Dumb question for native English speakers

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 17 Dec 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Woof	17 Dec 2003
How do you pronounce the word "tarot"? Please let me know. If you could include the country you llive in and, if the US, the region. OK, last time I went into a metaphysical shop looking for a deck the sales person commented on my pronunciation of the word tarot. Made me feel kind of silly. I pronounce it taro stress on the first sylable with a silent final t. She pronounced in taro. Silent final t, stress on the last sylable. I was born and raised in NYC but now live (and shop) in Southern California. Am I wrong or right? Woof

Tallarico	17 Dec 2003
Same way as you! NJ, USA

zorya	17 Dec 2003
i live in indiana, u.s.a, but do not pronounce it like my fellow hoosiers. most in this area seem to pronounce it to rhyme with pharoah, whith the emphasis on the first syllable. i stand by the way i heard it from my mother and she from her mother, and pronounce it with the emphasis on the second syllable. a like ah, long o, silent t. we had a thread on this some time ago and i believe the pronounciation i use is more common in europe.

yve	17 Dec 2003
I pronounce it, I believe the same...."Tare-Oh" of couse smoothly without any pauses....

lunalafey	17 Dec 2003
I have heard: tear-ot tear-row ta-rot ter-oe personally I say "ta" like TA-DA "roe" and I roll it all together "taro" A like "ah" and O like "oh" california- born and raised....

Le_Corsair	17 Dec 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Woof OK, last time I went into a metaphysical shop looking for a deck the sales person commented on my pronunciation of the word tarot. Made me feel kind of silly. Am I wrong or right? Woof As long as the store clerk understood what you were asking for, it is none of her business as to how you pronounce it. He job description does not include embarassing customers. Who is right? The customer is always right. Bob :THERM

Majecot	17 Dec 2003
Is there a correct way to say it? Around here I have only heard it pronounced "tear-oe", my friend uses "ta-row", on tv it I have heard it prounounced both ways, depending on the ethnic origins the reader is portrayed as. I speak native American melting pot...lol... I think we put our own pronunciation on everything we say, I guess it depends on where your from and where you come from.. (my parents are from Tennessee and my step dad from a Polish Chicago community, and I am from Illinois, so can you guess how funny I sound? ) edited for typo ;)

firemaiden	17 Dec 2003
I'm a native english speaker. I pronounce it like french. tah-RO

Moonbow*	17 Dec 2003
Well according to the Oxford University English Dictionary (and lets face it, don't we all speak 'the Queens English?' - not) it should be pronounced -roh but surely its a french word??? so perhaps it should be pronounced the french way as Firemaiden says? Moonbow* :)

Majecot	17 Dec 2003
I always thought is was an Italian based word ??

Moonbow*	17 Dec 2003
[/size][/i] Moonbow*

Le_Corsair	17 Dec 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Moonbow* [/size] [/i] Moonbow* I think JMD pronounces it "mar say." :D Bob :THERM

Diana	17 Dec 2003
The Webster says you pronounce it like this: 'tar-(,)ö (whatever that means :laugh: )

Majecot	17 Dec 2003
lol Sometimes I question Webster... ;)

Moonbow*	17 Dec 2003
Well Diana, French or Italian?? Moonbow*

rota	17 Dec 2003
French? Italian? I thought it was a made-up word. Anyway, I pronounce it to rhyme with 'pharaoh'. (...and 'pharaoh' is a Hebrew word for an Egyptian king. And did you know that 'pyramid' is Greek? It's a crazy woild!)

Logiatrix	17 Dec 2003
Doesn't tarot rhyme with carrot? :D

Diana	17 Dec 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Moonbow* Well Diana, French or Italian?? Moonbow* Tarot is a French word. Probably from the word "tarocchi" (Italian) but the dictionary is giving me headaches, because it says the word "tarot" predates "tarocchi", but how is that possible, if it comes from the Italian word. :confused: I pronounce it like "marrow" or "sparrow". Everyone I know pronounces it like that.

Majecot	17 Dec 2003
See :D I knew there was some Italian in there some where.

Moonbow*	17 Dec 2003
Hmmmmm. Ok lets ask jmd for his opinion, everyone shout together..... ready..... 1....2....3 [/size][/i] Moonbow* :D

TemperanceAngel	17 Dec 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Tauni Doesn't tarot rhyme with carrot ? :D :laugh::laugh::joke::joke::laugh: I was waiting for someone to say that :) XTAX

jmd	17 Dec 2003
I thought I heard yelling... I've just seen this thread, after already having responded in the thread Origin of the word 'Tarot'... As to how I pronounce it [apart from '[i]Mar - say[/i]'... thanks for pointing this out, Le_Corsair] is 'tAh-Roe' - of course, how this is read will depend on how each pronounces 'tAh' & 'Roe' :)

Mimers	17 Dec 2003
Tauni, you crack me up!!! I actually used to pronounce it like 'carrot', and my Mom and my Aunt were very irritated by that! LOL My Mom kept yelling, "the T is silent!" So now I say Tarot like pharaoh :) Sometimes I slip :| don't tell my Mom! Born in raised in the burbs of NYC.

Nevada	17 Dec 2003
I stress the second syllable, silent T at the end. I'm in Southern California. Lived here most of my life. Tauni, :laugh: :D :laugh: Nevada (Why do I keep editing this ridiculous little post? I spent the past two days editing, and now my editor's cap is stuck on my head. HELP!)

Alex	17 Dec 2003
I'm not a "native speaker" of english, but my son is. He pronounces it like "t-r-o-u-t". Yeah, sounds like the fish. Swears to me it's the "right way" to pronounce it. He learned to speak here in MD, USA. Alex.

Star Spirit	17 Dec 2003
Tare-oh. My two cents :cool:

Woof	18 Dec 2003
Nevada, you got it! That must be it! It must be a So Cal thing! Another transplant speach impediment! The locals will have to live with my NY accent. Thanks for the insight all! Woof

Page	18 Dec 2003
[quote][i]Originally posted by Moonbow* Well according to the Oxford University English Dictionary (and lets face it, don't we all speak 'the Queens English?' - not) ----------- That was funny :D I'm a Native but I've got a very strong E.London accent- common as muck! However I used to pronounce the O or T and have heard others do the same. TARRO/TARROT For a long time now the T is silent TARRA and I've also heard others say the same too. I will never go back to the above it's just not me. The French and Italians roll the R and I've spoken to a lot of French and Italians people and they don't understand me when I say Tarot the English way. But when I say it with a bad French/Italian accent they undstand straight away. Overall I reckon Tarot is a Italian word! Tip.....if you want to learn the "The Queens English" put a plum on your mouth when you talk as it helps to get the posh it.

firemaiden	18 Dec 2003
Jean-Michel, Diana, help...where is that francophiliac flag? Hurry! Hurry!!! Tarot (definitely with a silent t) has been accused of being an Italian word! Yes, did you hear that? she said Italian! What am I going to do with you all. I'm giving you all failing grades... *Firemaiden stands in a pile of misprounounced French words shuddering in agony, and handing out F's* Edited to add: of course, I am aware, those partisans of the "Queen's English" feel obligated to butcher their French borrowings just as gruseomely as the French butcher their English borrowings... witness the Brittish "Renaissance" pronounced "re-nay-sence" -- its a historical enemies thing. We Americans are far more aproximatively respectful, we say "REH-nez-ahnce-" ... after all, they did give us the Statue of Liberty and help us with the revolutionary war...

Le_Corsair	18 Dec 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Mimers Tauni, you crack me up!!! I actually used to pronounce it like 'carrot', and my Mom and my Aunt were very irritated by that! LOL My Mom kept yelling, "the T is silent!" So now I say Tarot like pharaoh :) Sometimes I slip :| don't tell my Mom! Born in raised in the burbs of NYC. The "T" is silent? Do you pronounce it arrow, then? :D Bob :THERM

Diana	18 Dec 2003
Quote: Originally posted by firemaiden Jean-Michel, Diana, help...where is that francophiliac flag? Hurry! Hurry!!! Tarot (definitely with a silent t) has been accused of being an Italian word! Yes, did you hear that? she said Italian! Firemaiden: do you remember that very famous speech of Charles De Gaulle? When he said: "Vive la France! Vive le Tarot!" And in Algeria, when he proclaimed: "Nous vous avons compris!" (We have understood you!) He was talking obviously about an interpretation of a spread his advisers had done for him that morning on Algerian independence. We can go back much further, to Napoleon, when, from his dreary exile he proclaimed "L'ennui est un poison mortel" (Boredom is a mortal poison.) He was bemoaning the fact that he had forgotten to pack his Tarot decks to accompany him. Of course Tarot is a French word. The French EVEN KNOW HOW TO PRONOUNCE IT!!!!!! :P

jmd	18 Dec 2003
...now that's easily resolved... Italy didn't even exist at the time. ...and Girabaldi's parents hadn't even been conceived yet ;)

firemaiden	18 Dec 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Diana Firemaiden: do you remember that very famous speech of Charles De Gaulle? When he said: "Vive la France! Vive le Tarot!" Yes, Yes, and I remember that famous speech when he went to Montréal and said, "Vive le Québec! Vive le Québec (et le tarot) LIBRE(s)!!!!!""

jmd	18 Dec 2003
...and of course, there is that very famous cry by the French, using the Latin form [font=papyrus] LIB ER T [/font] This was later transcribed as 'Liberté', though the esotericists of the time knew its true origins, hence the Golden Dawn's appropriation of the same, in its English form, as 'Book T' ;)

Emily	18 Dec 2003
To me its Taro, short and sweet. Its the way I've always prounounced it :)

Agathe	18 Dec 2003
You native English speakers seem to have a real problem here;o) My boyfriend is American but when I talk to him I still pronounce it in my Polish way...TAROT - just the way it is. Blessings, Agathe

Moonbow*	18 Dec 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Page Overall I reckon Tarot is a Italian word! OMG now you've opened a can of worms.................. now I thought [/b][/i] Moonbow* })

rota	18 Dec 2003
um... so what have we learned here...?

Diana	18 Dec 2003
Quote: Originally posted by rota um... so what have we learned here...? We have learnt that in French and Polish, there is no confusion. So in future, let's say "Tarot" in French or Polish. One pronounces it "Tarot".

SongDeva	18 Dec 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Moonbow* Well according to the Oxford University English Dictionary (and lets face it, don't we all speak 'the Queens English?' - not) it should be pronounced -roh but surely its a french word??? Moonbow* :) The English always put emphasis on the first syllable of French words: GA-rage BAL-let etc. I don't say those that way, but I do say TA-rot, with my TA flat like CAT. Lara

SongDeva	18 Dec 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Le_Corsair The "T" is silent? Do you pronounce it arrow, then? :D Bob :THERM Don't be silly Bob. It's arrot.

Diana	18 Dec 2003
Quote: Originally posted by SongDeva I don't say those that way, but I do say TA-rot, with my TA flat like CAT. That's the way one pronounces it! I asked someone to translate the phonetics from the Webster for me. It's exactly that! SongDeva wins a Micky Mouse Swiss Chocolate Medal!

Le_Corsair	18 Dec 2003
Quote: Originally posted by SongDeva I don't say those that way, but I do say TA-rot, with my TA flat like CAT. Lara A flat cat is a furisbee. :D Bob :THERM

baba-prague	19 Dec 2003
SSSSH Bob, we'll have no talk about flat cats please! Here in Prague tarot is pronounced to rhyme with "carrot" but I say "taro" myself.

jmd	19 Dec 2003
Interesting... never realised they pronounced 'carrot' 'KäRÖ' in prague!

Jewel-ry	19 Dec 2003
Hi all, Thought I'd stick my five eggs in. Le_Corsair has it. Its arrow with a T at the beginning -- Tarrow I'm very English. Never heard it pronounced any other way here..... Now, whats all this about flat cats and frisbees??? J :OS

The Dumb question for native English speakers thread was originally posted on 17 Dec 2003 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.