Arrow How do you pronounce "Ra's"?

[Human Torch]

Just curious.Which way sounds better?I'm not necessarily asking which is "correct".

 

[DrRocket]

Razzzzzzzzzzzzzzz allllll ghulllll is his correct name and pronounciation

 

[Matt.S99]

Neal Adams(one of the creator of Ras) called him Ras, like in the Nolan films. So I'm goingn with that.

 

[Nathan]

Raysh sounds cooler. So I'm going with that.

 

[Boy Scout]

Raz.

 

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

Doesn't Dennis O'Neil call him Raysh?

 

[HighFivingMF]

Raz. Raysh sounds too drooly.

 

[Nathan]

Drooly?

 

[HighFivingMF]

Drooly?

Like you'd need a napkin after saying it.

 

[DarkSentinel]

The proper pronunciation is "Raysh". That's how I pronounce it.

 

[Kevin Smith]

The proper pronunciation is "Raysh". That's how I pronounce it.

The correct pronunciation is "Raysh", that's how Denny O'Neil, creator of Ra's pronounced him - he even wrote his first animated appearance, which was in Batman: TAS, and that's how it is pronounced there. Nobody started calling him "Roz" until Noooolaaaan.

 

[JTStarkiller]

I acknowledge that the correct way to pronounce it is Raysh, but ever since Batman Begins, I prefer the Rah's sound. Just rolls off the tongue better, in my opinion.

 

[Kevin Smith]

I always wondered if Goyer/Nolan just dropped the ball with that or if it was a conscious decision.

 

[Baramos]

This show is funny--they pronounced it "Ras" for the most part, but at one point Nyssa distinctly said, "Rayshe".

 

[Lencho01]

Depends on how it's said in the film/show for me.

Though, it seems Arrow's going with both ways of saying it, which is odd.

 

[Bathead]

Depends on how it's said in the film/show for me.

Though, it seems Arrow's going with both ways of saying it, which is odd.

Not that odd, considering people in the real world can't seem to make up their minds how to pronounce it, why would it be any different in their universe?

 

[Nathan]

I just wish they wouldn't have changed the pronunciation so late. I'm ok if people outside the League pronounce it differently. But you'd think that Sara and that The First dude, would know how to pronounce it correctly.

 

[Lencho01]

Not that odd, considering people in the real world can't seem to make up their minds how to pronounce it, why would it be any different in their universe?

Well, it's one thing to have people come upon the name and read it however they think it's pronounced. It's another when members of your own league aren't consistent with how to say your name.

 

[Boy Scout]

'Raysh' is a very popular but inaccurate pronunciation that was introduced through Batman: The Animated Series via Denny O'Neil, who is the creator of the character. He claims he had his daughter check with the UCLA Language Department after spending years without any knowledge of how to say it. Unfortunately, from what research that I have done into Arabic, it appears that pronunciation was a misreading. Ra's al-Ghul or Ras al-Ghul is the Arabic name for a star in the Perseus constellation from which the Greeks derived the name 'Algol' (The Demon). 'Ras' means 'head' or the 'head of something' in Arabic and is pronounced something like 'rah-ess' when including the glottal stop (the thing that looks like an apostrophe), or simply as it looks, 'rahs', when excluding the glottal stop. The latter is more modern from what I understand. http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D8%B1%D8%A3%D8%B3. I suspect the confusion arose from the proto-Semitic pronunciation of Ra's which might sound similar to what you hear in the cartoon, however that is merely the root word for the Arabic Ra's and its Semitic cognates. Like I said though the Animated Series and its spin-offs were very popular and for many viewers was their first and only exposure to Ra's Al Ghul, so it's no surprise how prevalent that mispronunciation is, to the point where it continues to the present day in the newer Batman cartoons and video games.

http://www.nolanfans.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8067&f=12

People keep complaining that Batman Begins doesn’t pronounce Ra’s AlGhul’s name right. I find this funny because I’m Arab and Ra’s AlGhul’s name is Arabic and how they pronounce it in Batman Begins is right.
The animated series pronounced it as Raysh and Begins pronounces it as Raz or Rass. (like bass the fish)
Head in Arabic is pronounced Raz or Rass. So if Ra’s AlGhul means head of the demon or the Demon’s head, then Rass/Raz is the correct pronunciation. Therefore, Batman Begins’ pronunciation is correct.

Also, Raysh means Wool scrubber in Libyan-Arabic.
Holy wool scrubber, Batman! Ra’s (Raysh) AlGhul is attacking Gotham!

http://fyeahtimdrake.tumblr.com/post/21254138099/the-pronunciation-of-ras-al-ghul

Okay. I understand that, in most situations, the creator of a character is considered the absolute authority on how a character's name is pronounced. However: Ra's Al Ghul's name comes directly from Arabic. It is a literal Arabic phrase that means "The Ghoul's/Demon's Head." -->

رأس الغول --> Rā's al Ghūl --> The Ghoul's/Demon's Head.

In Arabic, the pronunciation is most definately closest to "Roz." Therefore, that must be considered the ultimately correct pronunciation.

http://forums.superherohype.com/showpost.php?p=12768804&postcount=47

"Ra's" is the Arabic word for "head". And it is correctly pronounced as "Rahs" like Bale and Neeson say it in the film. "Raysh" is[...]incorrect[...]

[...]a native Arabic speaker (myself being one)[...]

http://forums.superherohype.com/showpost.php?p=14754056&postcount=70 (Edited because of tone.)

I also know someone who speaks Arabic. "Raz", according to him, is more correct than "Raysh".

 

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

I go with Adams, language experts and the Nolan version. "Rah's" for me.

 

[Kevin Smith]

I'm calling him Raysh. My first exposure to him was the Denny O'Neil comic...I'd have never thought to call him "Raysh" since there's no indication of a "sh" sound in the first part of his name, but I like "Raysh" better - more strange and mysterious sounding since not many would guess to pronounce it like that by reading it. Also, O'Neil is nicer in person than Adams, who, for all his talent, is a huge egotistical prick, so I guess I do have a bit of a bias. lol

 

[Maximus One]

Little Razz matazz for that jiggly ol ass! Lol nah for real tho, the Bale/Nolam version. First time I heard "Raysh" I didn't even understand wtf they just said.

 

[LordMortis315]

"Raysh" all the way.

 

[DarthDorranceBane]

Creator of the character: Raysh
Real-world language basis of the word: Raz.

What would you choose?

I grew up with the animated series though, so I was wondering why they are saying Ra's name that way when I saw Begins. It was after making a little research that I decided to go with Raz.

 

[antsman41]

I've always said Ra's in my head, even before Raysh in BTAS and Ra's in BBegins.

Neal, that language guy, Nolan, and myself are right.

Boom.