The Mana Controversy

[Fluffy]

I guess it's not really a controversy. I just thought it was a catchy title, draw some people in. XD

Anyway, I was wondering how everyone here pronounces that word, "Mana" -- most people I know pronounce it as it looks, "man-uh" -- ToS also pronounced it that way. So does Diablo (STFU! I KNOW I don't have enough "man-uh"!). Anyone that has any experience with magic the Gathering knows that they pronounce it "man-uh".

Here's where the problem arises. Before I ever heard the word spoken, I always assumed it was pronounced as "mah-na". Then I started hearing it pronounced the other way, so I decided to look it up.

According to www.dicitonary.com, it is:
ma-na [mah-na]

According to the American Heritage Dictionary, it is:
ma·na (mä'nə) -- and for those not familiar with pronunciation keys, the ä = "ah" and the Schwa "ə" is like an "uh" sound

There does happen to be a word, "Manna" that is pronounced "man-uh," but as that's not the spelling used in ToS or any of the other games, and its defnition ("any sudden or unexpected help, advantage, or aid to success", and "divine or spiritual food" being two of them) doesn't match up with what "Mana" is in video games and such...

Anyway, although many of you probably think I've solved the topic myself, the real question, I believe, is, why the heck is it mispronounced every single time? ...I understand that words get mispronounced all the time, but every single person I know pronounces it "man-uh" and so does every game.

Alrighty, I'm done, I wanna know what everyone else thinks/pronounces.

And yes, I'm posting this mostly out of boredom, not curiosity. ^_^;

[throughhim413]

I used to say man-uh.  Now I use both, just whatever comes to mind really.  I don't worry about that kind of thing too much.

For whatever it's worth, I feel like in Japanese video games, mah-na is how they say it.  It's written like this, at least in Tales of Phantasia and others that I have seen:  マナ   If you can't read Japanese, those are the characters Ma and Na, both said with the long vowel sound. 

[Kogahazan]

Short vowel sound : )

Anyway, I say man-ah. I was thinking it after reading what you said and yeah, it makes sense to pronounce it mah-na, at least when talking about Japanese games. I guess it's said as man-ah in English because it's the white guy way =p

Anyway, mah-na is making more sense. I actually haven't heard that pronunciation for a long time...

[Cless]

I've been a man-uh man ever since I first became aware of the word some 13 years ago playing Secret of Mana. And it stuck and any other pronouciation just sounds... wrong to me.

[Phren]

I'm not sure if Mah-na is there because it went through the Jap filter or not (has no clue about where the word came frome)
But, since it seem logical to say man-uh, and because diablo was a larger part of my gmang background then I would have planned myself, man-uh will have to do, because I don;t really see it as being more then a preference.

Besides, with the amount of self proclaimed 'videogame-know-all's that still play 'ninja Gay-den' I'm not about to let any 'experts' try and change it anytime soon.

[Fluffy]

ma‧na  /ˈmɑnɑ/ [mah-nah]
–noun Anthropology
a generalized, supernatural force or power, which may be concentrated in objects or persons.

[Origin: 1835–45; < Polynesian]

ma·na (mä'nə)
n.

   1. A supernatural force believed to dwell in a person or sacred object.
   2. Power; authority.

From Wikipedia: "Mana is a traditional term and a concept among the speakers of Oceanic languages, including Melanesians, Polynesians and Micronesians. It is an impersonal force or quality said to reside in people, animals and inanimate objects which provide an observer with a sense of wonder or respect. In anthropological discourse, mana as a generalized concept has attained a significant amount of interest; often understood as the precursor to genuine religion. It has commonly been interpreted as "the stuff of which magic is formed", as well as the substance in which souls are made of."

That's it's origin. LoL. ...I never knew. But yeah, it doesn't have anything to do with Japanese, at all. They just know how it's pronounced, as throughhim helpfully pointed out. It just seems as though we in America deviate in pronunciation. ...Makes no sense why, but whatever, I guess. ^_^;