I remember watching Soderberghâs âSolarisâ and being flummoxed by the fact that different actors seemed to be pronouncing the name of the titular planet differently.
Why would they? People canât agree on how to pronounce Uranus.
Its not much of a choice is it; between âYour Anusâ and âUrine Usâ. Neither sounds like a holiday destination.
In âRoninâ, Robert De Niro couldnât even pronounce âHerefordâ.
How the scene should have run:
De Niro, âWhat color is the boat house at Herfud?â
Bean, âWhere they fuck is Herfud?â
See, I like this movie for one thing and one thing only - Raul Juliaâs absolutely gonzo, scenery-chewing role as M. Bison. Itâs got a place of pride in my âterrible movies I loveâ collection.
Actually, the name âUranusâ comes from the Greek âÎżá˝ĎινĎĎâ, meaning âheaven.â
Itâs pronounced similar to how you would say âER-ah-NHAS.â
âErâ as in âfather.â âAhâ as in âspa.â âNhasâ as in âpiranhas.â
So itâs neither âyour-anusâ or âurine-us.â
Most people would agree, it sounds much better in the original language.
The only thing holding it back is the English-language insistence on weird anglo-isms and scatological humor.
You say, âEr-Ah-Nhas.â
I say, âUvavu.â
Lets call the Dove from Above.
@godspacejuno: wouldnât the pronunciation be closer to oo-rah-nohse? Thatâs what I remember from my ancient greek studies (which admitedly were a couple decades ago).
I am confused to discover that this was actually a question. I never even though about, because I always just assumed it was obviously âree-u.â
I guess I could imagine some Americans saying âRYE-youâ⌠This reminds me of how terribly Americans pronounce âkefir.â
@SamSam: Actually I believe the pronunciation is closer to rYOU, with the R and the Y almost forming a single sound.
For bonus points, I think the âuâ is unrounded and the R is intermediate between an R and an L
P.S. some pedantic jerks always want bonus points, and I am one of them : )
So something like âLeoâ then?
Iâve always thought it was Rye-u; but then I though comicbook superstar Mike Mignolaâs surname was pronounced Mig-Nowl-Ah, so what do I know 
I watched this loop about 10 times trying to figure out what he was saying before I realized I had the loop mixed up and he was saying âGAMEâŚovaaaaaaâ. And not something like âOoophaaâŚLâchayym!â
How is Mignola pronounced, then?
Well, thatâs a funny story, but I have NO idea why the director would re-shoot the scene if he said âladderâ. The mouth looks close enough to saying âlaterâ and they could âloopâ it later if it was wrong. (see ADR).
Apparently (and Iâm none to hot on the old phonetics) Min-Yo-La, or something like that.
Probably because when people on set hear cut they stop what they are doing to avoid wasting money. Actors are told not to say this word because it can ruin the shot. If half the people stop what theyâre doing before the end of the scene itâs ruined.
Keep in mind, this is film, so they donât really know what they have, and in one of the bigger action sequences you had to be safe in case half the extras all stopped and looked at camera. So the real story here is that they had to reshoot because he said âcutâ more than anything else.
Maybe another small reason why de Souza might not really have been cut out for blockbuster directing, though Steampunk Bananaâs explanation sounds good to me. This was before digital, so they had no idea if the footage would be usable.
In Italian, âmin-yolaâ (roughly).
Once the names get Americanized, then itâs pronounced however the possessor of the name wants to pronounce it.
I remember during the Terri Schiavo case hearing in the news about this âShy-voâ person. I didnât connect the name at all with the person I was reading about, because the name is clearly Italian, and in Italian would be pronounced âSki-avo.â But her Italian American family can pronounce it however they want.
