Voice Quacked-ing (Or I Now Pronounce You Fran And Pirate)

[The Ceej]

Somehow, I have a problem with the way Balthier's name is being pronounced the game. The characters pronounce it BAHL theer, but with the spelling and his character (along with his accent), I'm pretty sure it should be pronounced BAHL thee AY.

I have to assume this is part of the Americanization of the game and that his name was originally meant to be pronounced the way I have described. It's kind of annoying to hear it pronounced the way they do, and I have spoken to Bipper on the phone who agrees with me.

Does evidence exist to support or deny a theory on mispronunciation of Bathier's name in the game? If so, please present said evidence. Thanks.


By the way, for those unfamiliar with the pronunciation key, the line through the TH makes it a sound like the TH in "they."

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

You're mistaken.

His name in Japan is Balflear, spelled バルフレア, roughly pronounced "bahl-flayr." The name "Balthier" is indigenous to the game's English localization and is therefore pronounced as intended.

[Slothy]

Somehow, I have a problem with the way Balthier's name is being pronounced the game. The characters pronounce it BAHL theer, but with the spelling and his character (along with his accent), I'm pretty sure it should be pronounced BAHL thee AY.


He's not French. The games pronunciation is correct.

[PeneloRatsbane]

I called him Baltheeyay until at least giruvegan, its tricky to get ur toungue around at first, but as its not even his proper name...
It lucky it gets said a lot thruout the game (except strangely never by fran) so u get used to hearing balthi-er

[remnant1]

i pronounce his name exactly as i see it,BAHL-theer.its better to not think of this as "americanization"just think of it as ivalice

[The Ceej]

All right, then. I concede that the game's pronunciation is correct. However, it still seems off to me and I still think it would sound better as BAHL thee AY. I admit it's wrong, but I insist the game would be so much better if it were right.

[Heath]

All right, then. I concede that the game's pronunciation is correct. However, it still seems off to me and I still think it would sound better as BAHL thee AY. I admit it's wrong, but I insist the game would be so much better if it were right.

I disagree. I think Balthier is best pronounce the way it is. I think your suggestion would make it sound a bit weird, to be honest. Balthier's a decent name as it is.

[Quindiana Jones]

I pronounce Balthier as "bol-tee-er". Though, obviously, for the game's sake I say "bahl-thee-er".

[PeneloRatsbane]

i pronounce it Fhm - raan

[ReloadPsi]

You're mistaken.

His name in Japan is Balflear, spelled バルフレア, roughly pronounced "bahl-flayr." The name "Balthier" is indigenous to the game's English localization and is therefore pronounced as intended.

This, and look at all the changes that occur in all the other translations too: FF8's Doctor Odine in English was known as Geyser in French.

Just go off the way it's pronounced by the characters; somebody will have instructed them on how to pronounce the names before they recorded their lines. We learned how to pronounce Chocobo in FFX for instance.

[No.78]

If he was French Baltheeyerr would make sense, but he's not so hah.

[The Ceej]

Funny story:

I asked my brother and a few friends, independent of each other, to look at the spelling of his name, listen to him talk, and look at his face, then tell me how to pronounce his name. I was careful to not have his name spoken on the game, as that would definately give the answer away.

100% of these people pronounced it BAHL thee AY. I said to them, "What would you say if I told you the correct pronunciation was bahl THEER?"

They were all surprised. Some more than others, but the general consensus was that it should be pronounced BAHL thee AY.

So, yeah. I'm going to have to say, due to my straw poll, that the incorrect pronunciation sounds better.

[Skyblade]

Funny story:

I asked my brother and a few friends, independent of each other, to look at the spelling of his name, listen to him talk, and look at his face, then tell me how to pronounce his name. I was careful to not have his name spoken on the game, as that would definately give the answer away.

100% of these people pronounced it BAHL thee AY. I said to them, "What would you say if I told you the correct pronunciation was bahl THEER?"

They were all surprised. Some more than others, but the general consensus was that it should be pronounced BAHL thee AY.

So, yeah. I'm going to have to say, due to my straw poll, that the incorrect pronunciation sounds better.

Actually, that proves absolutely nothing, except that you and your friends have similar interpretation of the spelling. It doesn't mean that your pronunciation is any more valid or better sounding than it was before the poll. I've talked with my family and friends as well, with findings the exact opposite of yours. Of course, you may choose to believe that I am making that information up, but the end result is that neither your poll nor mine is a large enough statistical sampling to mean anything.

[Big D]

To the best of my recollection, French doesn't have the 'th' sound common to English. If Balthier were to be pronounced in the French manner, it'd sound more like 'Balt-ee-ay'.

Anyway, as others have said - he's not a French character, nor was he created with French pronunciation in mind. After all, how do us English-speakers pronounce 'brigadier' and 'grenadier', among other words?

The only pronunciation that really bothered me in FFXII was 'Marquis' with a voiced 's'. But that wasn't an issue once I learned that both 'marquee' and 'marquiss' are acceptable English pronunciations of Marquis.

[Vivisteiner]

Bal-thee-ay sounds crap.

How its pronounce in game is much better. Its also how its spelt.

[Quindiana Jones]

Funny story:

I asked my brother and a few friends, independent of each other, to look at the spelling of his name, listen to him talk, and look at his face, then tell me how to pronounce his name. I was careful to not have his name spoken on the game, as that would definately give the answer away.

100% of these people pronounced it BAHL thee AY. I said to them, "What would you say if I told you the correct pronunciation was bahl THEER?"

They were all surprised. Some more than others, but the general consensus was that it should be pronounced BAHL thee AY.

So, yeah. I'm going to have to say, due to my straw poll, that the incorrect pronunciation sounds better.

To be honest, asking people like yourself is a bit biased, really. ;) You should ask people from around the world, like on a forum or something.

Ah right.