How do you pronounce zounds, Milan, housewife and hundreds of other words in Shakespeare's plays? In this ingenious book, Dale Coye has provided a guide to each significant word, line-by line, scene-by-scene, in twenty of Shakespeare's most popular plays. More than a simple pronouncing dictionary, Pronouncing Shakespeare's Words pays attention to scansion, displays alternative pronunciations in different centuries and geographical areas, and provides a simple pronunciation guide requiring no knowledge of lexicographic symbols. Now available in an affordable paperback edition, Pronouncing Shakespeare's Plays will become a vade mecum (pronounced VAH-day MAY-cum) for actors, students, and general readers of Shakespeare.
*Florentine(s) us /FLŌR in teen/ [-tīn]; E. COAST US /FLŎR-/; UK /FLŎR in tīn/ [-teen] person from Florence.
Gerard de Narbon angl. /juh RAHRD duh NAHR bun/. In the sole verse instance the foot may be inverted /JĔR ard, -urd/. Some eds. prefer Fr. Gérard /zhay rahr duh NAHR bohn/.
Helena /HELL in uh/.
Lafew, Lafeu /luh FY
/. Lafeu in Fr. would be /Iah FÖ/.
Lavatch /luh VATCH/.
Mariana /mair ee ANN uh/, or newer /-AHN uh/. Her name is not spoken.
*Parolles, Paroles US, CN /puh ROHL iz/ [-iss], rarely [-RŎL iss, -iz]; UK /puh ROHL iz, puh RŎL iz/ [-ROHL iss, -RŎL iss], /puh ROHLZ/ is also used, but its final syllable would have to be treated as 2 syllables to meet the metrical requirements of the verse.
-moon, oor-tour, ōr-or, ow-how, th-that, th-thin, Ŭ-but, UR-fur, ur-under. ( )- suppress the syllable [ ]- less common see p. xi for complete list.
People in the Play (cont.)
Violenta angl. /vī oh LEN tuh/, /vee oh LEN tuh/ is based on Ital. Some eds. do not include her in 3.5, making her the same character as Diana.
places in the play
Rossillion see “people in the play.”
St. *Jaques le Grand. The most common angl. forms are us /saynt JAY kweez luh GRAND/; UK /snt-, siṇt-/. Other forms are [jayks], or rarely US [JAY kiz, -keez, -kis]; UK [JAY kwiz, -kwes]. Some eds. prefer Fr. St. Jacques le Grand, which would normally be pronounced /săn ZHAHK luh GRAHN/. However in some lines Jaques / Jacques should be 2 syllables, which in Shk's time would have been /JAY kis/.
Act 1 Scene 1
34. fistula us /FIS chuh luh/; UK also /-tyoo luh/ a long, round ulcer.
76. comfortable here should be /CUM fur tuh bł/.
88. collateral us /cuh LAT rł/; UK also [cŏ-] indirect.
91. hind /hīnd/doe.
98. his reliques, relics /REL iks/ reminders of him.
113. barricado barricade, /băir ih KAY doh/ is older, /-KAH doh/ is newer.
126. politic /PŎL ih tik/ good policy.
158. *brooch /brohch/ ornament. US [br
ch] not recommended.
172. dulcet /DULL sit/ sweet.
Act 1 Scene 2
1. The Florentines and Senoys are by th’ ears may have been /SEEN oyz/ or /SEEN (oh) eez/, archaic form of Sienese which here would have to be /SEE (uh) neez/ or /SYEN eez/. /see uh NEEZ/ is also possible with the pronounced fully in a hexameter.
8. Prejudicates /prih-, pree J
D ih kayts/ prejudges.
11. credence /CREED nss/ trust.
14. Tuscan /TŬSS kun/ of Tuscany, a region in Italy.
17. exploit here should be /ek SPLOYT/.
53. *plausive /PLAW ziv/ [-siv] praiseworthy.
Act 1 Scene 3
25. barnes /bạrnz/ dialect word for ‘babies.’ A more commonly known dialect variant preferred by some eds. is bairns /bairnz/, still found in Scotland and North.Eng.
49. *ergo /UR go/ is older, /ĔR go/ is newer. The former is more common in the UK, the latter in the us, but both forms appear in all countries.
52. Charbon angl. /SHAHR bun/; Fr. /shahr bohn/. Some eds. prefer Fr. Chairbonne /shair bŏn/ good-flesh, i.e., Protestant.
73. *Priam’s King of Troy. US, CN /PRĪ umz/ [-amz]; UK /-amz/, ...
Table of contents
Front Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright
Contents
Preface
Pronunciation Key
Abbreviations
Introduction
A Pronouncing Guide to the Plays
The Plays
Appendix A: Common Words with More than One Standard Pronunciation in Today’s English
Appendix B: Common Archaic Forms in Shakespeare
Appendix C: Pronunciation in Elizabethan England
References
Subject Index
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