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Title: cthulhu fthagn Post by: AlexB on December 21, 2004, 04:09:44 AM I saw Dagon the other night (which has its moments) and I was struck by the pronunciation of Cthulhu fthagn by the High Priestess (a role for Soledad Miranda in her prime, if there ever was one). It sounded something like 'Katooloo fatagan'. I'm reliably informed that it should be 'kthoolHOO', or is this impossible to pronounce by a Spanish speaker?
Title: Re: cthulhu fthagn Post by: AndyC on December 21, 2004, 07:41:19 AM Technically, no human vocal apparatus can pronounce it properly.
I've always pronounced it Ka-THOO-loo, which I picked up from the guy who introduced me to HPL, but a lot of people seem to favour the pronunciation used in the movie. I do recall reading that Lovecraft intended it to be pronounced KLUH-luh, with a gutteral, almost coughing sound to the first syllable. Post Edited (12-21-04 09:09) Title: Re: cthulhu fthagn Post by: Neville on December 21, 2004, 09:30:44 AM I give faith: No Spanish speaker can pronounce such a thing. I say "Culzu" most of the times, and "zulhu" is the closest to the original I can pronounce.
I love the movie. Can't believe Gordon made Paco Rabal go through the skinning alive scene. Title: Re: cthulhu fthagn Post by: AlexB on December 21, 2004, 10:55:51 AM Neville wrote:
> I love the movie. Can't believe Gordon made Paco Rabal go > through the skinning alive scene. Well, he wasn't skinned for real, you know. But then, he died immediately afterwards. Title: Re: cthulhu fthagn Post by: Menard on December 21, 2004, 11:41:53 PM 'Kathooloo' or 'Kathoolhoo' is generally the way I have pronounced it as well most of my friends. 'Katooloo' is a pronunctiation I have heard which is basically the same pronunctiation as 'Kathoolhoo', just treating the 'H' as a silent or unpronounceable letter. Whichever way you pronounce it, I think we all know what you mean (:Okay class. Tonights' new word to pronounce is 'YHVH'. 'Yah-Weh' and 'Yah-Veh' are incorrect. 'Jehovah' is incorrect too but not too far from the truth (no pun intended). Good luck and no cheating.Bob
Title: Re: cthulhu fthagn Post by: peter johnson on December 22, 2004, 12:23:56 AM Think of German:
The German language has any number of words that have no English pronunciation equivalent. The example I'm thinking of is a common slang for "Goodbye/See ya later", very informal: Tschuss. Now, to American ears, this word sound like "Chooss", but if you really listen, the pronunciation is subtle. The "ts" sound in this word I think is how we should think of the "cth" sound in "Cthulhu" -- more of a glottal-spit noise than a precise syllabic letter-recognition. Slur it all together, and it becomes a quite reasonable noise/name for the most ancient and insane of Gods -- peter johnson/denny crane |