How do you pronounce "Fœnum"?

[hawthornbunny]

There already is a sort-of-definitive answer for this; Lauren Faust pronounces it like "phone 'em". But I'm curious to hear how others hear the word in their heads, because my brain still insists on rendering the word as "fee-num", with the oe like in "phoenix".

Making the issue even more murky, "Fœnum" derives from the Latin word for grass or hay, and in Latin, the œ ligature is pronounced like "oy", apparently, except that it's also sometimes spelled like "faenum" and I think my diphthong just ruptured. It also has implications for how we should pronounce fan-terms derived from Fœnum, like "Fœnatics" ("foh-natiks"? "fee-natiks"?)

Can someone rescue me from my phonetic nightmare?

 

[TheOneZeelOne]

I like going with it like the actual word "foe", just because it fits the fighting game setting. It makes it sound more like the kind of place fights would take place, if you think about it like that. Face all your foes on Fœnum! Just works for me.

 

[Klint]

Your Latin is correct, Foenum is pronounced "Foy-num."
Edit: But it also depends on the culture. Maybe in Foenum it's pronounced "foe-num"?

 

[SquiddyWiddy]

I was pronouncing it as "Phony-um" this entire time. Might not be the right way to say it but it's easier for me to remember.

 

[Stars]

I never learned any Latin, so I've been pronouncing it the way Lauren did in that video. I might try changing to "foy-num," but I fear I may already be too set in my ways.

 

[TheOneZeelOne]

Honestly, I don't pay that much mind to the root word here, names are kind of in a vacuum to me a lot of the time. Regardless of the original word, it's the name of a fictional world, it can be pronounced any which way.

 

[Karilyn]

Like the word Phoneme
Phoneme - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I have no idea what Foenum is supposed to be pronounced like but that is how it parses in my mind. When I first saw the name I assumed it was some sorta pun on the word Phoneme, but then I couldn't actually figure out how it could've been interpreted as a joke, so I decided it must've just been a coincidence.

 

[Ambris]

I've always pronounced it as "foe" and "numb", which I pretty similar to Faust's "phone 'em", but the vowel at the end is slightly different.

 

[Sans]

I pronounce it like foe as in enemy and num like number

damnit ambris beat me to it by like 1 second

 

[Nix Avernal]

Well, TVTropes says that the Fœ bit is pronounced something like Phoenix. I always pronounced pho-neum.

 

[TheOneZeelOne]

I really don't see it being "fee", but it actually would be pretty sweet if it was pronounced like "phenom", not gonna lie.

 

[Feanor]

There already is a sort-of-definitive answer for this; Lauren Faust pronounces it like "phone 'em". But I'm curious to hear how others hear the word in their heads, because my brain still insists on rendering the word as "fee-num", with the oe like in "phoenix".

Making the issue even more murky, "Fœnum" derives from the Latin word for grass or hay, and in Latin, the œ ligature is pronounced like "oy", apparently, except that it's also sometimes spelled like "faenum" and I think my diphthong just ruptured. It also has implications for how we should pronounce fan-terms derived from Fœnum, like "Fœnatics" ("foh-natiks"? "fee-natiks"?)

Can someone rescue me from my phonetic nightmare?

Foenies

Edit: As a title for us, not the pronunciation

 

[Ambris]

The sheer variety of who people pronounce it blows my mind.

LINGUISTICS ARE FUN

 

[fah_q2]

"Foe" and "num"

 

[TheOneZeelOne]

"Foe" and "num"

Well when you say it like that it sounds so obvious...

 

[TwistedSheep]

"Foe"-"nem"
So pretty close to how Lauren pronounced it just slightly different with emphasis in different places

 

[Cronnicossy]

I always said "Foh-num" because... well....
Isn't that how Lauren said it? xD

 

[Stunthead]

Obviously the "Fœ" is pronounced "Foe" and the "Num" is pronounced /nəm/.
I feel like I'm not helping.

 

[Stars]

Honestly, I don't pay that much mind to the root word here, names are kind of in a vacuum to me a lot of the time. Regardless of the original word, it's the name of a fictional world, it can be pronounced any which way.

At least until voice acting is implemented, and a correct pronunciation is established.

...Unless the actors pronounce it multiple ways too.

 

[Galaxy Heart]

I never really thought about it before, but because of my accent, it probably comes out as "Fway-num".

 

[Solario]

Because my first introduction to the lore of the world was from Lauren Faust's reading, I know she pronounces it "fone-um", and I accept that as the canon pronunciation, because hey, she should know.

I think if I hadn't heard that first, though, and jumped straight into reading the lore, I probably would be fixed on pronouncing it "fen-um".

 

[CatFromDream]

At least until voice acting is implemented, and a correct pronunciation is established.

...Unless the actors pronounce it multiple ways too.

I'm looking forward to Velvet's pronunciation since she seems to have a german-ish accent and I imagine her saying it like Fönum.

 

[0Zero100]

PHO-ne NUM-ber!

 

[Leatherface]

I've always said it 'Foe - E - Numb', but i expected it to be wrong.