His Dark Materials: how do you pronounce...

[journeymom]

Cittagazze? How about Ci'gazze?

I'm reading the books to dd. We're half way through Subtle Knife and for life of me I cannot figure out how to pronounce this place.

Sit-ah-gahz? Sit-uh-gaze?

Any clue?

[BookGoddess]

I think it's pronounced "chee-tah-gazzay". Cittagazze sounds Italian to me and aren't Italian words that begin with the letters "ci" normally pronounced with a "ch" sound? For example, I pronounce Ciao as "Chia-ow" not "Si-aow". I'm not an Italian expert by any means. Just making a layperson's observation.

[lisalou]

chee-tah-gazzay

At least that's how it's pronounced on the books on tape which are really, really wonderful btw.

[Lazyhead]

Originally Posted by BookGoddess

I think it's pronounced "chee-tah-gazzay". Cittagazze sounds Italian to me and aren't Italian words that begin with the letters "ci" normally pronounced with a "ch" sound? For example, I pronounce Ciao as "Chia-ow" not "Si-aow". I'm not an Italian expert by any means. Just making a layperson's observation.

All true.

[journeymom]

Yay! Thank you, thank you! I knew it was supposed to be Italian-ish. But I couldn't remember the rules. The 'ciao' example is a good one.

Thank you, all.