So far, the main way I haven’t seen suggested.
I guess I owe my wife an apology.
Comment on How do you pronounce "centaur" and why?
AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world 3 days ago
If it’s in a Greek or ancient Latin context I pronounce it with a hard C, but if it’s a general English context I pronounce it with a soft C.
I’m not sure what the third way would be.
So far, the main way I haven’t seen suggested.
I guess I owe my wife an apology.
So how do you pronounce it?
Honestly, I’m afraid to say. No one will support me, it seems.
Sen-chwar.
I have not once in my entire life heard anyone say it like that. Where are you from? Maybe it’s a regional thing…
I told my wife about this thread and about how you said you pronounced it differently and she jokingly said “sen-CHWAR” in a funny voice. When I read your comment off to her she laughed incredibly hard. Her joke turned out to be spot on lol.
Chwar? Like… Shwarma?
Now i’m hungry for a Centaur shawarma.
I’ve never heard it that way but I get it. A combination of (the relevant bits of) suture and jaguar. Only problem is, it’s not spelled centuar, it’s spelled centaur.
However, until one shows up to personally correct your spelling and pronunciation, I think you’re free to call imaginary creatures whatever you call them.
So on the one hand, I think you are going to find almost nobody agrees with your pronunciation. On the other hand, you should wear your mispronunciations with pride because what that tells me is that you were a reader growing up and likely came about this word the first time in text without any other context, maybe even many times before you heard it spoken. Your brain made an educated guess (I’m guess pulling from the pronunciation of “jaguar”?). It got it wrong, but understandably so, and it has cemented in your brain. Fix it if you care to, but no real need. Either way, kudos for being a young reader.
futatorius@lemm.ee 3 days ago
The third way would be a difference in how the diphthong is pronounced: “-aur” or “-ower.”