If you watch the clip with the interview mentioned yesterday, you'll hear Keanu pronounce Constantine, 'Con-stan-TEEN'.
Now, when I first heard about this project that's how I would say it aloud as well. Then I learned the pronounciation 'Constan-TYNE', according to Alan Moore, the creator of the character. Figuring his would be the lead to follow, I started saying 'Constantyne', having to catch or correct myself at first and quite honestly I still think it as Constanteen.
I'm sure at one point I even posed this question to the forums but can't recall if I ever got a final answer beyond "This is what Moore says, but some still say "teen". I just tried a search and ran across this amusing thread on it, though.
Heh.
So anyway, I guess we can assume the movie is going to be 'Constanteen' since that's how the lead actor pronounces it. Although it was actually the interviewer (who also says "fuck!" when they tell her she only has five minutes with Keanu instead of ten so I have to like her) says it first, so maybe Keanu was being polite and not correcting her....
Yeah, as polite as he is, that's probably a stretch.
To be on the safe side, I might just start saying 'Constantayne'.
Or maybe 'Constantee-yotch'.
constantine | from inside the mind of krix at January 13, 2004 01:37 PM .Could this be a regional thing? Is Alan British? I've never heard the name pronounced Constantyne, and I work in a field where there emperor of the same name is a biggie. So, yeah, I'm as curious about this tomahto as you are.
I went to see Calendar Girls over the weekend (loved it!), but had to explain to some people next to me what the girls were talking about when Chris's son was smoking what they called "ore-i-GON-o," that little herb most of us around here call "o-REG-a-no."
Posted by: SeaSing, the wanderer on January 13, 2004 02:37 PMKeanu called it "Constant-teen" when interviewing with Byron Allen on Entertainers for "Something's Gotta Give" and Byron didn't say it first. So, it must be "Constant-teen."
Posted by: Jena on January 13, 2004 02:47 PMI've always pronounced it "TEEN"...and most likely will even if it proves to be "TYNE". I thought the original author said "TEEN", but I could very well be mistaken.
Ahhh who cares, so long as it's a good movie.
Posted by: Mikey2 on January 13, 2004 02:54 PMI also think that it's Constanteen...
In my language (romanian) it is a very popular name, spelled Constantin and it is still procounced "Constanteen". The e was added i think to change it into english.
Posted by: Diana on January 13, 2004 04:00 PMI asked this question here quite some time ago and some nice person, I can't remember who exactly, answered that it was "teen". I didn't check her credentials but I believed her as nobody objected to her answer.
Posted by: Zen on January 13, 2004 04:09 PMI would give anything to learn how a 40 year old retains the ability to blush in the face of a compliment.
Posted by: Tyler on January 13, 2004 04:31 PMhey, i'm 40 and i blush at compliments. don't i, krix? or maybe it was just the beers...anyway, i laughed my ass off at that last little bit -- "Or maybe 'Constantee-yotch'." heehee!
Posted by: lori on January 13, 2004 05:02 PMCONSTANTIZZLE!
FO SHO! Be cool and down with the kids, daddy-oh!
Posted by: James on January 13, 2004 05:17 PMBwahahaha!
...and THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is why I adore James...
What an utterly sweet interview! even though it was, I'm sure, one of many that he did that day...
Constantizzle forever, Lord of the Tierection!
Posted by: bakednudel on January 13, 2004 06:19 PMAccording to http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=constantine you can pronounce it either way, although their audio clip says 'constanteen'. I think I'll start calling it Constantizzle though. Got a nice ring to it.
nudel, you are so right ... that interview is totally *SWEET*
Posted by: sta-cie on January 13, 2004 09:57 PMThat's something I always wonder: how can you English speakers guess the pronunciation of a word you see for the first time. Eye-rhymes? Guessing? Probably I'm spoilt, because Italian is use a phonetic spelling...
Posted by: breeze on January 15, 2004 03:41 AMOn the 8th century there were invited two monks from Byzantine – Constantine and Method to my country. Their mission was to religionize people to christianism. It seems they had been successful because now we have a saints day on 5th july, however Constantine ( in slovak pronunciaton - Conshtanteen) changes his name to Cyril. Now I´m looking ahead to coming of another Constantine and wondering what will changed then! ;-)
PS english pronunciation is awful! and wrighting of cacophonousies is awesome!
Cyril and Method are big names here as well, Vika (Serbia)... we call them Chirilo i Metodije...
and i'm guessing that after the flick, it'll officially be -teen, not -tyne...
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