Lovecraftian dialect formation
Jan. 12th, 2005 07:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nancylebov"Cthulhu"???? How the heck do you pronounce that? Well, humans aren't really supposed to be able to pronounce it. Cthulhu and many other hideous alien entities originated in the fantasy writings of Howard Phillips Lovecraft, a literary giant of pulp fiction and a sadly obscure character in the history of American letters. In one of his letters, Lovecraft said, "The best approximation one can make is to grunt, bark, or cough the imperfectly formed syllables Cluh-Luh with the tip of the tongue firmly affixed to the roof of the mouth. That is, if one is a human being. Directions for other entities are naturally different." Lovecraft scholars tend to say something like "Cloo-loo". Chaosium, makers of the "Call of Cthulhu" game suggest "kuh-THOOL-hoo".
Found at Stuffe & Nonsense. Click on the link to see a rather disquieting stuffed Cthulhu.
Found at Stuffe & Nonsense. Click on the link to see a rather disquieting stuffed Cthulhu.
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I just pronounce it...
Date: 2005-01-12 02:10 pm (UTC)You say Cthulhu, I say Cthulhu...
Date: 2005-01-12 05:06 pm (UTC)cut-HOOL-hoo
- though "cut" isn't quite right, it's somewhere between "cut" and "kit;" the non-vowel is a sort of voiced glottal stop, if you see what I mean.
Re: You say Cthulhu, I say Cthulhu...
Date: 2005-01-12 08:36 pm (UTC)Come do like we do
Down wit' Cthulhu
Under da sea!"
Re: You say Cthulhu, I say Cthulhu...
Date: 2005-01-12 09:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-12 06:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-13 04:44 pm (UTC)And you would want to pronouce it "correctly", in the "disturbing auditory vibrations rippling the fabric of spacetime" way, WHY exactly?
Sheesh.
consolidation
Date: 2005-02-20 08:50 am (UTC)i'm giving up this barely used journal
if you want to find me, i'm @
:)
m