Pronunciations
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This thread is coming hilariously late for me, but I figure I should ask these questions, because... why not?
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How does one actually pronounce Thelema?
I always pronounced it exactly like it looks in English, until I was told by someone who knows Greek (my mother) that it is pronounced THEH-lay-mah.
I've heard people pronounce they-LEE-muh or theh-LEE-muh.
What is it supposed to be? I'm totally lost. (Jim, I'm secretly hoping you'll respond to this.) -
How do you (addressed to individuals here) pronounce Magick?
I pronounce it as though the K is silent, although I know that some pronounce it MAGE-ick (I've never heard this from anyone in person, however).
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Your mom is quite correct. There are also other correct alternatives.
From
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%B8%CE%AD%CE%BB%CE%B7%CE%BC%CE%B1"Pronunciation
(Classical): IPA: [tʰélɛːma]
(Koine): IPA: [tʰˈɛleːma]
(Byzantine): IPA: [θˈelima]"There are a lot of ways to pronounce it... and ancient Greek pronunciation is something of a reconstructed, not-completely-certain thing.
The Theta in the classical and koine is something in between a hard t and a soft th (as in "thin"), over time it evolved to be more of the soft th sound.
The Epsilon would be about how an Australian would pronounce the "e" in "bed".
The Eta in classical greek is going to be closer to how a Georgian would pronounce the "e" in "bed". In modern greek, it would be like the "ee" in "free".
So you have, roughly:
teh' - leh - mah
t(h)eh' - lei - mah
theh' - lei - mah
theh - **lei' **- mah
theh - **lee **- muh
All of which are, approximately correct from a certain point of view. I pronounce it about like the second-to-last.
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Do yiou mean "How is THELEMA pronounced to a modern Greek?"
Or, "How would THELEMA be pronounced in ancient Greek?"
Or, "How did Aleister Crowley pronounce THELEMA?"These are three separate questions.
The version the-LEE-ma comes from the fact that, until the 1960s, scholars didn't know that long vowels in ancient Greek were pronounced exactly the same as the short vowels, but were literally LONG, i.e., pronounced twice as long. Before that (and especially in Crowley's time), long vowels in ancient Greek were, by convention, pronounced as English long vowels. Thus, the Eta was pronounced like the English EE. (I know this especially well because it's my former father-in-law who decoded the whole thing, with the help of his daughter who, coincidentally, has a birthday tomorrow).
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I guess I mean, "How did Aleister Crowley pronounce THELEMA?"
or, rephrased - "As someone who follows THELEMA, what is a reasonable pronunciation for this word that originates in a language that I don't speak, a pronunciation that will prevent me from looking really stupid in the presence of other followers of THELEMA, or non-Thelemites who happen to be really, really good at ancient Greek?"
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I believe Crowley would have pronounced it the-LEE-ma, in line with the pronunciation rules at the time.
If you pronounce it as the-LEE-ma or the-LAY-ma, most Thelemites wouldn't tease you.
If you pronounce it as your mom suggests, THEH-lay-ma, most people who are "really, really good at ancient Greek" probably won't tease you.
