Jayson’s Reviews > Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire > Status Update

In Italy her name is "Er-mee-oh-neh" and I was puzzled just as much as poor Viktor when I read that part 😂

Annie ☽ wrote: "In Italy her name is "Er-mee-oh-neh" and I was puzzled just as much as poor Viktor when I read that part 😂"

Lol. That's very interesting. "Hermione" is one of those super Ancient Greek names that should have died out centuries ago but somehow survived to the present day. Makes me wonder whether the English pronunciation is actually correct or not. Possibly the Italian version's closer to the original Greek 🤷‍♂️😁

Dumbledore and the Room of Requirement 😂

Mrinmayi wrote: "Dumbledore and the Room of Requirement 😂"

I guess when nature calls, the Room of Requirement answers :)

Jayson wrote: "Lol. That's very interesting. "Hermione" is one of those super Ancient G..."

Since the story is set in Great Britain I think the English version makes more sense :) Italian is definitely more accurate though when it comes to charms. I've always wondered why Latin isn't taught at Hogwarts, so that the students can properly spell them?

Annie ☽ wrote: "Since the story is set in Great Britain I think the English version makes more sense :) Italian is definitely more accurate though when it comes to charms. I've always wondered why Latin isn't taug..."

Wow! That makes a lot of sense. I hadn't ever thought of that before, but they really should be learning Latin. It makes me wonder how important verbalizing spells is to doing them properly. Seemingly all the adults perform spells non-verbally for the most part. I suppose that saying the words makes it easier, but then does it have to be Latin? Would Egyptian wizards, for example, use Latin or some other magical language? It's definitely a lot of food for thought! 🤔

😂😂😂

Filch dancing 😂

TMR wrote: "😂😂😂"

😁👍

Maya wrote: "Filch dancing 😂"

Definitely one of my favorite gifs :)

I love this GIF

Ninosy wrote: "I love this GIF"

I love it too! It's unexpectedly heartwarming 😁👍

That’s funny- I mentioned the teaching of Latin to a friend a while back when we were discussing that most spells have Latin based words and intention seems to matter a lot

Also, back in James Potter’s day it seemed to have been a fad to create their own spells- that would require a good grasp on Latin too

Annie wrote: "That’s funny- I mentioned the teaching of Latin to a friend a while back when we were discussing that most spells have Latin based words and intention seems to matter a lot"

I think you're right about intention. My feeling is that the words you say don't really matter so much as the intention, since adults don't really use words and non-Europeans likely wouldn't use Latin. I think magic words are more like training wheels than anything, something to help wizards focus intent. Though, there are some instances where magic words are said and unexpected things happen, so perhaps spells are tied inextricably to words when they're invented or something (like when Snape invented Sectumsempra) but melt into the general consciousness with use over time. It's interesting to speculate about.

Annie wrote: "Also, back in James Potter’s day it seemed to have been a fad to create their own spells- that would require a good grasp on Latin too"

Yes, absolutely. I gave the example of Snape inventing a spell in my previous post. I'm wondering whether it would necessarily have to be Latin, or if Latin was just the most potent language to compose magical spells in for Europeans? Latin would nevertheless be useful for that purpose, and also for guessing the effect of spells you only know from words alone.

Well in Greek her name is pronounced "Er-mee-oh-nee", so I was confused too as to whether I should pronounce the "H" or not😂😂😂😂. But yes, it's a very ancient name. In fact, it was the name of the daughter of Helen of Troy and King Menelaus. My best guess is that the name survived through a tragedy of Euripides which focused on Andromeda's life after she became enslaved to the Greeks. I fail to recall the name but she played a huge part in Andromeda's misfortunes. Just some background information I thought you might like to know😊🤗

Branwenn wrote: "Well in Greek her name is pronounced "Er-mee-oh-nee", so I was confused too as to whether I should pronounce the "H" or not😂😂😂😂. But yes, it's a very ancient name. In fact, it was the name of the d..."

Thanks for the info, Branwenn! Much appreciated. I guess it's the same way with American English versus British English as it pertains to accepted pronunciation. Generally speaking, American pronunciation is taken as being entirely legitimate. So, I guess if Hermione pronounces her name with an H in the British way, then it doesn't really matter how it's said originally. Though, people pronouncing it without the H would be correct also. Again, like American versus British English.

I figure that plays contribute a lot to names being carried forward and staying in fashion. I'd expect that many names would have died out long ago were it not for Shakespeare.

Filch is the male equivalent of a stereotypical cat lady.

StarsEternal wrote: "Filch is the male equivalent of a stereotypical cat lady."

I wonder if that's a side-effect of being a squib. The only other squib I know from the books is Arabella Figg, who is the only other "cat-lady." Come to think of it... she and Argus Filch both have the same initials AF! Wow, I never thought about that before. Can't be coincidental! Mind blown 🤯💥

I totally agree with you Jayson, the same thing would have happened here with many ancient Greek names had it not been for the tragedies and the rest of the plays which stood the test of time. For example one of my friends is named Antigone, name which would have definitely gone out of fashion, had it not been for the famous tragedy of the same name.
As for American vs. British English, you're absolutely right. I only mentioned the Greek pronounciation because I am Greek myself, so the confusion wasn't between English and American English but between English pronounciation of Greek names😂😂.

Branwenn wrote: "I totally agree with you Jayson, the same thing would have happened here with many ancient Greek names had it not been for the tragedies and the rest of the plays which stood the test of time. For ..."

I figure that once a linguistic group adopts a name or word as their own, there's no longer a single, authentic pronunciation :)

True👏