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[VlaudTheImpaler]

Pronunciation arguments where everyone in the thread has a different accent and argues with all their might that, "NO, IT SOUNDS LIKE *insert word that is pronounced totally differently in different parts of the world*" are my favourite kind of GAF handwringing.

lol.

At first it was bottling my mind... and then I realized what was going on. lol

Why can't everyone just post a voice clip or an audio example of some sort? Would be much better.

EDIT: It looks like people finally did on the last couple pages.

 

[Juicy Bob]

Nope, don't pronounce SNES as one word at all but if you do it, it's definitely not with a hard S or anything that sounds like a Z.

Bollocks.

'NES' was always "nez" which is consistent with how we pronounce a name like 'Les'.

So, add an 's' on the front and it logically becomes 'snez'.

Like, you wouldn't hear anyone refer to Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) as "pess". It's "pez".

 

[Yoshimitsu126]

The voice actor:
https://youtu.be/jcdIqTFgWRA?t=91
https://youtu.be/jcdIqTFgWRA?t=62

Wario bonus:
https://youtu.be/jcdIqTFgWRA?t=31

Love Charles. He's basically the Mr. Voice of video games and is loving every minute of it.

 

[PK Gaming]

Too many people in here seem to believe that there are "right" and "wrong" ways to say things, without understanding how dialects and regional variation work. Nobody "owns" English (no, not the English), and it can be changed and altered in many ways by many people, and still end up being correct, in its own way.

If a certain pronunciation is pervasive enough within a dialect, then it is "correct", regardless of whether or not it conforms to the standard set by the audio clip that plays at the beginning of the game. While it may not be the same way that North American dialect speakers will say it, or the same way an Italian would say it, it is still, nonetheless, correct. Even extremely deviant ways of pronouncing foreign words such as 'karaoke' or 'karate' are considered correct (by English and Japanese alike), and are simply a product of English, and of dialect.

No, everything about this post is patently untrue.

Mario is an Italian name. With an Italian pronunciation. There's no room for interpretation or "dialect" because we're dealing with name here.

 

[spazchicken]

I often wonder of people have ears.

A lot of people on the east coast of the US say Merryo instead of Mario and a lot of Canadians say draygon instead of dragon. And for you British, I had no idea the letter "i" makes a "u" sound. Bud instead of bird. What's worse is you invented the language.

Me for instance, I know that it somewhat recently has been known to be Ree-you instead of Ryu but my excuse is that I simply refuse.

 

[VegiHam]

No, everything about this post is patently untrue.

Mario is an Italian name. With an Italian pronunciation. There's no room for interpretation or "dialect" because we're dealing with name here.

No, everything about this post is patently untrue.

Pronunciation of names is frequently altered by dialect. For example, ask Americans and British to agree on a 'correct' pronunciation of, say, Mary.Or Craig. Furthermore there is a ton of historical precedent for changing the way a name is pronounced when rendering it in a different language.

And for you British, I had no idea the letter "i" makes a "u" sound. Bud instead of bird. What's worse is you invented the language.

Huh? Gunna need you to pin this down to a specific accent beyond just British cus I've never heard this.

 

[KnightimeX_Legacy]

Mar (car the automobile)
i (Sounds exactly how you would say the letter E ie - See, sea, green, leaf, believe)
o (sounds like the o in - oh, grow, slow, joe, row, below)

 

[Zugma]

No, everything about this post is patently untrue.

Mario is an Italian name. With an Italian pronunciation. There's no room for interpretation or "dialect" because we're dealing with name here.

It being a name doesn't change anything. Names have been subject to change due to dialect and variation many times over the years. VegiHam's examples of Mary and Craig are a perfect illustration of how dialect can alter the sound of one's name, and over time these pronunciations just simply become the norm for that region. It doesn't matter if the name originated from a certain place, or from a certain language, if enough speakers say it one way for a long enough time, then it becomes a valid way for those speakers to pronounce it. Saying there is no room for interpretation when it comes to language is about the most patently untrue thing that either of us have said.

 

[Fachasaurus]

CaliMario.

Splatoon Mario crossover confirmed.

 

[Kaban]

This is like when people try to correct my own name because I have a slightly British accent. And anytime I've said Mah-rio, Americans always think I'm pronouncing it Merry-o. I'm pronouncing it the way Mario says his own name, damn it!

Edit: European living in America, for the record

 

[OmegaDL50]

Yeah, almost as if different places use different enunciation...

Enunciation differs I suppose, but being Mario is a generally an Italian name, it has a specific proper pronunciation.

The wierd Ma-rio / Mer-io thing reminds of the annoying Atlus Persona 5 localization with Sa-ka-mo-to / Sak-kamoto which the voice actors were told to improperly pronounce some characters names. Yeesh.

 

[Doctor Ninja]

As an Irishman who grew up in England, I've had spelled it in many different ways.

Maaa-rio

Merry-io

Merrio

and many other variants.

 

[VibratingDonkey]

It's an a, not an ä.

 

[PK Gaming]

No, everything about this post is patently untrue.

Pronunciation of names is frequently altered by dialect. For example, ask Americans and British to agree on a 'correct' pronunciation of, say, Mary. Or Craig. Furthermore there is a ton of historical precedent for changing the way a name is pronounced when rendering it in a different language.

Those examples are understandable, given how close American and British dialect are, but this doesn't (or shouldn't) apply to languages that are wholly distinct from each other. You're not going to get away with referring to a French person named Noel as "Nole" or a Japanese person who's named "Reika" with "Reeka". You're flat out mispronouncing a name, at this point (to a disrespectful degree, i'd argue). In this case, we 100% know how to pronounce Mario (the character's) name, so it's ridiculous to indulge in a mispronunciation.

It being a name doesn't change anything. Names have been subject to change due to dialect and variation many times over the years. VegiHam's examples of Mary and Craig are a perfect illustration of how dialect can alter the sound of one's name, and over time these pronunciations just simply become the norm for that region. It doesn't matter if the name originated from a certain place, or from a certain language, if enough speakers say it one way for a long enough time, then it becomes a valid way for those speakers to pronounce it. Saying there is no room for interpretation when it comes to language is about the most patently untrue thing that either of us have said.

That doesn't change the fact that there's nothing "valid" about pronouncing Mario incorrectly, because the Mario games make it explicitly clear it's pronounced in a specific way.

 

[ConceptX]

Bud instead of bird. What's worse is you invented the language.
.

I've never heard someone with British English as their native language pronounce bird as "bud" in 28 years.

If you've heard that it must of been an accent issue, it's not the norm.

Only thing I could imagine is a strong Birmingham accent, but even then it's a struggle.

 

[VegiHam]

Those examples are understandable, given how close American and British dialect are, but this doesn't (or shouldn't) apply to languages that are wholly distinct from each other. You're not going to get away with referring to a French person named Noel as "Nole" or a Japanese person who's named "Reika" with "Reeka". You're flat out mispronouncing a name, at this point (to a disrespectful degree, i'd argue). In this case, we 100% know how to pronounce Mario (the character's) name, so it's ridiculous to indulge in a mispronunciation.

I'd say the American Craig, which rhymes with Greg, is as different from the British Craig as Reika is from Reeka though.

 

[CookTrain]

I've never heard someone with British English as their native language pronounce bird as "bud" in 28 years.

If you've heard that it must of been an accent issue, it's not the norm.

Only thing I could imagine is a strong Birmingham accent, but even then it's a struggle.

Has a bit of Scottish sound to it, maybe?

 

[ViviOggi]

I've never heard someone with British English as their native language pronounce bird as "bud" in 28 years.

If you've heard that it must of been an accent issue, it's not the norm.

Only thing I could imagine is a strong Birmingham accent, but even then it's a struggle.

I assume the poster meant to signify [bɜ:d]

 

[SenkiDala]

Well to me those kind of debates are a bit "pointless", there are many languages and some words are hard/not natural to pronounce depending on your mother language...

I'm French and very very very often I hear french words misspronounced, but that's ok if it's understandable. I lived in Japan and South Korea so I learned (not perfectly) those languages kinda, and it's same, many Japanese or Korean words are mispronounced.

A simple exemple, the brand "Hyundai" is always pronounced in France/Eng speaking countries "youn' die" or "hi oun die", which is WRONG, it's like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brOvcCtaROQ

Every mispronounced word diserve it's own thread? I don't think so!

So yeah of course it's annoying but it will be pretty long until our world becomes so much multicultural that we pronouce every words correctly.

 

[viewtiful_dru]

tell them the right way to say "beta" while you're at

 

[I Stalk Alone]

English and Americans arguing about how to pronounce an italian name.

Do it with Japanese names next like Ryu, you morans!

 

[TheListOfToddicho]

I have a friend from New Jersey and we do a Nintendo Podcast together, and every time he pronounces Mario....Mare-io....and then one time he pronounced it properly and I mocked him eternally.

 

[Planet]

Oh then maybe you should visit Germany and talk to some folks about video games over here? You can then have barely without exception...

• Tomb Raider spoken as "Tomp Rider"
• Final Fantasy as "Feenahl Fantasy" (they mostly get the last part right but speak the first part like a German word)
• Infamous as "In-famous"

So much more I've cringed about a thousand times but can't recall right now. Bonus: Pizza Hut is often understood as the German words Pizza and Hut (which is spelled like "hoot" and means hat). XD

 

[Exploratory]

People in Long Island do this. Not just UK man. Just how it is.

 

[Razgreez]

A simple exemple, the brand "Hyundai" is always pronounced in France/Eng speaking countries "youn' die" or "hi oun die", which is WRONG, it's like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brOvcCtaROQ

This is an amusing example because Hyundai was originally pronounced in the Korean manner ("yon/yun") but the pronounciation was formally changed to make it easier to pronounce as a means of improving/aligning with global appeal. So you will still find Koreans (and non Koreans) who pronounce it with the "yon/yun" sound.

 

[alexbull_uk]

I’ve literally never heard anyone in the UK pronounce it ‘Merio’.

 

[spazchicken]

No, everything about this post is patently untrue.

Pronunciation of names is frequently altered by dialect. For example, ask Americans and British to agree on a 'correct' pronunciation of, say, Mary.Or Craig. Furthermore there is a ton of historical precedent for changing the way a name is pronounced when rendering it in a different language.



Huh? Gunna need you to pin this down to a specific accent beyond just British cus I've never heard this.

I've never heard someone with British English as their native language pronounce bird as "bud" in 28 years.

If you've heard that it must of been an accent issue, it's not the norm.

Only thing I could imagine is a strong Birmingham accent, but even then it's a struggle.

Has a bit of Scottish sound to it, maybe?

Now that you mention it, to be fair, I've only paid attention to how David Attenborough says it in his documentaries and was like "dude wtf", so maybe it's just him.

I did make the assumption that all Brits talk just like him, after that.

 

[redcrayon]

I'm assuming US posters generalising about British pronunciation are aware that UK regional accents vary as much as theirs do, which I've always found amazing considering how small a country we are in comparison. Even just within England, a Newcastle accent sounds nothing like a Scouse, Brum or general South-East one, let alone Cornish. What most other countries hear as a British accent is often a general South-East or London one, but assuming there is a general 'British' accent is based entirely on a media bias against regional accents, and is a bit like assuming all Americans have a New York or California accent because they are probably some of the most commonly heard outside the US.

 

[Withnail]

Those examples are understandable, given how close American and British dialect are, but this doesn't (or shouldn't) apply to languages that are wholly distinct from each other. You're not going to get away with referring to a French person named Noel as "Nole" or a Japanese person who's named "Reika" with "Reeka". You're flat out mispronouncing a name, at this point (to a disrespectful degree, i'd argue). In this case, we 100% know how to pronounce Mario (the character's) name, so it's ridiculous to indulge in a mispronunciation.



That doesn't change the fact that there's nothing "valid" about pronouncing Mario incorrectly, because the Mario games make it explicitly clear it's pronounced in a specific way.

So presumably if someone asks you what the capital of France is, you say Pah-ree. Because that's its name right?

 

[zenspider]

I knew a Marry-oh before Charles Martinet was Mah-ree-oh, so there's that.

 

[AgentLampshade]

Cata-combs or cata-cooms?

 

[PK Gaming]

So presumably if someone asks you what the capital of France is, you say Pah-ree. Because that's its name right?

OF COURSE

Thought you could corner me, eh? Hahaha!

EDIT: Though mispronouncing Paris is a lot more understandable than saying "Mey-reo-oh."

 

[pswii60]

Like 'chorizo', we don't pronounce it choreetho like the Spanish do.

Erm, what? How the hell do you say it then?

 

[pswii60]

Now that you mention it, to be fair, I've only paid attention to how David Attenborough says it in his documentaries and was like "dude wtf", so maybe it's just him.

I did make the assumption that all Brits talk just like him, after that.

Sir David Attenborough speaks quintessential English, how dare you. And don't ever call him dude.

 

[SilverArrow20XX]

I think the American mispronunciation of Lara is a different issue. It's not that they're mispronouncing "Lara". It's that they literally think her name is "Laura". Lara is a very uncommon name here, whereas Laura is a very common name, so people's brains just auto-correct it to Laura and they never even notice there is no "U". You'll notice people regularly spell it as "Laura Croft" on these very boards.

The "Ma" in Mario has the same "a" sound as the "La" in Lara. For some reason, British people tend to pronounce the "Ma" like the "a" in "The fat cat shat on the mat.", rather than the "a" in "Lara traveled far to make her mark in the dark.

 

[AgentLampshade]

For some reason, British people tend to pronounce the "Ma" like the "a" in "The fat cat shat on the mat.", rather than the "a" in "Lara traveled far to make her mark in the dark.

It's the exact same sound?

 

[The Lamp]

No it's not.

It's Ma as in MArriage.

Rio as in RIO de Janeiro.

Fuck no. Mario is an Italian name. The Italian vowel "a" is NOT pronounced like MArriage.

Brits pronounce Mario completely wrong. I've heard it too, OP.

He literally says his name for you. "It's-a-me, MArio" like calamari.

 

[chromatic9]

English saying Mario
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYDDx6WJDYQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtLPrazftds#t=0m23s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkGP5P22wY8#t=0m38s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sl5BZUUZ0qU#t=1m29s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JewYJdohlsc#t=0m4s

Mario Mario, not Merio.

 

[Kolibri]

Do it with Japanese names next like Ryu, you morans!

Rye-oo.

 

[SilverArrow20XX]

It's the exact same sound?

It isn't.

Cat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKPRO98DyUk

Mark
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uhiN3sPBtU

 

[kyser73]

I'm from Essex England, i pronounce it as Marryo is that right ?

Mate, you're from God's Own County and don't need to give a shit

 

[BurningNad]

It's not wrong, it's the accent of people in the region. I think Marry-oh sounds better and correct (I'm from Brooklyn NY) but I don't shit on people who say Marr-iyo. I know people NAMED Mario who pronounce it "Marry-oh." Say it however the hell you want and don't worry about how other people say it.

Potato, potahto.

 

[Ushay]

UK here. No one has ever pronounced it like that. Also rather difficult to do so when the game introduces him with "It's-a me, Marrrrriiiiioooooooo!"

Pretty much what I was thinking.

 

[Purdy]

At least they can spell colour

 

[Goron2000]

You all realise that the guy that voices Mario isn't Italian, right? The guy that makes a living ad-libbing stereotypical Italian noises probably shouldn't be your barometer for correct pronunciation.

 

[The Lamp]

You all realise that the guy that voices Mario isn't Italian, right? The guy that makes a living ad-libbing stereotypical Italian noises probably shouldn't be your barometer for correct pronunciation.

Go to Italy, or any Romance language speaking region, and see how people pronounce Mario. The "a" vowel only has 1 sound.

I imagine how bizarre it sounds to say Wario like the a in marriage, too

 

[Mr Git]

Fuck no. Mario is an Italian name. The Italian vowel "a" is NOT pronounced like MArriage.

Brits pronounce Mario completely wrong. I've heard it too, OP.

He literally says his name for you. "It's-a-me, MArio" like calamari.

Italian pronunciation of Mario is /a/ though, just held longer, i.e. a: it's roughly the same articulation (front of vowel space) of the /a/ vowel as the British pronunciation only the length of the vowel is different. The coda vowel in Calamari is: /ɑ:/ - which doesn't appear in Italian vowel sets. Soooo

 

[spazchicken]

Sir David Attenborough speaks quintessential English, how dare you. And don't ever call him dude.

lol Kneel in his presence if you want to. I leave the feet kissing to you.

He sounds so annoying but at the same time, a very good narrator as well. Oh well, nobody is perfect.

At least they can spell colour

There's no "u" in color.

 

[bequietdrive]

Americans thinking they're right about everything - the thread.

 

[baconcow]

From Canada. Everyone I know, including myself, says it like that, too.