How Does One Say "BIONICLE"? (The Pronunciation Topic)

If I’m correct, don’t they see “lee-wa” in mask of light?

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Yes, Yes they do.

I mean pronunciations of the G2 Lewa.

Well if it’s been pronounced that way in G1 and it’s been pronounced the same in G2. It seems safe to assume that’s the way it’s pronounced.

I thought we’d reached a conclusion on this topic, but oh well.

It has been pronounced a multitude of ways in G1, and we’ve only ever had one source in G2 pronounce it a certain way. Sure, assume that.

But linguistically speaking, “Lay-wa” is still correct. Unless LEGO comes out and says: “Lee-wa” is the proper pronunciation, or uses that pronunciation in all future mediums, you can not assert that it is THE definitive pronunciation.

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I think when the only source that has truly pronounced it another way are commercials that had no bearing on canon, as opposed to the multitude of media that pronounces it Lee-wah, it’s safe to assume that it’s pronounced Lee-wah.

also, Le is a prefix in Matoran that’s derived from the name. As Lay-vahk, Lay-Matoran, Lay-Koro, Lay-Metru, Lay-wahi, and Lay-rahk don’t sound right phonetically, as opposed to their Lee counterparts

Final thing: While many 2001 names were derived from Maori, Lewa is not one of them, and thus the Maori pronunciation rules have less influence on how it’s pronounced.

I’m fairly certain that Le-Koro is pronounced “Lay-Koro”, and as are a lot of other names with the prefix “Le”. Granted, I don’t have any evidence I can recall, but in this case, it seems neither do you.

Citation needed.
Where are you getting this information from?

An online dictionary is hardly a credible source.
For instance: If you were to determine whether or not Lewa was derived from the maori language, Gali wouldn’t have been. Gali - Te Aka Māori Dictionary,

In fact, neither would Onua Onua - Te Aka Māori Dictionary

Did we ever think it was? Only names I know are derived are Pohatu, Toa, Tohunga, and Tahu, and they’re all there.

It’s also important to note that in some cases names aren’t directly ripped from a foreign word, but derived. Gali, Lewa, and Onua may not be Maori words in and of themselves, but they could be derivatives of others.

In any case, without further evidence I see little reason to sway my stance on the issue.

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Question: What evidence have you given to support your claim?

Here.

Alright then. I concede.

Fun fact: during this argument I went and checked the Bionicle encyclopedia to see how to pronounce it.

it said Lay-wah

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Seriously? …whoops

Until just now I thought it was “Spy-rah”. Derp.

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Thinking back to when TTV interview Greg, didn’t he say there were people on the story team who pronounced it all different ways and there is no true proper way to pronounce it?

I only realized a few weaks ago that the Fe-matoran crafters live on Nynrah, and not Nyrah

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No, they do not live on Nyran’s brother.

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I used to think Nyran’s name was Neer-an.

But no, seriously, I used to pronounce Lewa leh-wa, And I thought Reidak was pronounced REE-dak. I also used to say oh-NEE-wah, instead of Onewa.

I’ll just say my pronunciations for what I’ve seen in the topic, plus some extra!

I always used to pronounce Lewa as Loo-ah. Now I’ve changed to Lee-wah for some reason, but whatever.

I have beef with anyone who pronounces Kopaka as Ko-pack-ah. I’ve always pronounced it Ko-pah-kah, and the other way just sounds ridiculous.

Same with Melum nowadays. I say Meh-lum, but some people say Mal-um or Mee-lum?

Umarak I say Oo-mah-rack, but again I hear people say Oo-mar-ik.

Tahu I say Tah-hoo, but I sometimes hear Ta-you.

Onewa is a tricky one. I’ve always said it On-eh-wah, but some people say On-aye-wah or On-wah, or something like that.

Whenua is similar. I’ve always said When-oo-ah, but I’ve hear Whe-noo-ah.

Reidak I always said as Rey-dak.

Ackar I say Ak-ar and Strakk I say Str-ahk (but sometimes I like hearing things like "ICE AXE STR-AAK!)

Vezon I say as Vez-on, and Vezok Vez-ock.

Hakhan I say Haw-kan, Zaktan as Zahk-tan, Carapar as Ca-rup-ar.

I’ve heard people say Matoran as Mat-or-an, as opposed to my Mah-tor-an.

Jaller I used to say as Jall-er when I was really little, but after watching Mask of Light I always say Jah-la.

Ehrye I pronounce as Air-yay.

Kane-Ra I used to call Cane-ra, but now I got used to calling it Kah-nay-ra.

Spiriah to me is Spee-ree-ah.

Krika to me is Kree-kah.

Wow that’s a lot.

Oh, bonus one:

I say Axalara T9 as Axe-all-ra, but I’ve hear Axel-ra and Axe-all-ah-ra.

Yay for vehicles.

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