How to say heraldic words

[Zaphod99]

I Know a fair bit about heraldry, but I've never heard anyone SAY the words used to describe a shield, or the whole achievement.  Even the word blazon.  Do we say them with a French accent, or as if they were English words?  Is blazon 'blazin' almost like a blazing fire, or is it more like 'blazzohn', with an almost missing final letter?

Gules, meaning red, is it pronounced like 'ghouls' in English, or more like the word 'ghoul' but singular.

Vert, do you pronounce the 't'?

Really helpful would be an internet resource explaining all this, but I can't find anything, even on YouTube.

Zaph

[mckha489]

Each word is individually pronounced on here
Vert & Gules definitely

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/vert?q=Vert

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/gules?q=Gules


Blazon is there, but can’t see the heraldic one in the definitions

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/blazon?q=Blazon

[Kiltpin]

Insults come into and go out of fashion. When I was a lot younger, a favourite one was SPAZ. Change the SP for BL and get BLAZ, add the on and get blazon.  Usually pronounced as bla zon. Definitely nothing to do with blaze as in fire. 

GULES is like ghouls - exactly the same. 

VERT - every letter is pronounced. 

The former Norry and Ulster was, if not a good friend, someone with whom I have dined on many an occasion. 

Regards 

Chas

[KGarrad]

I have always pronounced blazon as blay-zon.
As in blazer?

In standard English blah-zon would be spelled "blazzon"?

[Kiltpin]

I have always pronounced blazon as blay-zon.
As in blazer?

In standard English blah-zon would be spelled "blazzon"?

 

The heraldic language is Anglicized Norman French and does not follow standard English. I pronounce blazon the way the heralds do. 

Regards 

Chas

[Zaphod99]

Thank you for this, so far.  It surprises me that it is so hard to find an article on this, yet I am sure so many people wonder.

What about 'sedant'?  I would say 'SAID-ANT', put what about 'passant'?  PASS-Ant with a short 'a' in PASS, or like 'en passant' in chess, with a French accent.  I think PASS ANT.

It gets even more bewildering with heraldic adjectives of French origin, where the last letter is 'e acute'.  I think I'll pronounce them as French words but without a French accent.

Zaph

[Kiltpin]

Hi Zaphod, 

You are quite right with sedant.  Passant is a bit trickier. PASS SANT, but said together, PASSSANT - with equal stress. 

The one that gives most headaches is SEME.  SEM E, with a hard E. But I have heard SEM A, with a hard A and SEM UH with a very slack uh. It is often spelled - Seme, Semmey, or Semy.   

The heralds themselves struggle with this.  They tried about 20 years ago to truly Anglicize all the terms and do away with all the accents. It seems that the general public prefer the half-and-half version of the text in their grants. 

Regards 

Chas     

[Zaphod99]

Thanks Chas.
Zap
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