The Official Name-Pronunciation Guide

[Basileus]

No one says lie-ron, it is basic common sense. The only people who read it wrong are those who don't pay attention to the spelling. Most are spelled exactly like they are written, this thread is dumb (especially since most of the pronunciations are wrong). Where are your sources? A citation is needed!

[Quilph]

There are a few things I will comment on. First, thanks for putting this thread together, since even though we may not agree on pronunciations it's still interesting to discuss. For many of the pronunciations listed, I doubt I will alter how I say the names because I stick with whatever sounds the least awkward or goofy. WEEN-gull, for example, is just silly. Why it would be anything other than WING-gull is beyond me. As for the German numbers in the Hydreigon line, I would be more inclined to pronounce them according to the German if they were spelled according to English custom: Dyno, Zvilous, and Hydrygon as possible spellings. Certainly, pronouncing a W as a V is entirely foreign to English and spellings should be changed as needed, to remain faithful to the German. The composer Richard Wagner, if discussed outside of Germany, should be Richard Vogner.

Strictly speaking, any given word can only have a single emphasized syllable, yet many of the pronunciations you list give more than one emphasis. Nobody speaks that way, and it begs the question which syllable is actually emphasized. Take Rayquaza. You list it as RAY-KWAY-zuh, but a literal reading of that would immediately sound awkward. It is either RAY-kway-zha or ray-KWAY-zuh (and the latter is almost certainly correct), not both. Also, I think we can sensibly conclude that Meloetta is pronounced mel-o-ET-uh, from melody and singer Etta James.

[celever]

Originally Posted by Fat Basileus

No one says lie-ron, it is basic common sense. The only people who read it wrong are those who don't pay attention to the spelling. Most are spelled exactly like they are written, this thread is dumb (especially since most of the pronunciations are wrong). Where are your sources? A citation is needed!

To be fair, loads of let's players (including marriland himself) say lie-ron, as well as a bunch of friends. It's not that !
How do you know the pronunciations are wrong? It's actually the main reason for the thread, just to show how people who think they are said one way get it found out it is the other!
Besides, he already said he is using the 3DS pokedex plus which says the name directly to you!

[atsync]

: Pidgeot; PID-jit

I just booted up my copy of Pokedex 3D and to me the game pronounces Pidgeot more like it's spelt rather than what you have listed.

So like this:

PID-jee-ot

Of course, people should just pronounce things however they want to! I know I don't agree with some of these pronounciations and this thread is probably not going to make me change my ways.

[Quickster]

Originally Posted by Fat Cobraroll

Siz-or? You kidding me?

Also, SAY-bel-eye? I don't see the extra E. Always called it SAB-lay.

LARE-on?!? Now well... time to unlearn LAI-ron. EDIT: Ahh.... I see. LARE as in one syllable, not two.

MANE-EK-trick? Four syllables? Huh?!? EDIT: Wait, I see. Mayn-EK-trick?

Spoink; SPOINK - I chuckled. Same goes for KLINK and KLANG. The way I read it, you're meant to shout. Right?

AR-kee-is? I have no qualms about AR-kee-us, but -is?!?

Cobalion; co-BAY-lee-in? Same goes here. co-BAY-lee-on, thank you.

Other than that, fantastic job. Well done and thank you!

P.S.: You may also want to have a second look at Magmortar's sprite.

Scizor is obviously Siz-or because it comes from the word "scissor".
I assumed that Sableye came from "disable" and "eye" so I've always pronounced it as SAY-bel-eye.
Lairon is obviously from the word "lair" so I have no idea why anyone would pronounce it otherwise...
And yeah, Arceus is totally AR-kee-us.

Raikou is surprising, I've always pronounced it as Rai-koo because Rai-kow sounds odd (ou as in house). Rai-koh never crossed my mind. The rest of them are fine.
Edit: Thundurus; THUND-er-is
-is?!

[lousy918]

tornadus surprised me

EDIT: No, I meant as in its written like thundurus is (refer to above post)

[Onicon]

We would have preferred IPA, but it appears not to be too popular with you, isn't it?

Anyways, to Tornadus and Thundurus; we think we all can agree on that the last syllable is supposed to be an [əs] for English speakers but [us] is also appropiate. Tornadus would be [tɔrˈneɪdəs] and Thundurus [ˈθʌndərəs].

And for those who don't understand:

[tɔrˈneɪdəs] = [tɔrˈneɪ] tornado + [dəs] anus dus
[ˈθʌndərəs] = [ˈθʌndə] thunder + [rəs] anus rus


Here are some more:
Scizor: [ˈsɪzər] - similar to scissors, but without an s.
Sableye: [ˈseɪbəlaɪ] - obviously a portmanteau of sable and eye, the names in the other languages ran with it
Arceus: both [ˈahrsius] and [ˈahrkeus] are valid; however we think that [əs] as the last syllable would be just silly
Raikou: obviously romanized Japanese, therefore [raiko] (ra-i-ko), no accents or whatsoever

[DHR-107]

Because 90% of people can't read IPA... I mean really? Does ˈθʌndərəs mean anything to anyone looking at it?

Highlighting specific syllables and spelling them a way that you can only pronounce one way is a lot more logical imo...

@Aboves a few posts, Rakou is one I have heard about 10 different variants of... But nothing beats Chimmy-Choo for Chimecho.

[Onicon]

We can give you one for Chimecho:

It is a portmanteau of "chime" and "echo", therefore it may sound like [tʃaɪmˈɛkoʊ] (addendum: chime-MECHO, I think that should make everyone understand it).

My teacher said that every English speaker can read IPA, so I learned it like hell. Has she lied?

[DHR-107]

Originally Posted by Fat Onicon

We can give you one for Chimecho:

It is a portmanteau of "chime" and "echo", therefore it may sound like [tʃaɪmˈɛkoʊ] (addendum: chime-MECHO, I think that should make everyone understand it).

My teacher said that every English speaker can read IPA, so I learned it like hell. Has she lied?

Yes, at least it's certainly not part of the curriculum in the UK (until maybe extended English Studies at College/University).

I pronounce it like you just put it there, but it was hilarious to hear someone say Chimmy-Choo.

[Mario With Lasers]

Oh wow, I wonder how I have never noticed this thread before. As a Brazilian, I find it amusing that you guys had some... weird pronounciations for some pokémon. Some things sound rather different if I try to read it as a word in Portuguese (Tyranitar = tee-run-nee-TAH; Garchomp = Gar-SHOMP; Milotic = Mee-LOH-tique; Rayquaza = Hi-QUAH-zah; Arceus = Ah-say-us; Scolipede = Scow-LEE-peed) and I feel dumb now that I see they're completely wrong, while others I don't understand how you never got at first??? (I mean, Fer-OH-thorn is so painfully obvious!!!!)

And sometimes I pronounce Scizor as "ee-see-zor", with the first syllable being short-sounded... even if doesn't make sense in Portuguese. Derp.

Also, I believe Meloetta is meh-low-eh-tah? That's more or less how I say it, I'm just not sure about the strong syllable... I say "meh-low-EH-tah" but that's me thinking in Portuguese lol.

Regice; REJ-ice (yes, 2 syllables)

What does it mean? Would there even be a way of saying it in only one syllable? Anyway, I always called it "Reh-JICE". Really silly to call it anything else imo, but heh.

[Onicon]

Apart from that it is painful to read the custom phonetic spelling (especially every time I see "uh" due inconsistency), there are a few things slightly more disambigous.

Milotic can ['miloʊtik] or ['maɪloʊtic] (the latter one is from Seth). Now, we are not native English speakers so it depends on how you would pronounce Venus de Milo - the Milo part, not Venus. I am with the first one, so is my sister.
Absol sounds a bit off in the suggestion. We believe it supposed to mean "ab sol" (sol: sun), [ab'soʊl] (does NOT sound like "soul", more like "sohl").
The first syllable of Metang changes when it evolves to Metagross for no good reason. But as said, we cannot interpret "uh", it seems to be used in the place of so many things that its form cannot be grasp anymore.
Gabite: The English name is the same as the Japanese one so we don't think the accent should be on "bite" but on "ga".
Regigigas is a bit off. Probably a mispelling because the sugesstion says Regigigus.
Victini, we think the accent is on the first syllable like victory.
Pidove, accent on the first syllable.
Zebstrika, accent on the first syllable.
Conkeldurr, accent on the first syllable; that could become a running joke for the 5th gen.
Leavanny, accent on the first syllable.
Darumaka, same name as the Japanese one, accent on the first syllable.
Cofagrigus, combo breaker! Accent on the second syllable would be better. Fag!
Garbodor, accent on the first syllable.
Solosis, accent on the first syllable like "solo".
Duosion, when you accentuate two following syllables, nothing is accentuated. Best only to accentuate the first.
Reuniclus, the accent on the thrid syllable is off. Best only to accentuate the first.
Swanna, we recommend a shot "a" like in swan, not a long: ['swɒna].
Escavalier, weird emphasis indeed because it is part French. Stay close to escargot and calavier, slight emphasis on the first syllable and strong accent on the last one: [ˌɛskarvəˈlɪər].
Eelektross, accent on the second syllable like electric.
Mienfoo, accent on the second syllable like Mienshao and Kung Fu.
Cobalion, this is not how cobalt is pronounced. Try [koʊ'bɔlɪən].
Virizion, comes from viridian: [vəˈrɪzɪən].
Meloetta: Melody + etta-suffix = [mɛləˈɛtə]. For those unfamilier with etta, try to pronounce "Marietta".

The 5th gen features a lot of foreign words, so no wonder it creates a weird pronounciation.

By the way, how do you pronounce Milos?

[Lord Jesseus]

" Primeape; RIME-ape"

I am fairly certain the P is not silent :P


I think a lot of the pronunciations really depend on your accent. Some of these supposed "official" pronunciations are almost impossible for me to say without putting on a semi-american accent, so they seem really wierd to me.

[Cobraroll]

I've always said re-UNI-clus. Reunited Cluster, after all.

Then again, I'm not a native English speaker.

Milotic, almost sure to be wrong: MY-lott-ic (as in, "this lottic is mine". Yes, I'm weird).

[Groombridge]

Originally Posted by Fat Lord Jesseus

" Primeape; RIME-ape"

I am fairly certain the P is not silent :P


I think a lot of the pronunciations really depend on your accent. Some of these supposed "official" pronunciations are almost impossible for me to say without putting on a semi-american accent, so they seem really wierd to me.

My name is RIME-ape and I'm here to say
I'll counter your Darkrai in an old-school way

Yes, most of these pronunciations are for American English speakers - they're all for rhotic accents too. Still handy, though.

[DrRobotnik]

Conk-Edler. Not Conkel-DURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

[Charro]

When I heard Illumise's pronunciation on the Dex I was like "whaaaaaaa?". I always thought it was something like EE-loom-ice

[Groombridge]

Originally Posted by Fat DrRobotnik

Conk-Edler. Not Conkel-DURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

Can't help but think they got this name wrong in English:

Timburr
Gurdurr
Conkurr

Portmanteau of 'concrete' and 'conquer'. As for Conkeldurr, I think you're probably right, stress on the last syllable makes no sense.

[Mario With Lasers]

Originally Posted by Fat Onicon

By the way, how do you pronounce Milos?

"Mee-lows" (I'm an IPA illiterate, sorry). And then I call it "mee-LOH-tique" for no reason at all.

[Onicon]

Originally Posted by Fat Mario With Lasers

"Mee-lows" (I'm an IPA illiterate, sorry). And then I call it "mee-LOH-tique" for no reason at all.

Well, this is the ways Milotic should be pronounced because it is a portmanteau of "Milos" and "aesthetic". Milos, because of the Venus de Milo: ['miloʊtik] (me-low-tic).

For some reason, most English speakers keep calling it ['maɪloʊtic] (my-low-tic).

[Milos]

hi, my name is milos and its is pronounced MEE-los

just clearing things up here

[Eagle4]

Some of these really surprise me.
I'll tackle GEN5 first by posting how I say each pokemon which is different to the real pronounciation.

Serperior: Sur-peer-ee-ur
Patrat: Pa-trat
Stoutland: Stout-land
Munna: Muhn-ah
Musharna: Muh-shar-na
Pidove: Pih-doev
Audino: Or-deen-oh
Seismitoed: Ses-meh-toed
Sawk: Sork
Leavanny: Lev-uhn-ee
Scolipede: Scoll-ih-peed
Krookodile: Krook-uh-dile
Scrafty: Scrarf-tee
Sigilyph: Sig-ih-lif
Tirtouga: Tur-too-ga
Archen: Ar-chuhn
Zoroark: Zorro-awk
Reuniclus: Ree-yu-nih-klis
Emolga: Eh-mole-guh
Karrablast: Karra-blarst
Escvalier: Ess-cuh-val-ee-er
Foongus: Foon-guhs
Amoongus: Uh-moon-guhs
Alomomola: Aa-low-mo-mo-luh
Beheeyem: Bee-hie-em
Cryogonal: Cry-oh-guh-nuhl
Mienshao: Mee-en-shao
Druddigon: Drudd-ee-gone
Bisharp: Bye-sharp
Zweilous: Zway-luhs
Hydreigon: Hy-dray-gone
Cobalion: Co-bal-ee-on
Verizion: Ver-is-ee-on
Reshiram: Resh-ee-ram
Keldeo: Kel-day-oh
Meloetta: Mell-oh-etta

[Lord Jesseus]

Originally Posted by Fat Groombridge

Can't help but think they got this name wrong in English:

Timburr
Gurdurr
Conkurr

Portmanteau of 'concrete' and 'conquer'. As for Conkeldurr, I think you're probably right, stress on the last syllable makes no sense.

YES! I've thought this for ages. The "d" makes no sense in his name. It should be a play on Conquer, or Conqueror.

[kaps]

Originally Posted by Fat Lord Jesseus

YES! I've thought this for ages. The "d" makes no sense in his name. It should be a play on Conquer, or Conqueror.

I always thought of it as a combination of 'concrete' and 'elder'

but the one word phrase makes sense as timburr is timber and gurdurr is girder

[Lord Jesseus]

Originally Posted by Fat kaps

I always thought of it as a combination of 'concrete' and 'elder'

Actually that does make sense

I still think Conkerurr would be better :P