And here's something to throw into the next nerdly conversation you're having to create a bit of geek-raging controversy: J. K. Rowling confirms that the name of her main baddy in the Harry Potter books — Voldemort — is pronounced with the "t" silent, as the French might (and, in fact, apparently do).
For whatever reason, the movies pronounced it with an audible "t" at the end, which established that version as what most folk use, changing even how the audiobooks were being recorded.
Meanwhile, http://goo.gl/XAdGg .
J.K. Rowling says we’ve been pronouncing Voldemort’s name wrong
J.K. Rowling has revealed on Twitter that she pronounces “Voldemort” differently to most of us.
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Well, that's annoying. I hate faux French.
+nora hedlund
His name is so hard to say correct nobody in the Harry Potter universe says his name, It all makes sense now~
Perhaps she can't spell.
Well, the author can decide how people say things in her books, but let's be fair, I'm sure nobody who read it thought it should be said that way. The book is British, thoroughly, and baby Voldemort spoke English and grew up in an orphanage in England. Why would he choose a French name? Everything in his past is English. There are no clues in the books that it should be pronounced any way but the obvious English way.
+Mark Richards As the article indicates, at least some folk (likely a minority) decided it that was how it should be pronounced, without Rowling having said one way or the other until now.
On the other hand, even if it's a French-based name, the Brits have a long tradition of altering pronunciation of same, so using an Anglicized pronunciation was also perfectly reasonable.
There article only mentioned the original audio book narrator and French people. It doesn't present a case of any number of native English speakers saying it that way. Presumably a few people who've heard JKR say it her way might have copied her. But my point was that there is no basis in the book or in the English language for the French pronunciation.
Mark Richards you are very clever but you must realize many English words origins are from French words just flick through the Dictionary you would be very shocked.
+Deborah Hughes Just because we have words of French origin doesn't mean we pronounce them like the French. English has its own rules of pronunciation and spelling. The word "pronunciation" is a good example. The French pronunciation is similar, but not the same. English isn't French and there's no reason to assume a made-up word like "Voldemort" should be pronounced in any way but the typical English way. If JKR wanted it pronounced differently, she should have indicated it in the books. I'm not saying she's wrong in her pronunciation, she can't be, really, but she failed to communicate it clearly and now I suspect it's too late.
"Voldemort" is clearly not of French origin. "Lord Voldemort" is an anagram of "Tom Marvolo Riddle" (See The Chamber of Secrets). Why it would have a French pronunciation is incomprehensible to me.
+Mark Richards Well, if "any other number" includes 1, the person from whom I originally got the article from must count (since her comment was along the lines of "I guess I've been saying it correctly all along"). Presumably, if the number is not zero, it is likely more than one.
+Scott Randel is correct in noting that it's an anagram, which doesn't mean it couldn't be a French-based name. This is a realm of people running around shouting spells in pseudo-Latin, after all. And we know there's a French school of wizardry, too.
Mark, you're also correct in suggesting he could well have pronounced in an English fashion. There's no reason why he wouldn't have used a French pronunciation, either. It's flashy, dramatic, mysterious — heck, it's a rejection of the muggles of England and their very pronunciation.
(Looking a bit further back, http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/1999/1099-orangecounty-takahama.html indicates JKR revealed this pronunciation quite a while ago — though, to your point, she indicated she was "the only one" who said it that way.)
And all that said, it's funny, because the difference spoken aloud is not all that great.
So, ‘vol de mort’ is arguably ‘thief of death’. Huh.