# How is Baba Yaga pronounced?



## NewJeffCT (Jul 12, 2012)

Just curious - I was looking for a powerful, high level fey type and there was Baba Yaga in DDI adventure tools.  I remember her hut from 1E days back before electricity... 

I was wondering how do you pronounce the name?

I had always said Bah Buh * Yay Guh

Is that correct?  Close?  way off the mark?

Thanks


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## Harlock (Jul 12, 2012)

NewJeffCT said:


> Just curious - I was looking for a powerful, high level fey type and there was Baba Yaga in DDI adventure tools.  I remember her hut from 1E days back before electricity...
> 
> I was wondering how do you pronounce the name?
> 
> ...




I always made it the first and second syllables in each word rhyme. Bah-buh, Yah-guh.


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## Pour (Jul 12, 2012)

I tend for BAH-bah YAH-gah, but I say it kind of fast, so maybe BAH-bah-yaga.


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## Dioltach (Jul 12, 2012)

I've always pronounced it BAH-bah YAH-gah, but given that it's a Russian/Slavic name, perhaps the vowels should be shorter and flatter. Like in babushka, for instance.


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## Morrus (Jul 12, 2012)

Did I hear someone call for the D&D Pronunciation Guide?

Apparently, the answer is Baba Yaga (D): ba-ba YA-guh, according to the article "_Ay pronunseeAYshun gyd_" by Frank Mentzer in _Dragon #93 ._


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## ComradeGnull (Jul 12, 2012)

They need do way with instain Baba who mispronounce they yaga.


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## Herschel (Jul 12, 2012)

"grahb fore dee six"


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## Yora (Jul 12, 2012)

It's probably pronounced just as it is written.

But it's imposible to indicate pronounciation for anything but English with english spelling. ^^

In IPA, it's written [baba jaga].


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## Harlock (Jul 12, 2012)

"It's spelled Baba Yaga, but it's pronounced, 'Throat Warbler Mangrove.'"


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## Yora (Jul 12, 2012)

No, that's not Russian. That's Welsh.


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## Herschel (Jul 12, 2012)

Or Yiddish.


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## Fifth Element (Jul 12, 2012)

Although Russian often has some subtleties to their vowels that are hard to transcribe, this one seems pretty straight-forward. The suggestions above seem fine.


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## Olgar Shiverstone (Jul 13, 2012)

"Roll for initiative, monkeyboy!"


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## Belgos (Jul 13, 2012)

I dated a lovely girl from the Ukraine once and had asked her about this very thing.

After listening to be me mangle it (I was pronouncing it as 'Bar-Bar Yar-Gar'), her eyes lit up:

'_Ah_! You mean Buh_Bah _Yug_Gah_!'

I'll take this over a pronunciation guide any day.


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## Umbran (Jul 13, 2012)

"Kneel before my chicken-legged hut!"


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## Aeolius (Jul 13, 2012)

Belgos said:


> _Ah_! You mean Buh_Bah _Yug_Gah_!'



I think that's the pronunciation they used on Lost Girl, when I had the misfortune of channel-surfing and watching a few minutes of it, the other day. I cannot like that show to save my life.


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## Holy Bovine (Jul 13, 2012)

Just the way it is spelt of course!

Su-san!


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## blargney the second (Jul 13, 2012)

Baba Yaga totally just got added to my Kingmaker game.


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## Tonguez (Jul 13, 2012)

blargney the second said:


> Baba Yaga totally just got added to my Kingmaker game.




Baba Yaga should be compulsory for EVERY game 

she takes her rightful place as enigmatic Mother Goddess imc - her avatars include the Winter Hag,  Mother Death and an old crone known as the Old Rhyming Lady.

Pronounceitright.com link


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## radja (Jul 13, 2012)

Yora said:


> It's probably pronounced just as it is written.
> 
> But it's imposible to indicate pronounciation for anything but English with english spelling. ^^
> 
> In IPA, it's written [baba jaga].




it's impossible to indicate pronunciation for english with english spelling too. This is a language in which you could pronounce ghoti as fish.


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## Al'Kelhar (Jul 13, 2012)

Holy Bovine said:


> Just the way it is spelt of course!
> 
> Su-san!




No, Su-san isn't an old hag. But she is scary.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzAECnpDR4c]Monsters vs Aliens funny - Whats your name...? - YouTube[/ame]


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## LostSoul (Jul 13, 2012)

Belgos said:


> I dated a lovely girl from the Ukraine once and had asked her about this very thing.
> 
> After listening to be me mangle it (I was pronouncing it as 'Bar-Bar Yar-Gar'), her eyes lit up:
> 
> ...




I had the same experience, except the girl was from Volgograd.  Buh-bah yug-gah is how she said it, too.


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## Shiv (Jul 13, 2012)

NewJeffCT said:


> Just curious - I was looking for a powerful, high level fey type and there was Baba Yaga in DDI adventure tools.  I remember her hut from 1E days back before electricity...
> 
> I was wondering how do you pronounce the name?
> 
> ...




The hut's been updated to 4E by yours trully. 

Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page - Article (Baba Yaga?s Dancing Hut)

If your group is higher level, you could just adjust the skill DCs up and use different monsters.


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## jasper (Jul 13, 2012)

I just hate these threads.  Just chose one that your group finds acceptable.  Come we talking about goddess in dead language trying to be pronouce in the current verison of the dead language. Then transporting the name across the pond to usa. And we have trouble understanding each other if we go more than 2 states over.
If I the player it call it. " I backstab the wizard and run away!'
If I am the dm, I just giggle.


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## Scrivener of Doom (Jul 13, 2012)

And here's how you pronounce her husband's name, Baba O'Riley:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKUBTX9kKEo]Baba O'Riley - YouTube[/ame]


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## Desdichado (Jul 13, 2012)

NewJeffCT said:


> Just curious - I was looking for a powerful, high level fey type and there was Baba Yaga in DDI adventure tools.  I remember her hut from 1E days back before electricity...
> 
> I was wondering how do you pronounce the name?
> 
> ...



It would make more sense, as well as take less time, for you to have looked up an authoritative source for this (like heck, even a dictionary or basic encyclopedia) rather than ask a bunch of opinionated but otherwise questionally expert folks at ENWorld. 

In any case, Baba Yaga is a transliteration of the Russian name Баба-Яга--which would be pronounced BAH-bah (or BAH-buh) YAH-gah.  

Yay Guh? Nuh-uh.


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## Fifth Element (Jul 14, 2012)

jasper said:


> I just hate these threads.  Just chose one that your group finds acceptable.  Come we talking about goddess in dead language trying to be pronouce in the current verison of the dead language.



Which dead languages now?


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## Morrus (Jul 14, 2012)

jasper said:


> I just hate these threads.




My advice would be to avoid them, then.


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## Olgar Shiverstone (Jul 14, 2012)

Morrus said:


> My advice would be to avoid them, then.




Brings back good memories of the "Wandering Hut of Baba Yaga" adventure from _Dragon_, though.

The use of a tesseract as a dungeon design blew my mind then, and still does now.


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## El Mahdi (Jul 14, 2012)

Belgos said:


> I dated a lovely girl from the Ukraine once and had asked her about this very thing.
> 
> After listening to be me mangle it (I was pronouncing it as 'Bar-Bar Yar-Gar'), her eyes lit up:
> 
> ...




Yeah, Ksenia Solo (who plays Kenzi on _Lost Girl_) pronounces it like that also.  She's originally Latvian, though raised in Canada, but she does speak Russian on the show occasionally (I don't know if her family was predominantly Russian speaking or Latvian speaking...).

Here's how she pronounced it during an episode of Lost Girl:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1A4Rj4xcig]Lost Girl - Mirror, Mirror - Clip - YouTube[/ame]


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## Stereofm (Jul 16, 2012)

kinda like "Baba au rhum" but with more vodka


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## am181d (Jul 16, 2012)

In a recent campaign, there were four ancient witches in the world, each more hideous and creepy than the last, and they were named:

Yaba Baga
Gaba Yaya
Gaga Baya

and... well... the fourth one never really came into it.


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## El Mahdi (Jul 16, 2012)

am181d said:


> In a recent campaign, there were four ancient witches in the world, each more hideous and creepy than the last, and they were named:
> 
> Yaba Baga
> Gaba Yaya
> ...




The fourth was Lady Gaga...


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## Ulrick (Jul 16, 2012)

You say beh-beh yeh-gey, I say Bah-bah yah-gah
I say bah-bah yah-gah, you beh-beh yeh-gey
beh-beh yeh-gey, bah-bah yah-gah
bah-bah yah-gah, beh-beh yeh-gey
let's call the whole thing off.

you say droh, I say drow...


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## Aberzanzorax (Jul 17, 2012)

It's actually pronounced:

"Barbara Walters"




But the original speaker had a lisp, hence the confusion.


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## Desdichado (Jul 17, 2012)

am181d said:


> In a recent campaign, there were four ancient witches in the world, each more hideous and creepy than the last, and they were named:
> 
> Yaba Baga
> Gaba Yaya
> ...



Probably Yaba Daba Doo.


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## am181d (Jul 18, 2012)

Hobo said:


> Probably Yaba Daba Doo.




Another suggestion was Yo Gabba Gabba, which is apparently hysterical if you're nine.


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## DnD_Dad (Jul 18, 2012)

Buh-ba yuh-ga(said very slovikly.)


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## El Mahdi (Aug 8, 2012)

Yeah, yeah...I know, I'm quoting myself.

My wife is a Hospice Nurse who was treating a Russian speaking patient for the last few days.  She asked the patients parents how to pronounce this (as a tension reliever...normal everyday conversation can significantly help relaxe families dealing with a hospice situation).  The patient's parents are primarily Russian speaking (rough English), and they pronounced Baba Yaga the same as Ksenia Solo in the below clip. 

Confirmation Complete.



El Mahdi said:


> Yeah, Ksenia Solo (who plays Kenzi on _Lost Girl_) pronounces it like that also. She's originally Latvian, though raised in Canada, but she does speak Russian on the show occasionally (I don't know if her family was predominantly Russian speaking or Latvian speaking...).
> 
> Here's how she pronounced it during an episode of Lost Girl:
> 
> Lost Girl - Mirror, Mirror - Clip - YouTube


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## Mark Chance (Aug 8, 2012)

I thought it was pronounced "shar-DAY".


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## Morrus (Aug 9, 2012)

El Mahdi said:


> Yeah, yeah...I know, I'm quoting myself.
> 
> My wife is a Hospice Nurse who was treating a Russian speaking patient for the last few days. She asked the patients parents how to pronounce this (as a tension reliever...normal everyday conversation can significantly help relaxe families dealing with a hospice situation). The patient's parents are primarily Russian speaking (rough English), and they pronounced Baba Yaga the same as Ksenia Solo in the below clip.
> 
> Confirmation Complete.




And if you ask a Frenchman, Paris is pronounced "Pah-ree". Edinburgh is "Edinbruh" not "Edin-BURROW" and so on.   We're not expected to mimic every accent on the planet, are we?

When it comes to made-up words, it's however the creator decided.  When it comes to older or mythological words, I guess it's still regional.  Some parts of the US refer to Mexico as "Mehico" but not Germany as "Deutschland".  Regional pronunciations are definitely valid.


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## TarionzCousin (Aug 9, 2012)

Olgar Shiverstone said:


> Brings back good memories of the "Wandering Hut of Baba Yaga" adventure from _Dragon_, though.



After I ran that adventure for my players, they pronounced it "ruh nuhway."


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