Soft C like December (which has deca- as its root also, because December was the tenth month of the year).
Edit: decem is the latin word for ten.
For Church Latin and the Latin of modern law, you would be correct, and this seems to be what everybody does. For Latin of Ancient Rome, use a hard C like in decapod (I had 2 years of Latin in High School -- technically 3, but only the first 2 were any good).
Venture-Captain, Germany—Hamburg
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Soft C like December (which has deca- as its root also, because December was the tenth month of the year).
Edit: decem is the latin word for ten.
For Church Latin and the Latin of modern law, you would be correct, and this seems to be what everybody does. For Latin of Ancient Rome, use a hard C like in decapod (I had 2 years of Latin in High School -- technically 3, but only the first 2 were any good).
I agree. If you were actually speaking Latin in Ancient Rome, you'd use a hard C. But it's a word that just has strong Latin roots but is actually part of the English language, so you use an English pronounciation.
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That's how I've always assumed it's pronounced, also. But just to play devil's advocate, here are some words that also use that prefix that do have a hard 'c'.
Decahedron (and we all know what that is)
Dodecahedron (practically the same. I'm not certain if it technically has the same root or not though)
Decade
Decathlon
Those are just a few off the top of my head.
There's one guy in my area that pronounces it deck-em-vee-ruh-tay.
Because he legitimately thinks it's pronounced like that or because he just likes the way it sounds?
Also, on a super-related note, why don't the newer campaign setting books have pronunciation keys in the back like the Pathfinder Chronicles: Campaign Setting did?
The rule in English is that a c follow by a,o, or u is hard, and e or I is soft.
So, December, decimal, and decimate are all soft.
Decapod, decagon, and dodecahedron are all hard.
Different roots, but same rule, gives us decapitate and decipher.
That would argue for a soft c as in the month of December.
Actually, it's an Old English word, so it rhymes with throatwarbler-mangrove. Rather like Marjoribanks, Colcolough, Fetherstonhaugh, or Cholomondeley in that regard.
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Not strictly Pathfinder or Decemvirate-related, but since you're already derailing, Wizards put out a pronunciation guide some time ago in their FAQ. PF has inherited a number of crazy spellings from D&D so maybe it will help the next time you're curious.
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Umm... why is this even a discussion? It's an English language word. Ask a dictionary, not the forums.
I was curious to see if there were any common variations, and, if so, if they were individual or regional. Notice that I asked "do you pronounce..." not "how is this pronounced".
Welcome to the information age.
And here I thought we were in the Age of Lost Omens...
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Umm... why is this even a discussion? It's an English language word. Ask a dictionary, not the forums.
Good idea. ;)
I keep having this vision of the Drow actually having sundered into two factions, locked in mortal combat about how their race's name should be pronounced, and each insisting that those of the other faction are "a bunch of quitters".
