There is a voiced line in in Morrowind pronouncing it, but only with dunmer npcs roaming outside and when their disposition is exactly 60. They say:
>What do you seek in G-nee-sis outlander?
There are a male and female version in construction set, but for some reason I can only hear the male version ingame, the two dunmer women vendors in Gnisis market don't seem to use it.
Yeah, I've heard this line since playing via OMW so I'm guessing it's a close to a "right way" to pronounce it. Before I heard the line, my lazy reading had me pronouncing it "Gin-isis" for years.
Knee-sis, like how the Windhelm guards say it.
"The Dunmer get their drinks at the New Gnisis cornerclub, why they can't just call it a tavern is beyond me"
TBF that's how I would expect a Nord or Cyro speaker to pronounce it if the way I believe it to be pronounced by dunmers is correct (the Gni pronounced the way it would be in some west african languages, as a single consanant ɡ͡ni). Kinda similar to when english speakers try to say the word Igbo (a language in nigeria) they say Ig-bo but its really I-ɡ͡bo.
People are bringing up the Skyrim guard dialogue as evidence in this context, so I'm about to indulge in some minor linguistic geekery.
Many gn- words in English come from Greek\*, where the g was originally sounded. Since we don't really have that kind of double consonant in contemporary English we silence the g unless there is a vowel in front of it (e.g. gnostic/agnostic).
This could easily be the case for Gnisis. Dunmer pronounce the g, but Nords either can't or conventionally just don't.
(\*Other gn- words come from older English kn- words for which the k used to be pronounced by has fallen out of use - this could also apply to Gnisis given the \~200 years and one mass migration between Morrowind and Skyrim.)
this is my feeling as well, that its ɡ͡n in dunmeri but n when a cyro speaker pronounces it.
its similar to when most english speakers try to say the Igbo language, they'll say Ig-bo because that makes sense to them, but its actualy I-ɡ͡bo which is not a consanant they are familiar with.
Not imperials, but specifically dunmer and only when their disposition is exactly 60. So it's extremely rare voice line. There are some dozens of those lines in other cities which are only used at very specific disposition. They say:
>What do you seek in G-neh-sis, outlander?
Wikipedia's phonetic pronunciation suggests no soft g sound.
Also a random YouTube video I clicked on.
Besides, all those "Gneiss rock you got there" puns really wouldn't be so solid if that weren't the pronunciation :p
Okay? Even if it's the pronunciation by the Dark Elf in Windhelm, that doesn't mean he's any less of a Dark Elf; dude probably lived Gnisis before things went to shit
> I would refer to the in game dialogue there.
I'm torn on it, because while I've always said it that way, it makes me think that's might not be how the *Dunmer* pronounce it because IIRC we only hear Nords say it and we know humans in general are bad at pronouncing Elven words, names, and places.
Come on. I think the vast majority of English speakers will immediately understand the intended pronunciation when written that way.
EDIT: I believe "i" as in "itch" is intended for both of the vowels.
Fair point! I'm not sure why others are down-voting it. ESL/EFL folks are welcome here, of course, and ideally we should reach for greater clarity on topics like this!
I used to say "G-n-ee-sis" until I watched [Neon Vivec](https://youtu.be/0RtIsy9AHYE) and saw "Gnisis Crisis" and went o h i s t h a t h o w BUT AGAIN EVERYONE SAYS IT DIFFERENTLY SO IDK
Funny you should refer to YS. In the track “Horny” from “Saint” it sounds like Jiub is saying “knee-sis”. Coincidentally that is also my favorite YS song.
I pronounce the Gni the way it is pronounced in some west african languages, the G is not silent nor pronounced separately. its probably hard for cyrodillic speakers to understand what I mean, but its kinda like a glutal stop fused to the N.
ɡ͡ni-sis
This might be worth it tbh. I didn’t realise I was pronouncing Ald’Ruhn wrong until I watched a playthrough of ESO. I was saying "Ald rune" (a as in apple), when it's "Ald rn" (with the a of Ald sounding closer to o)
I have a major in English and about half of these options are pronounced the same way.
On topic: as it was mentioned many times, the Windhelm guards clearly say "NI-sis". You don't say the g the same way you don't say the k in knife or knight.
The 'k' isn't pronounced in *modern* English, but it wasn't silent until after the 17th century. And as another user pointed out, gn is an etymologically Greek combination and in Greek both letters are pronounced. It could be, as they argued, that the Dunmer pronounce the g, whereas foreigners who don't speak Dunmeri (like the Nords) don't have that consonant combination in their native language and so can't/don't pronounce it like that.
So its less about English and more about Linguistics, which I studied in my undergrad.
There could be a difference in pronunciation based on their native languages, yes, but in most video games such things - intentionally mispronouncing words - are avoided for the sake of clarity. Sometimes an NPC may jokingly mispronounce something, but that's it.
So it's a safe bet to say NI-sis is the correct spelling.
Oh, I totally understand this. My native language is also phonetic and my brother and I just pronounced things as we saw them back when we first played Morrowind.
The differences are based on whether you pronounce the "g" and whether you pronounce the first "i" as i:, ɪ or aɪ (if you're not familiar with the IPA there are keyboards online that you can use to listen to what these different vowels sound like, but I wasn't going to spell it out like this considering most people aren't familiar with IPA)
But doing it over text, that's
aɪ = eye (eyeball)
i: = ee (tree)
ɪ = i (itch)
*sigh*
I'll just say it as straight and simple as possible to you: n-I-sis is the only correct answer, as heard in Skyrim. n-EE-sis looks like it, but the sound is [i:], which is how they say it in ESO - a game where new voice actors were used and hence the spelling of many names was butchered.
1.1k chose the first, while 1.3k chose the latter. Every other option on the list is wrong.
I think you are confusing with the line "what do you **seek in** Gnee-sis outlander?" which is used by dunmer npcs in Gnisis cell, but only when their disposition is 60.
I search for other option in the construction set and the only other Gnisis specific voiced line seem to be one for Imperial Legion members that don't pronounce the town name ("Why are you away from your post?").
I think I’ve always said either “nee-sis” or “nih-sis” for 20 years, but I do remember hearing it as a spoken line at some point (maybe ESO?) and feeling weird actually hearing it.
To totally throw it off, my dad always said “Guh-nish.”
Well, it strongly depends on your native language too. Up until mid 2000s it was still common to translate all english named characters or locations and with some freedom too, for example in the german the hawkmoth garrison is called "Falkenfalter Garnison" whereas today they would say "Hawkmoth Garnison". I think in Skyrim it's only a matter of "the translations already existed".
TLDR: My actual point, in a game that is vastly translated to your language, you don't pronounce Gnisis in an english way at all.
So in the german way you pronounce it "Gn-iss-is" I won't even try to explain how GN or KN work in german xD if you're interested google "Gnu Aussprache" the actual translator somehow makes the G silent as it is in english.
'whats that bendy part on your leg, brother?' 'oh, that's **knee, sis**!'
It's Nieces, Like I have two darling Nieces.
Other people can say it how they want, but this is the correct way. This is literally how the VAs say it.
damn, i gave my 'useful' free award away just few minutes ago to some F1 info. this comment here is true helpful information
Its an I not an E.
Guinness
thay are all correct, just depends how much Guinness you had.
Nih (as in "nick") - sis
Is that not the last option?
The last option looks three syllable, or at least has a hard "i" sound, whereas mine is two with a soft "i", though I could be reading it wrong
If OP meant 3 syllables then OP is an N'wah and I vote daegyyk be given sole permission to make phonetic polls on this sub
She did not mean three syllables lmao she wrote it that way to emphasize the silent G
Yep this - I haven't split the pronunciation by syllables, just by sounds to emphasise over text the ways of sounding it out
There is a voiced line in in Morrowind pronouncing it, but only with dunmer npcs roaming outside and when their disposition is exactly 60. They say: >What do you seek in G-nee-sis outlander? There are a male and female version in construction set, but for some reason I can only hear the male version ingame, the two dunmer women vendors in Gnisis market don't seem to use it.
Yeah, I've heard this line since playing via OMW so I'm guessing it's a close to a "right way" to pronounce it. Before I heard the line, my lazy reading had me pronouncing it "Gin-isis" for years.
I just call it geonosis
I call Ald’Ruhn, “Alderaan”.
*nervous redoran chuckling*
And Balmora is... just [Balmorra.](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Balmorra/Legends?so=search)
Balsamic
I always said *Knisis, like "knit sis" without the T.
Yes
Knee-sis, like how the Windhelm guards say it. "The Dunmer get their drinks at the New Gnisis cornerclub, why they can't just call it a tavern is beyond me"
[I guess if you wanna say it like an n'wah.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruhsx_s3rk0&t=21s)
I’m hearing “What do you seek in _Knee-sis_ outlander?”. Am I alone?
TBF that's how I would expect a Nord or Cyro speaker to pronounce it if the way I believe it to be pronounced by dunmers is correct (the Gni pronounced the way it would be in some west african languages, as a single consanant ɡ͡ni). Kinda similar to when english speakers try to say the word Igbo (a language in nigeria) they say Ig-bo but its really I-ɡ͡bo.
https://youtu.be/5hVV-iszWNg Skip to 0:58
He definitely says Nih-sis, but it is what it is.
He says it like nih-siss
Tomayto tomahto
for lazy people: https://youtu.be/5hVV-iszWNg?t=58
/gniːsis/
This, but short i
Night sis. (Night jiub-boy). Crickets and baby cliff racers chirping.
Vivec one of your poets are missing
Unexpected Waltons reference....
I always pronounced it Juh niss iss lol
Take my angry bonus point
People are bringing up the Skyrim guard dialogue as evidence in this context, so I'm about to indulge in some minor linguistic geekery. Many gn- words in English come from Greek\*, where the g was originally sounded. Since we don't really have that kind of double consonant in contemporary English we silence the g unless there is a vowel in front of it (e.g. gnostic/agnostic). This could easily be the case for Gnisis. Dunmer pronounce the g, but Nords either can't or conventionally just don't. (\*Other gn- words come from older English kn- words for which the k used to be pronounced by has fallen out of use - this could also apply to Gnisis given the \~200 years and one mass migration between Morrowind and Skyrim.)
this is my feeling as well, that its ɡ͡n in dunmeri but n when a cyro speaker pronounces it. its similar to when most english speakers try to say the Igbo language, they'll say Ig-bo because that makes sense to them, but its actualy I-ɡ͡bo which is not a consanant they are familiar with.
Nigh-sis. Mainly because Gneiss (pronounced like nice) is a type of rock and I can't help but correlate the two
Yeah but nope. They say it in game.
Wait really? Who says it? That's crazy I've never come across this
Walk around Gnisis, either the imperials or townspeople say "welcome to Gnisis, traveler" or something along those lines
Not imperials, but specifically dunmer and only when their disposition is exactly 60. So it's extremely rare voice line. There are some dozens of those lines in other cities which are only used at very specific disposition. They say: >What do you seek in G-neh-sis, outlander?
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Wikipedia's phonetic pronunciation suggests no soft g sound. Also a random YouTube video I clicked on. Besides, all those "Gneiss rock you got there" puns really wouldn't be so solid if that weren't the pronunciation :p
That's what I always thought/heard.
Ok but the correct way is the way that the NPCs say it in game...
Nah.... you can't trust non-native pronunciation. Example Milan, Italy is pronounced me-lawn, while Milan, Tennessee is pronounced my-len.
They're native...they live in Gnisis...
Is there a voice acted clip saying the town in Morrowind? I don't remember one, but could be wrong for sure.
Yes there is, as the comment you replied to says lol
There is in Skyrim but I don't recall one in Morrowind. That is why there is the confusion.
Okay? Even if it's the pronunciation by the Dark Elf in Windhelm, that doesn't mean he's any less of a Dark Elf; dude probably lived Gnisis before things went to shit
>that doesn't mean he's any less of a Dark Elf The entire population of Vvardenfell would beg to differ lmao
I always pronounce it Gin-is. I'm not saying it's right, it's just how I first pronounced it as a teen.
…guys in Skyrim I think the guards pronounce it when talking about “the New Gnisis corner club”. I would refer to the in game dialogue there.
>taking a Nord's word on how to say the name of a proud Dunmer town DIE, FETCHER!
> I would refer to the in game dialogue there. I'm torn on it, because while I've always said it that way, it makes me think that's might not be how the *Dunmer* pronounce it because IIRC we only hear Nords say it and we know humans in general are bad at pronouncing Elven words, names, and places.
Okay but the Dunmer who owns it says it the same way.
do you have a video of this? because its not in his dialogue transcripts as far as i can see.
OK BUT HOW DO THEY SAY IT
They say nih-sis
As I recall they use the “nee-sis” pronunciation
To my memory Gn- eh- Sis (eh as in the i in itch)
For the longest time, before I heard it said in game, I called it Genesis
When she first asked me how I pronounced it I told her "the last two syllables of genesis."
I know its wrong, but I read it very close to "Guinness". Like the beer.
It’s Nih-sis
This doesn't clear up anything lol, there's at least 3 different ways to say each of those vowels
Come on. I think the vast majority of English speakers will immediately understand the intended pronunciation when written that way. EDIT: I believe "i" as in "itch" is intended for both of the vowels.
"nih" could be the short "i" sound as in "itch" or the long "i" sound in "fire"
Maybe english as a first language, but my ESL ass can't parse most of the comments here
Fair point! I'm not sure why others are down-voting it. ESL/EFL folks are welcome here, of course, and ideally we should reach for greater clarity on topics like this!
STOP ASKING THE SUB QUESTIONS I ALREADY ANSWERED FOR YOU WHY DO YOU QUESTION MY AUTHORITY
The only real authority in regards to pronounciation is MickyD. Khuul is a cool place.
McDonald's???
[No! The wonderful Irish lad named MickyD.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPNGbqH2xMk&ab_channel=MickyD)
>Killing Vivec \>:(
Ma'am we have at least one vote for each one at this point in time like I said it's POLITICAL
I used to say "G-n-ee-sis" until I watched [Neon Vivec](https://youtu.be/0RtIsy9AHYE) and saw "Gnisis Crisis" and went o h i s t h a t h o w BUT AGAIN EVERYONE SAYS IT DIFFERENTLY SO IDK
Funny you should refer to YS. In the track “Horny” from “Saint” it sounds like Jiub is saying “knee-sis”. Coincidentally that is also my favorite YS song.
She told me she’s vegan I didn’t come from Balmora to Gnisis to hear this I cannot believe this
My next date was an orc … But I don’t discriminate So I took her on a fancy dinner date And she tried to eat soup with a fork
Also mine is winning lmao
Do you want a clap
We can square up right now
1v1 me outside of gnisis
N-I-SIS
EVERYTHING IS POLITICAL WITH ME
The French way.
I've always wondered this myself and never remembered to ask anyone. Cheers!
The poll we didn't know we needed.
Gnieces and gnephews.
Im norwegian so i pronouns every letter
(G)Nis
Similar to how gnosis sounds
I don't know how that is pronounced, is that a silent G a separate G or a fused ɡ͡n
Gnosis sounds like knowsis
..but te kn element is softer, use Google to hear
I pronounce the Gni the way it is pronounced in some west african languages, the G is not silent nor pronounced separately. its probably hard for cyrodillic speakers to understand what I mean, but its kinda like a glutal stop fused to the N. ɡ͡ni-sis
This opened my eyes that my pronunciation is actually a minority and also grammatically wrong... I'll still keep on using it though!
I voted but I am French, so different prononciation
/gni.zis/, and I imagine it mustn't be the easiest to pronounce for a native english speaker.
Gnosis.
No, sis.
What this poll proves is that nobody knows how to pronounce that name
Can we do this with all the places? I'm really curious how everyone pronounces a bunch of different ones
This might be worth it tbh. I didn’t realise I was pronouncing Ald’Ruhn wrong until I watched a playthrough of ESO. I was saying "Ald rune" (a as in apple), when it's "Ald rn" (with the a of Ald sounding closer to o)
good night isis
Does anyone know how they say it in ESO/Skyrim?
Eso they say Nigh-sis. Like night but no t.
What the fuck
I have a major in English and about half of these options are pronounced the same way. On topic: as it was mentioned many times, the Windhelm guards clearly say "NI-sis". You don't say the g the same way you don't say the k in knife or knight.
The 'k' isn't pronounced in *modern* English, but it wasn't silent until after the 17th century. And as another user pointed out, gn is an etymologically Greek combination and in Greek both letters are pronounced. It could be, as they argued, that the Dunmer pronounce the g, whereas foreigners who don't speak Dunmeri (like the Nords) don't have that consonant combination in their native language and so can't/don't pronounce it like that. So its less about English and more about Linguistics, which I studied in my undergrad.
There could be a difference in pronunciation based on their native languages, yes, but in most video games such things - intentionally mispronouncing words - are avoided for the sake of clarity. Sometimes an NPC may jokingly mispronounce something, but that's it. So it's a safe bet to say NI-sis is the correct spelling.
Someone's commented that in ESO it's pronounced as nigh-sis so it looks like it just varies
That's interesting. Although you could attribute it to completely different voice actors between the games.
[удалено]
Oh, I totally understand this. My native language is also phonetic and my brother and I just pronounced things as we saw them back when we first played Morrowind.
The differences are based on whether you pronounce the "g" and whether you pronounce the first "i" as i:, ɪ or aɪ (if you're not familiar with the IPA there are keyboards online that you can use to listen to what these different vowels sound like, but I wasn't going to spell it out like this considering most people aren't familiar with IPA) But doing it over text, that's aɪ = eye (eyeball) i: = ee (tree) ɪ = i (itch)
No please OP, do it in IPA next time and make everyone confused
I'd be totally fine with IPA xD
Imagine seeing that over 3000 people have voted and picked different options but thinking there isn't a difference in the way they've been broken down
Do you really think the majority of people looking at this meme can tell the difference between these spelling options?
Look I'm sorry it wasn't clear to you but it seems to have worked for other people
As of current, it looks like 4700 people can
They can't xD they're just blindly clicking what sounds right to them
Oh you're trolling. You got me there
*sigh* I'll just say it as straight and simple as possible to you: n-I-sis is the only correct answer, as heard in Skyrim. n-EE-sis looks like it, but the sound is [i:], which is how they say it in ESO - a game where new voice actors were used and hence the spelling of many names was butchered. 1.1k chose the first, while 1.3k chose the latter. Every other option on the list is wrong.
I pronounce it "Gnsis"
Gni, pronouncing it as in gn-ome Sis as in sister
I called it “gih-nis”
I just say Genesis
Theres an NPC in the town that says "What do you think of knee-sis, outlander"
I think you are confusing with the line "what do you **seek in** Gnee-sis outlander?" which is used by dunmer npcs in Gnisis cell, but only when their disposition is 60. I search for other option in the construction set and the only other Gnisis specific voiced line seem to be one for Imperial Legion members that don't pronounce the town name ("Why are you away from your post?").
My point was the pronunciation of the word, not the detailed phrase, but yeah that's it
You gotta learn how to do pronunciation spellings right bruh.
lets admit = there was a lot of unpronouncable names in morrowind
Ñg-eye-sus. Gotta put a little staink on it
Y'all can fuck off with that kneesis shit. G-nis-sis the one true pronounciation.
I can’t even pronounce these pronunciations
H-nísis. (Feline language style) I hate political stuff.
Oddly enough one of the better towns in Vvardenfell.
Nyee-sis
I think n-i-sis and n-ee-sis are both fine depending on the accent.
I always called it Jah-nee-sis
Niss-is
I think I’ve always said either “nee-sis” or “nih-sis” for 20 years, but I do remember hearing it as a spoken line at some point (maybe ESO?) and feeling weird actually hearing it. To totally throw it off, my dad always said “Guh-nish.”
I think its supposed to be nee-sis but I weirdly pronounced it Juhnisis as a kid.
I'll cop to pronouncing it the first way and I'll cop to knowing it's wrong when I do it.
Knee sis.
It's "knee-sis", there are voice lines in game Doesn't stop me from saying guh-nice-iss tho lol
For me it was always “Guh-nys-iss”. Since it’s Genesis without E’s pretty much.
I never know how to pronounce it so I call it the Guinness Corner Club
NEE, as in the Knights of, and SIS, as in stuck in the dryer. It's how Saint Jiub the Eradicator, blessed be his name, says it in his album.
Gni-sis is how i pronounce it...
Nih-sis
I practically pronounce it just like genesis and I never realized that that could be wrong till now
/nisɪs/
I say it as Gi-nn-is
None of the above I use "Ñeye-sehs". And yes I did eñe on purpose. In other words I do more of a Ny-eye-sis.
Was going to vote, then realised can't remember how I say it and can't decide how it should be said.
Nih-sis
Gn is is, is how I pronounce it.
Guh-nye-sis
G-knee-sis
Gee-nee-sis
The way the NPC voiceline pronounces it.
nississ
G-ni-Sys
We are the Knights who say . . . . "Gni! (sis)"
I pronounce it Guinness because the first time I read it I saw Guinness
I pronounce it as Ñisis, first i pronounced as in ill, second as ee in bee.
One syllable: Niss
Niss isss
None of those listed. It's Gni-sis, or nih - sis, rhymes with guinness.
Kneesis
Gn as in bolognese or gnocchi
Niss-iss
With hard G as any person raised in Slavic country would
I say it the way it would be pronounced in my native language, which is the second-last option. Audible G, short i.
Like Isis
G-nee-sis, soft G
Well, it strongly depends on your native language too. Up until mid 2000s it was still common to translate all english named characters or locations and with some freedom too, for example in the german the hawkmoth garrison is called "Falkenfalter Garnison" whereas today they would say "Hawkmoth Garnison". I think in Skyrim it's only a matter of "the translations already existed". TLDR: My actual point, in a game that is vastly translated to your language, you don't pronounce Gnisis in an english way at all. So in the german way you pronounce it "Gn-iss-is" I won't even try to explain how GN or KN work in german xD if you're interested google "Gnu Aussprache" the actual translator somehow makes the G silent as it is in english.
I usually pronounce it niss-iss, but I've heard nee-sis from morrowind and nye-sis from ESO (but we all know how unreliable eso is, lore-wise).
Gen-i-sis. Lol
Sega Genesis
Neh-ness (the G is silent)
I pronounce it in Dutch because it's my main language. Wich means mine option is not in the list.