Pronunciation *S*P*O*I*L*E*R*

[justcarol67]

AmLordCassandra wrote:
> >  
> > In the American audio books it's pronounced Hor-crucks.  
> 
Entropy responded:
> Ugh. What an awkward little word. I've tried to anagram it, Latin-root
> it, and check constellations. But nothing seems to give me any further
> understanding of why JKR used this particularly ugly word. Any help?
>

Carol notes:
Well, the letter "h" and therefore presumably the "h" sound existed in
Latin, so I think the audio books pronunciation is correct.

"Crux" means "cross," but I don't quite see how that ties in.
("Crucio" relates to the same root, but with the connotation of
torture or torment as in "crucify" and "excruciating"). It's possible
that we have a rather grim pun here, the horcruxes are the crux of the
matter, the essential point that Harry must resolve. "Hors, hortis" (
a noun, but the same pattern as the adjective "felix, felicis") means
"hour."

I can't connect the etymology to the actual function of a Horcrux, but
maybe the name implies that hour has come for the key puzzle piece to
fall into place?

Also Horace Slughorn has "hor" in his name twice, which suggests to me
an emphasis on sound rather than sense to connect him (willy nilly)
with the term.

Carol