How does one...
 

Pronounce Ithil? Is it (Ith-ill) or (Ith-eel)? (Sorry I'm not good at pronunciation diagrams). Someone I know has lately said that she heard from somewhere that it was Ith-eel, while I had always said it Ith-ill.

When you give your opinions on this, I would appreciate it if you gave your source of knowledge.

Thanks!

I as in English machine, in both positions I would say.

Source: Return of the King (Appendices)

Galin

Incidentally, I am aware of what it says in The Road Goes Ever On concerning short i, but as Arden Smith points out in 2000...

'Properly pronounced, it should be more like the latter. Tolkien writes in Appendix E, "[T]he sounds were approximately those represented by _i, e, a, o, u_ in English _machine, were, father, for, brute_, IRRESPECTIVE OF QUANTITY" (emphasis mine). Of course, many people frequently (mis)pronounce short Elvish _i_ as the lax vowel of English _fit_, and if you listen to the recordings of Tolkien reading from the books, you'll find that he often made the same error.' Arden Smith

So I went with Mr. Smith and Appendix E :)

So basically like Minas eetheel.

ahh. So how do you pronounce Minas? Meenas Eetheel?

:D that sounds really weird... :rolleyes:

Granted, but it is indeed pronounced Meenas. What I think mitigates the odd pronunciation of Ithil is that the emphasis is on the second rather than the first syllable. The same goes for the name Isildur (again, an emphasis on the second syllable).

As far as I know ithil is stressed on the first syllable.