know how to pronounce it, and realized I didn't know myself. And I second the request for ankh.

Actually, there are a lot of words I can't pronounce, it comes from being an asocial bibliophile. I can spell them, but since I've never heard them said I can't pronounce them properly.

As for Hecate, I've always pronounced it as Hey-cat, mostly because I like the way it sounds. It's funny.

[Avalonia]

I'm horrible at pronouncing things, but I've always pronounced the words mentioned as:

athame - ath-ah-may
Hecate - Heck-ate
ankh - ahkuh
grimoire - gry (rhymes with dry) - more

xP