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Commonly mispronounced english words in our liturgy :P

davidschanterdavidschanter
edited December 2014 in Hymns Discussion
Hey my church wants me to collect a list of english words that we commonly mispronounce in our church liturgy and try to correct it with the deacons and priests. I am no english phd, so I was wondering if I could hear from you guys on words you commonly hear mispronounced in your church and how they should be pronounced. I will start with what I have so far:
Remember this only pertains to english responses. A lot of the issues come from the natural way of saying the same word in arabic.

Amen: said "Ah-meen" should be "Ah-men" or "Ey-men"
Beneficent: said "Beh-neh-fish-ent" should be "Beh-nefisent"
Cherubim: said "Cher-eb-eem" should be "Cher-eb-ihm"
Seraphim: said "Ser-af-eem" should be "Ser-af-ihm"
Glorify: said "Glo-ree-fy" should be "Glo-rih-fy"
Lord have: said "Lord-ih-hav" should be "Lord-hav"


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Comments

  • RemnkemiRemnkemi
    Oh my God, this list is going to be really long.

    Pantocrator: Said "Ban TO kra TOR". Should be "PANto CRA tor" (If you live in NY, the first "t" is silent. For everyone else, it is a very fast, weak /t/ sound.)
    Capernaum: Said "KA per NUM". Should be "KaPER na e um"
    Tyre: Said "tiREE". Should be "Tire" (like the 4 round things on a car)
    Sidon: Said "SEE don". Should be "Side on"
    Ahitophel: Said "Akhi To PHAl". Should be "a HIT (like hit the ball) o fel"
    Vineyard: Said "VINE yard". Should be "VIN yard"
    Confess: Said "con FESS". Should be "CON fess"
    Spirit: Said "ES pi RIT" or "spi RIT". Should be "SPI rit"

    And my absolute favorite, most frequently pronounced wrong, people-swear-I-don't-know-what-I-am-complaining-about word:
    OUR: Said "a WAR". Should be "AR". THAT'S IT. On occasion, when stressing the possessive nature of the noun it is attached to, you could say "A war" (like hour). But this is an exception, not the rule. 

    There are plenty more that I can list, if needed. The vast majority are proper names, like Athanasius (Said "A tha NA si YOS". Should be "Ath NAY shus" or "Atha nay shus")
  • ophadeceophadece
    Reward: said sometimes as re-word
    Sanctification: said sometimes San tification
    towards: said as to-word
    oujai
  • RemnkemiRemnkemi
    towards: usually said "to WAAARDS". It should be "TO wards" (It's almost one syllable). And in American English it is toward, not towards. 
  • RemnkemiRemnkemi
    And I assume @davidschanter would include hymns with old English too. 
    Thine: Said "Zine". Should be DINE.

    (And fyi, grammatically, Thine is used when the attached noun starts with a vowel or "h". Otherwise, it is Thy. So the correct phrase is Thine Holy Spirit or Thine ascension, but not Thine Resurrection or Thine Mother. It would be Thy Resurrection or Thy mother.)


  • TITLTITL
    What the heck? Our isn't "ar"... what are you a pirate?
  • ophadeceophadece
    @TITL,
    are you Canadian or British? Apparently the Americans pronounce it "ar" in the quick day to day language and our As @Remenkimi says only to stress the word out in speech..
    oujai
  • TITLTITL
    edited December 2014
    Those Americans... :-w

    Anyway..
    Hyssop: pronounced "hi-sup", is "hiss-up"
    Melchizedek: pronounced "mel-chee-sa-dek" is "mel-key-suh-deck"
    Theophilus: pronounced "the-o-fee-los" is "the-ah-fales"
    Prophesy has 2 pronunciations (prophe-see/sye) depending on whether it's used as a verb or not. 
    Alleluia... don't know if thats a big deal?
    Our: pronounced "arrrrrrrr she blows", is "hour"

  • cyril
    This thread is awesome
  • [Deleted User]
    Hahahah :D
    arrrr she blows
  • ophadeceophadece
    @TITL
    prophecy is the noun and prophesy is the verb
    oujai
  • RemnkemiRemnkemi
    TITL said:

    What the heck? Our isn't "ar"... what are you a pirate?

    Go to Biblegateway.com. Look for audio bibles. Select NIV dramatized and Matthew 6. Go to 1:29 and you will hear him say "Ar father in heaven". It's not hour, it's /ar/. Now if you select NIV by Max McLean, he will say /hour/ father". The same is true for LEB by Logos and GNV by Steve Cook.  But if you select NIV by George W. Sarris, you will get /ar/. The same is true for NASB and the HCSB by Dale McConchie. Ironically, NIVUK by David Suchet says /ar/. So I guess it is not just an American accent. And I guess half of the professional bible orators are pirates. (You guys make me want to pull my hair out.) ~X(
  • minatasgeelminatasgeel
    for "our", i say whatever sounds better in the context of the hymn :-)
  • davidschanterdavidschanter
    edited December 2014

    unfeigned: said "un-find" should be "un-feynd"
    advocate (noun): said "ad-vo-kayt" should be "ad-vo-kit"
    catechumen: said "ka-TEK-yoo-min" should be "ka-tih-KYOO-min"
    apostolic: said "apos-tah-LIK" should be "apos-TAH-lik"
    Ignatius: said "Ig-na-tee-us" should be "Ig-ney-shus"
    catholic: said "Kath-OH-lik" should be "Kath-lik"
    Hades: said "Heyds" should be "Hey-dees"
    apostles: said "ah-pos-teh-les" should be "ah-PAH-suls"
    Mathias: said "Muh-see-ehs" should be "Muh-THAH-yis" 

  • ophadeceophadece
    Hasten: sometimes said haste-n, t is silent
    Nehemiah mostly pronounced according to its Arabic counterpart..
    Thomas sometimes pronounced according to its Coptic counterpart, unless of course it's meant to be that way..
    oujai
  • TITLTITL
    So I did the research to prove Doc Rem wrong.. and.. he's right... I guess... but it's whatever, really. 

    Also, I feel like this thread was created to correct my english. I've been pronouncing "Capernaum", "Tyre", and "Pantocrator" wrong my whole life. 

    ...and I guess "our"....

    Btw, Ophadece, I'm American. **==
  • EsmoEpchoisEsmoEpchois
    I still think Rem is a pirate
  • EsmoEpchoisEsmoEpchois
    How is incorporeal pronounced? How about beneficent?
  • RemnkemiRemnkemi
    EsmoEpchois said:

    I still think Rem is a pirate


  • RemnkemiRemnkemi
    edited December 2014
    How is incorporeal pronounced? How about beneficent?


    Benficent - already described above. Should be /    bəˈnefəsənt/ or "be NEFey sent"
    Incorporeal - Should be /ˌinkôrˈpôrēəl / or "in kor POR eal"

  • RemnkemiRemnkemi
    Some more of my favorite mispronunciations

    Maximus: said "mak si MOOS". Should be "MAX emus"
    Dometius: said "do ME ti OOS". Should be "do ME she us"
    Decius: said "De key us". Should be "DE she us" or "DE shus"
    Philopater: said "fi LOO pa TEER". Should be "FI low PAY ter"
    Mercurius: said "mar KOR i OOS" Should be "mar KUR ius"


  • TITLTITL
    Flowpayter?? 

    Kinda ironic his teeth look like that, huh? What's pirefchioui? The pirate?
  • lfahmylfahmy
    Martyr: not "Mar-tear" but "Mar-dur"
  • RemnkemiRemnkemi
    edited December 2014
    Yes, FI low Pay ter. 
    Put another way, what is the name of the 1st century Alexandria Jew? Philo. How do you pronounce his name? /ˈfaɪloʊ/ or FI low. And what about pater? It is pronounced /ˈpātər/ 

    Technically pirefchioui means "the thief" but it's the closest thing I can find to "pirate". I could have used the Greek word peiratys (pirate). But I wanted a Coptic word. 

  • ophadeceophadece
    @TITL,
    oh those Americans! Oops.. are you too? Sorry.. :D
    oujai
  • EsmoEpchoisEsmoEpchois
    Bethphage?
  • Amoussa01
    Here are some more words that are mispronounced in the Liturgy:
    1. this, that, the
    2. ears
    3. disciples
    4. apostles
    5. peace, paradise...pretty much anything with a 'p' sound
    6. world
    7. Formed, mix-ed…formed, mixed and the like
    8. death...pretty much anything with a 'th' sound
    9. cleanse
    10. Jesus (French ‘j’ sound)
    11. Christ
    12. sanctified
    13. Shed
    14. pleased
    15. Spirit
    16. Hades
    I would be very interested if someone had a list of all these :)
  • ophadeceophadece
    But take care blessed should be pronounced as bless-id when it's An adjective rather than a participle.. people make the opposite mistake..
    oujai
  • RemnkemiRemnkemi
    Today at work, my American receptionist told me that a guy from my church called name phi LAA potter. That's how she pronounced. She was wrong but closer than phi LUU pa TEER. 
  • TITLTITL
    I was the one who called. Wanted to see how a typical American would pronounce it. 

    I'm still not convinced of Flowpayter. I think you made it up.
  • mabsootamabsoota

    he said F I (capital f, capital i), not F L

    ;-)

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