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orichalcum


Old Man

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Re: orichalcum

 

I pronounce it "ori-KAL-cum". The New Oxford doesn't give a pronunciation for it, but does give OR-i-kalk for its root word (orichalc).

 

The Oxford says it's a yellow metal, probably a form of brass, prized in ancient times, and adds that it came to English, via Latin, in the middle ages from the Greek oreikhalkon, 'mountain copper'.

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Re: orichalcum

 

I pronounce it ori-CHAL-cum (CHAL like challenge), because I like the way it sounds. Then again, for the longest time I pronounced mage like massage without the ss in the middle, and drow like snow; mAge sounded kinda blah and mahj sounds nice and pretentious and drO sounds scarier than drOW, which sounds like a form of cOW.

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Re: orichalcum

 

Mine-

Or ee kal kum (but then, I've rarely if ever said it)

May dg (similar to sage - although for wise men I pronounce Magi as mah dg eye )

Dr ow (similar to trow, plough and cow - but it's been a long time since I've said the word, having a large amount of disgust for the system and their justification for the skin colour. I much prefer Dark Elves from Warhammer - with pale skin. Because it makes more sense for an underground race with little contact with the sun)

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Re: orichalcum

 

oriKALkum

 

And Black Rose has it right with drow. Drow, trow, and troll are all etymologically related. The "how now brown drow" pronunciation is a gamer convention, I believe, rather than having any basis in history. Much like the idea that drow are evil underground elves with dark skin and white hair.

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Guest bblackmoor

Re: orichalcum

 

I find the dark skin/pale hair look really attractive (Urd from Oh My Goddess being a case in point)' date=' so I put Dark Elves in my fantasy world, but I put them in the desert.[/quote']

 

That's cool. I like that.

 

For myself, I pronounce these things:

 

orichalcum = ore' - ick - al''- kum ("ore - ick" because I think that it has the same root as "auric", "al - kum" because it looks like "al - kum")

 

drow = drau (rhymes with "cow" -- because I think it sounds very silly for it to rhyme with "go")

 

mage = mayj (rhymes with "sage" -- that's the only way I have ever heard it pronounced: I don't know how else one would say it. The plural is "magi = madge-i", rhymes with "badge eye".)

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Re: orichalcum

 

My dark elves call themselves "elves" and the other kind "pale elves". The pale elves, of course, reverse this pattern. Due to the incident that caused them to split and which drove the now-dark elves into the desert, the two groups don't like each other much.

 

As far as how I pronounce "orichalcum", I don't think I've ever actually SAID the word before. I'd guess Or-i-CHAL-kum (that's primary emphasis on the third syllable and secondary emphasis on the first).

 

For "drow", I've only heard it rhyme with cow. The connection to the historical roots of "trow" and "troll" are interesting, but a) this is D&D we're talking about, and B) if I want to get historical, I'll be calling them "svartaelfr", or whatever the correct spelling of that is.

 

Which means "dark elves".

 

Zeropoint

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Re: orichalcum

 

B) if I want to get historical, I'll be calling them "svartaelfr", or whatever the correct spelling of that is.

 

Which means "dark elves".

 

Zeropoint

 

Yep. Actually also spelt Svartalfar.

 

Historically dark elves = dwarves. It was the Svartalfar that created various magical items for the norse gods.

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