I'm sure this is in here somewhere amid the bits and bytes of the forum....

Myst III - Upon entering Catherine speaks to you and calls them (D'ni = Donnie)

I've heard it pronounced from Atrus (D'ni = Dunny)

Myst V - Escher refers to himself as (D'ni = Duk-nee)

I know there are those that are hard-core fans that tend to lean one way or the other or in the middle...

BUT....Maybe....the D'ni actually had a dialect like all dialects... I say Potato you say Potawto...I say Tomawto you say Tomato... I'm from Ohio, USA. My dialect is a lot different from someone in Michigan or New York or Georgia or California. Maybe the civilization of the D'ni was a lot more diversified than originally discovered...

I know there are areas yet unopened in the city..but is this the only city? I've looked at the maps. Different cultures even?

_________________
Moul(A) Charura KI#00055400 Char Gearz KI#00706359 Cannon Belle KI#13686512 Teri Dactyl KI#12658065
_____________________________
How Many Times Does A Myst Player Play Myst Before A Myst Player Decides To Play Myst Again

_________________
MOUL KI: 174162

Last edited by Mowog on Fri May 04, 2012 4:43 pm; edited 2 times in total

The oddity about Esher's pronunciation for me is that it's very close to Hebrew, from which D'ni was derived.

* it's closer to the kh in melekh than it's probably meant to be.

Last edited by Rusty_Russell on Sun May 06, 2012 12:52 pm; edited 1 time in total

I've always pronounced it dh-nee. That doesn't describe it exactly, but, the 'dh' sound of just the phoneme alone, a momentary stop, then 'nee'. In turn it's not slurred like 'dunny' nor is it turned into a glottal like dukhnee.
The pause is short, no longer than a brief moment to separate the first and second parts.

I always figured that was the best way to pronounce it as written. The best question would be how they pronounced other words with a break in the middle, and then extrapolate that to how they woulda pronounced the name.

I figure Atrus spoke it because he was raised by Ti'ana who probably taught him to speak english, so english IS his first language. Thus the easiest, dunny. Catherine also isn't a native D'ni speaker, having been taught by a mix of Gehn (who didn't do a great job) and Ti'ana, again. She probably carried her accent with her again.
As for Esher, didn't RAWA say he just has a really really weird accent and not explain too much of why? I figured he just spoke like that., and probably got weird looks from other d'ni

_________________
You know, I wish we would learn Atrus loved the 1812 overture, and in turn we had a copy for our relto.
That's right, a canon canen cannon!

MOULa KI: #00027582
Welcome back all!

Esher wanted you to think he was something on a stick; so I'm sure some of his "proper" pronunciations were a part of that.

Aside from that oddity, it is officially pronounced "Dunny." (And even spelled that way in the credits of the original Myst.)

_________________

TOC#60089 DI#132103 MOULa is

I agree with Gondar; I would pronounce it as dh-nee.

_________________
OpenUru.org Minkata Test Shard is
OU-Minkata Shard Testers Guide (in laymen's terms)

I agree with Gondar - ' as a caesura if you like.

Pronounce the 'd' as in 'duck', the apostrophe as in 'put', the 'n' as in 'new', and the 'i' as in 'see'. Note that the vowel sounds I'm giving are English vowel sounds, since I am English and I can't think of a standard American or Australian sound for it.

_________________
KI: 17967159

I went looking for it, couldn't find it (might not be on this forum), but I seem to recall RAWA giving a rare OOC explanation on Esher's pronunciation somewhere…

I'll keep looking around and drop a link here if I find it.

_________________
Cosmic Osmo for iOS is a must!

Trekluver wrote:

Esher wanted you to think he was something on a stick; so I'm sure some of his "proper" pronunciations were a part of that.

Aside from that oddity, it is officially pronounced "Dunny." (And even spelled that way in the credits of the original Myst.)

Actually according to RAWA.. That is incorrect, and so is Escher's pronunciation. D'ni is not Duck-Knee, or "dunny". I think Yeesha in Uru has the correct pronunciation. RAWA has a post /somewhere/ about it, look it up before spouting incorrect information as the "official" answer.

EDIT: I've always pronounced it as "Duh-nee"

kaelisebonrai wrote:

Trekluver wrote:

Esher wanted you to think he was something on a stick; so I'm sure some of his "proper" pronunciations were a part of that.

Aside from that oddity, it is officially pronounced "Dunny." (And even spelled that way in the credits of the original Myst.)

Actually according to RAWA.. That is incorrect, and so is Escher's pronunciation. D'ni is not Duck-Knee, or "dunny". I think Yeesha in Uru has the correct pronunciation. RAWA has a post /somewhere/ about it, look it up before spouting incorrect information as the "official" answer.

EDIT: I've always pronounced it as "Duh-nee"

Guess I should have speled it out as I pronounced it, but that IS how I pronounce it.

_________________

TOC#60089 DI#132103 MOULa is

Just ask people around the United States to say "Oregon." You'll see similar variety.

And you're right, basically everybody we meet in the Myst games was raised in a different era, speaking a different language, and even in the heyday of the D'ni you had children growing up literally on different worlds. It makes perfect sense that they'd have vastly different dialects

_________________
Now shut up and make it so you only have to jump once. (Spoilers)
Luig'Ahn KI: (need to update)

If RAWA's post is anywhere, it will be on the DRC forum.

ETA Found it.

http://forums.drcsite.org/viewtopic.php?p=16654#16654

Ah, there it is! And here's the one (later in the thread) that I was thinking of: http://forums.drcsite.org/viewtopic.php?p=16674&sid=ed0d78e84fcf21c673349652bd862a3d#16674

_________________
Cosmic Osmo for iOS is a must!

So how IS a schwa pronounced then (or at least, how does it affect the pronunciation)? Because, I was doing more like the softer glottal of it after a vowel. Dh, fraction of a pause, ni. Enough to move lips as it were.

Because that'd probably be then what the better pronunciation is. Unless, of course, it IS a hard glottal like Esher did. In which case then it's not like a schwa?



Long story short: You don't pronounce it like Esher. You also don't pronounce it like a toilet. Past that.. *shrug*

_________________
You know, I wish we would learn Atrus loved the 1812 overture, and in turn we had a copy for our relto.
That's right, a canon canen cannon!

MOULa KI: #00027582
Welcome back all!