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In the mid-nineties, my buddies and I played Warhammer Fantasy at a game shop in San Bernardino County, CA. We were in high school, and I suppose early experiences shapes later behavior.

Strangely enough, the one real legacy of that play was how I pronounced Tzeench, the Chaos God of Change; we pronounced it the way the adults at that store did it: tis-ZEN-ick (three syllables, stress on the second, which is also a short E sound). Phonetically, it didn't make much sense, but these were adults, and I knew a little bit how the Hebrew language worked (although I'm not Jewish, classical languages instead), that sometimes you had to supply the vowels, or that they were assumed. Either way, there was a rhyme and reason to it, and I didn't see much reason at the time to double-talk grownups. Years later, when I picked up the hobby again (last year), I found not one person any where I live now doing the same, leading me to assume that the three-syllable pronunciation was a localism. Instead, they say it like it's spelt.

Two questions:

1). How do you pronounce Tzeench?
2). Have you every seen the name pronounced in the way described above? (That is, tis-ZEN-ick.)

I've always pronounced it "Throatwarbler Mangrove".

dosnt matter its allways changeing !

"Zeench". Never heard that other way before.

Thats a really good point at my local store it was pronounced Zinitch by one member of staff but I never really thought that was right. Although in the grand scheme of Dakka most people wont care about this prefaring to complian at great length that their favouite army is neglected by GW I would like to see more pronounciation questions answers as it can lead to surreal moments example.
A few months ago I played 40k against a friend I was using my Orks he used my Ultra Marnines, towards the end of the game I declared a Waaargh move he looked at me strangely as I pronounce it Warg he does it as War like the writer Evlyn Waugh some thing changed that day. A some thing I know mybe GW should show phonetic pronounciation like Privateer do for the factions in the Warmachine book.

Well to be fair, that'd be like pronouncing "rough" as "rug"

JimBowen38 wrote:Thats a really good point at my local store it was pronounced Zinitch by one member of staff but I never really thought that was right. Although in the grand scheme of Dakka most people wont care about this prefaring to complian at great length that their favouite army is neglected by GW I would like to see more pronounciation questions answers as it can lead to surreal moments example.
A few months ago I played 40k against a friend I was using my Orks he used my Ultra Marnines, towards the end of the game I declared a Waaargh move he looked at me strangely as I pronounce it Warg he does it as War like the writer Evlyn Waugh some thing changed that day. A some thing I know mybe GW should show phonetic pronounciation like Privateer do for the factions in the Warmachine book.

Dude, I never even noticed there was an R in Waargh! Let me check.... Ah, there isn't one. Seriously, I didn't know either way, because I'm inclined towards those mistakes. All those A's could hide an R.

Ultimately, if you're an Ork, it's saying it that matters, not in what accent.

CURNOW wrote:dosnt matter its allways changeing !

I see what you did there.

In the Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate computer game, all the marines pronounce it "zeench." Since it's an officially licensed product, I'm guessing that's the official pronunciation. I've never heard anyone use a three syllable pronunciation either.

I figured it was a localism, but I hope to have some reports of variations.

It's always been something like "zeench" here (with a soft - if not silent - T).

Although a mate I used to play with pronounced the 'Tz' like a German 'Z' (Tset) - but his family were German/Jewish.

I've heard it pronounced Zeench, Zench, Tuhzeench, Teznatek, Ze-Anch, and Skarble.

alexwars1 wrote:I've heard it pronounced Zeench, Zench, Tuhzeench, Teznatek, Ze-Anch, and Skarble.

Wow, a lot of diversity there. Thanks.

I have never thought to question this:

"Zeen-ch"

Though, a heated debate ensued when one child pronounced "Catachan" as:

"Cat-ah-shan"

Not:

"Cat-ah-charn"

As the GW employee preferred...

TBH, so long as you and your audience (sometimes opponent) understand wth you are referring to... who cares?

And how do you spell it?

1) I've always pronounced it "Tuh-zen-ch"
2) The only other way I heard it pronounced was "Tuh-zeen-ch"

Wolfun wrote:1) I've always pronounced it "Tuh-zen-ch"
2) The only other way I heard it pronounced was "Tuh-zeen-ch"

Is that two or three syllables?

Dawn of War: Dark Crusade also pronounces it "Zinch" when the sorcerors speak of him.

I've never thought to say it any differently than "Zinch" (maybe "Zeench") and I've never thought to pronounce the T - always considered it a soft T.

Not to jack your thread but I have run across similar with the head honcho of Chaos Marines, Abaddon.
I have always pronounced it Uh-baa-dun
Several of the guys I play with pronounce it Abba-don

Not that it really matters all that much, just wondering if I am mispronouncing.

BTW I pronounce the Changing One as Zeench like the others above.

I wouldn't base pronunciation on DoW voices...bawxes springs to mind.
But seriously I think Zeench is what I hear/read

I've always heard a quick "zeench", almost like a sneeze.

mrwhoop wrote:I wouldn't base pronunciation on DoW voices...bawxes springs to mind.
But seriously I think Zeench is what I hear/read

Finally listened to that infamous clip just now...

He's saying Boxes. Correctly. Like a British person would. And being our language, boxes is correct. I think you'll find it's you septics who are most inclined to say 'bawkses'

Wow! No, they were horribly off. Tzeench is pronounced phonetically with a silent T.

'zeen' (like 'zine' in magazine) 'ch' (like 'ch' in chair)

I pronouce it Tseentch (t-SEEN-tch), with very little emphasis on the t. However, as long as it sounds something like it looks, I'm don't care how you pronounce it.

ZEENCH

"zeench" for me.

Though I prefer his proper title, The Changer of the Ways.

Tim the Biovore wrote:I pronouce it Tseentch (t-SEEN-tch), with very little emphasis on the t. However, as long as it sounds something like it looks, I'm don't care how you pronounce it.

Is that a three syllable pronunciation? By the two dashes on the emphasis on the SEEN, I'm inclined to think so....


Automatically Appended Next Post:

MudgeBlack wrote:Not to jack your thread but I have run across similar with the head honcho of Chaos Marines, Abaddon.
I have always pronounced it Uh-baa-dun
Several of the guys I play with pronounce it Abba-don

Not that it really matters all that much, just wondering if I am mispronouncing.

BTW I pronounce the Changing One as Zeench like the others above.

I would just assume you were making fun of his name!

pronounced like this: ka-os scum

/thread.

seriously though, I use to pronounce it zentch but after hearing the local players use zeentch I've taken to using it that way. I've never heard it pronounced any other ways to memory, except perhaps once but I can't recall how the kid pronounced it.

I pronounce it tz (short emphatic 't', as if you were spitting the first syllable out of your mouth) -EENCH (emphasis on 2nd syllable).

My friends pronounce it Zeench or zEENCH.

I've heard pronounciations like 'tiz-EENCH' or 'TIZ-ench', but these don't sit well on the ears.

I always went with "Zeench," single-syllable.

How do you pronounce "las" like in lasgun and lascannon? layz to match the word laser or like lash without the h?