# Never mind Cthulhu--how do you pronounce R'lyeh? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 27, 2011, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-mind-cthulhu-how-do-you-pronounce-rlyeh/572844 "2011-02-27T21:07:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-mind-cthulhu-how-do-you-pronounce-rlyeh/572844/21 "2011-02-28T06:09:51Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > “I say, that Irishman seeks dread Cthulhu in the loathsome nightmare corpse-city!” > “Oh, really?” > “No! O’R’lyeh!” [or’lyeh?](http://lolthulhu.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/internet-o_rlyeh.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-mind-cthulhu-how-do-you-pronounce-rlyeh/572844/22 "2011-02-28T06:45:43Z")
I pronounce it, “R’lyeh,” assuming that’s how it’s spelled. “Rye-la,” would be spelled “R’yleh” at best. You’re transposing two sounds. That is, I would say, “rəl-YEH,” roughly. That said… According to Wikipedia, it’s [ˈrəʔlʲɛx]. So there’s an official(?) pronunciation(!), there’s a glottal stop, & there’s a sort of fricative “h” at the end. I expected none of that, but yes, you are supposed to pronounce the apostrophe and the h. Who knew? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-mind-cthulhu-how-do-you-pronounce-rlyeh/572844/23 "2011-02-28T15:45:44Z")
I always thought it was RYE-la. But my tongue is lamentably non-squamous. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-mind-cthulhu-how-do-you-pronounce-rlyeh/572844/24 "2011-02-28T16:09:43Z")
> [@Lucky\_13](#): > > Hell, I’m still trying to pronounce “fhtagn.” I tried to read the sentence in **Apollyon** ’s post out loud, but it comes out sounding like I’m gargling. I agree you’re doing it right. These are supposed to be inhuman sounds, so I try to make the sounds in my throat and use my mouth and tongue as little as possible. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-mind-cthulhu-how-do-you-pronounce-rlyeh/572844/25 "2011-02-28T16:18:52Z")
> [@Lucky\_13](#): > > Hell, I’m still trying to pronounce “fhtagn.” I tried to read the sentence in **Apollyon** ’s post out loud, but it comes out sounding like I’m gargling. Fhtagn is the easy word in that sentence–just like it’s spelled! ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-mind-cthulhu-how-do-you-pronounce-rlyeh/572844/26 "2011-02-28T16:24:47Z")
BTW, by one of those curious cosmic coincidences, Ken Begg has just put up a picture of Cthulhu from this film on his Jabootu site: [Monster of the Day #207 – Jabootu's Bad Movie Dimension](http://jabootu.net/?p=4572) ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-mind-cthulhu-how-do-you-pronounce-rlyeh/572844/27 "2011-02-28T16:26:17Z")
I’ve always said it as the film people in the OP, Ruh-LAY, though I couldn’t tell you where that pronunciation originated with me. As a side note, there’s an interesting mythos story about a surgeon performing some minor corrections on the vocal apparatus of a woman – nothing big enough that it really should be noticeable, but naturally, she ends up looking all wrong and eldritch and, possibly, non-Euclidean – in order to enable her to pronounce the words correctly. Of course, when said right, it turns out that those fun phrases aren’t really all that gibberish at all… So all of you unable to get it right probably should be grateful. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-mind-cthulhu-how-do-you-pronounce-rlyeh/572844/28 "2011-02-28T19:19:23Z")
Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn! For those of you lacking my lingual abilities, you can say: Fi-nig-lew-ee mugel-wa-naf kuh-thoo-loo rill-yay wuh-gah nah-gul fa-tag-en. It won’t matter to Cthulhu how you say it; you’re gonna get et anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Wargamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@Wargamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wargamer)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-mind-cthulhu-how-do-you-pronounce-rlyeh/572844/29 "2011-02-28T19:37:30Z")
Like the state capital of North Carolina. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-mind-cthulhu-how-do-you-pronounce-rlyeh/572844/30 "2011-02-28T20:55:48Z")
Url-YAY - The _R_ becomes vowel-like, as in Slavic languages. Definitely not Rye-leh. That reverses the _L_ and the _Y_ ---
**Author:** ![sohvan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@sohvan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sohvan)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-mind-cthulhu-how-do-you-pronounce-rlyeh/572844/31 "2011-02-28T21:21:33Z")
> [@Apollyon](#): > > Because if you don’t pronounce it right who knows what you might summon up? Do you just go around randomly pronouncing terms in summoning rituals and hope of the best?! :eek: > > _Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn…_ > > 😃 I always liked [Eben Brooks’ pronounciation](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxScTbIUvoA) of it. The sentence is at 2:30, but the whole song is great. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-mind-cthulhu-how-do-you-pronounce-rlyeh/572844/32 "2011-02-28T21:27:00Z")
I could tell you, Miss Mapp, but then I would have to kill you. There are some things woman was just not meant to know. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-mind-cthulhu-how-do-you-pronounce-rlyeh/572844/33 "2011-02-28T22:26:54Z")
I had mentally pronounced it “rye-leh” before realizing that would imply the transposition of two letters. I haven’t actually pronounced it out loud, nor do I ever intend to. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-mind-cthulhu-how-do-you-pronounce-rlyeh/572844/34 "2011-03-01T00:03:02Z")
I have always pronounced it Ruh ail ee. As likely the only poster to have worked at Weird Tales, and to have done a one man street show as a preacher of Cthulhu’s gospel, I like to think my opinion has more weight than most. Even if it doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-mind-cthulhu-how-do-you-pronounce-rlyeh/572844/35 "2011-03-01T04:00:43Z")
I think it is rrolled “r”, crooked letter, Krill-yea, crooked letter. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-mind-cthulhu-how-do-you-pronounce-rlyeh/572844/36 "2011-03-01T11:39:16Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > It won’t matter to Cthulhu how you say it; you’re gonna get et anyway. But if Cthulhu likes you, he’ll eat you last. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-mind-cthulhu-how-do-you-pronounce-rlyeh/572844/37 "2011-03-01T11:44:08Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > I pronounce it, “R’lyeh,” assuming that’s how it’s spelled. “Rye-la,” would be spelled “R’yleh” at best. You’re transposing two sounds. > > That is, I would say, “rəl-YEH,” roughly. That said… > > According to Wikipedia, it’s [ˈrəʔlʲɛx]. So there’s an official(?) pronunciation(!), there’s a glottal stop, & there’s a sort of fricative “h” at the end. I expected none of that, but yes, you are supposed to pronounce the apostrophe and the h. Who knew? “Rye” was my attempt to pronounce the apostrophe as a short “i.” “La,” I suppose, was meant to be more of a schwa “eh” than an “ah,” but it’s hard to write out these nuances of vowel sounds. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-mind-cthulhu-how-do-you-pronounce-rlyeh/572844/38 "2011-03-01T12:23:18Z")
> [@Miss\_Mapp](#): > > But if Cthulhu likes you, he’ll eat you last. No, no - [first](http://www.librarything.com/topic/61539). I pronounce it R\lyeh. Rhymes with “yeah”. [QUOTE=Miller] [or’lyeh?](http://lolthulhu.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/internet-o_rlyeh.jpg) [/QUOTE] [Ya R’Lyeh!](http://lolthulhu.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/internet-ya_rlyeh.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-mind-cthulhu-how-do-you-pronounce-rlyeh/572844/39 "2011-03-01T12:47:08Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > No, no - [first](http://www.librarything.com/topic/61539). I stand corrected. First… last… which would be preferred? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-mind-cthulhu-how-do-you-pronounce-rlyeh/572844/40 "2011-03-01T12:50:48Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > According to Wikipedia, it’s [ˈrəʔlʲɛx]. So there’s an official(?) pronunciation(!), there’s a glottal stop, & there’s a sort of fricative “h” at the end. I expected none of that, but yes, you are supposed to pronounce the apostrophe and the h. Who knew? I’d say that it’s a good policy to assume that every symbol in a transliteration (even fictional ones) should be pronounced, including apostrophes and _H_s. That’s the way transliterations _should_ work, anyway. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-mind-cthulhu-how-do-you-pronounce-rlyeh/572844.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/never-mind-cthulhu-how-do-you-pronounce-rlyeh/572844.md?page=3)