[HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Pronouncing Accio

[Tim Regan (Intl Vendor)]

Hi All,
 
I said:
> What a great link. I had more right than 
> I was expecting, though there were some 
> surprises 
 
DAH-fid replied:
> This sort of thing makes me cross. 
[snip] 
> So don't say 'I was wrong' or 'I was more 
> right than expected', say 'they had some 
> interesting suggestions which I'm 
> prepared to accept, and in other cases 
> (e.g. Lestrange) they were clearly off 
> the wall'.
 
OK, I will do that in future da-VEED.
 
My education came at a time when the UK educational system (at least
comprehensive / state schools) seemed to shy away from teaching anything
formal about the language. The only time I studied rigorous grammar was
in German lessons! Hence I am apprehensive about my own use of English.
Because of that, I like authoritative explanations of things (OED,
Fowler, etc), which is why I liked the Scholastic site. It doesn't say
that it might be pronounced this way or that way, it just states it. But
you're right day-VID, Scholastic isn't JKR or the OED or even HPfGU.
 
I agree with you about the pronunciation of Lestrange too deh-AV-id, the
chance of English folk choosing to pronounce Lestrange the French way is
slim indeed, even with their French motto that Anamar pointed out. That
said, I know a family with the surname Death, which they pronounce
DE-ath.
 
Anamar said:
> However, I still don't accept their 
> pronunciation of "Animagus". 
> Animagi is fair and understandable ('i' after 'g' 
> makes it sound like 'j'), but how on earth did 
> they make Animagus sound like 
> An-i-MAYJ'us?! An-i-mah-goose sounds better to me...
> Am I the only one who thought Knuts should be 
> pronounced like 'nuts'?
 
The OED actually gives the UK and US pronunciation of magus, the
singular version of magi (like the three wise men). Unfortunately, it is
written in a bizarre phonetics alphabet which I don't understand. I
doubt Yahoo will render it well either, but let's try:
Brit. / me g s/, U.S. /megs/  
 
Cheers,
 
Dumbledad.


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