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Arc-ah-nists or Arc-ay-nists


11th Thunder

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I played against my first opponent from the states in a vassal game the other day. It was a lot of fun, and he was a great opponent but I did notice one thing.

 

I have always said Arcanist with the second A being a short one like in ham.

 

My opponents pronounces it with a longer a like in able or frame.

 

I initially dismissed it as wrong, but then I started thinking about the root word of Arcane and it has been playing on me a little.

 

The lack of an E at the end of the word to change the sound (Fellow Brits might recognise this as the 'magic E') would suggest the shorter version, but the root word has the E, so uses the longer one. English is rarely a simple language...

 

 

So what about you guys? Do you say Arc-ay-nist or Arc-ah-nist? 

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I played against my first opponent from the states in a vassal game the other day. It was a lot of fun, and he was a great opponent but I did notice one thing.

 

From this comment I assume you are not from the USA and so I wouldn't put too much thought into how American's pronounce the English language. They can't even say ALUMINIUM properly  :D (notice the "i" at the end!). 

 

In all seriousness though, I've always pronounced it Arc-ah-nists and never been called up on it. I guess it's the same as Tom-ah-toe or Tom-ay-toe. 6 of one and half a dozen of the other. It really doesn't matter one way or another. 

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Everyone should just speak Finnish. Everything is written as it's pronounced. (or can atleast be read aloud as it is written.)

 

Yeah, German, too. I simply don't get what difficulties those English speakers have with the word "Drachen".... or "Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz".

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Yeah, German, too. I simply don't get what difficulties those English speakers have with the word "Drachen".... or "Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz".

or hääyöaie.

 

Maybe we should campaign to change the word to Arkanist. Then we could just use the German (and Finnish) pronounciation.

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Life is short so tell someone you love them, but life is also frightening and confusing so scream it at them in German.

 

Slander upon my beautiful language! :D

 

I refuse to believe that is an actual word! I get Rindfleish but the rest is gibberish to me  :D

 

Well, actually, it isn't. It means (approximately) "beef labelling regulation & delegation of supervision law", so it's bureaucracy, not language. Furthermore, said law was abolished some years ago, so the word doesn't describe something real anymore.

 

But you can build such words, which is hilarious. It isn't even the longest one I have ever seen. (That would be Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft.)

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Life is short so tell someone you love them, but life is also frightening and confusing so scream it at them in German.

 

Haha yeah, when I want to freak out the Mrs I start talking to her in German, admittedly my vocabulary is incredibly rudimentary but when I start repeating "Ich liebe dich!" she starts to wonder what I've been smoking. When I want to really annoy her I use "Ich möchte mit Rindfleisch Vorhänge spielen" she goes nuts! Luckily she can't remember enough of the 2nd one to actually try and translate it, if she did I'd be 6 feet under by now  :D

 

 

 

Well, actually, it isn't. It means (approximately) "beef labelling regulation & delegation of supervision law", so it's bureaucracy, not language. Furthermore, said law was abolished some years ago, so the word doesn't describe something real anymore.

 

But you can build such words, which is hilarious. It isn't even the longest one I have ever seen. (That would be Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft.)

 

That is awesome, I need to learn how to pronounce that one so I can carry on freaking out the Mrs  :lol:

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Wrong, wrong, wrong! It's definately Ar-CANE-ist. Not ar -CAN-ist and never, ever, ever AR-cuhn-ist.

 

Source: Me. I'm an expert in everything. I'm 33 years old and I've never been wrong about anything, ever.

 

OK... A Quick Test... to prove this theory of yours  ;)

 

How many cats do I own?

 

If you guess correct I'll admit to your genius and start calling them Ar-cane-ists  :D

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When I want to really annoy her I use "Ich möchte mit Rindfleisch Vorhänge spielen" she goes nuts! Luckily she can't remember enough of the 2nd one to actually try and translate it, if she did I'd be 6 feet under by now  :D

If your Mrs would Murder you for wanting to play with her 'meat curtains', it might be time to look for a divorce lawyer .. 

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If your Mrs would Murder you for wanting to play with her 'meat curtains', it might be time to look for a divorce lawyer .. 

 

Hahaha yeah right! I think she'd probably take offense to the blunt nature of the phrase rather than trying to use a touch of romance instead. 

 

Here, it's ARkanIStå, but then we danes are odd, often speaking a hodgepodge of our own language and something that has an odd resemblance with English .. 

 

You guys sound like the natives of Gibraltar. They start a sentence in English and finish it in Spanish. We called it Spanglish  :D

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OK... A Quick Test... to prove this theory of yours  ;)

 

How many cats do I own?

 

If you guess correct I'll admit to your genius and start calling them Ar-cane-ists  :D

OK, I'm getting something coming through from 'beyond'. I can see a creature, small, furry, a preditor and the letter 'C'. is it a cat? It's a cat, yes, I'm sure a cat. And now I'm getting a number coming through. Round, I see curves, and straight lines. 1?, no, 2? I'm sure it's 2. no as Venus passes in front of Mars I'm getting circles. 0? You have 2 cats don't you? No? you have no cats. 1 cat, 3 cats, the spirits are mysterious 4 cats. you have 6 cats.

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What? German is the language of love. The most beautiful pronounciation in the world. It just floats from your tongue like a velvet mist in the sunrise.

 

There's a man with some taste! :D

 

To add something to the discussion: The pronunciation in German would be something like this: Ah-kaa-NISTn (note the German plural "Arcanisten" instead of "Arcanists"). We often say it that way out of convenience.

 

There is an Arcanist in DA: Inquisition. I cannot remember how it is pronounced, though. Anyone in the Skyhold Undercroft right now?

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