Why is the J silent? - The Golden Child (1986) Discussion

[–] rickyfan3956 18 years ago

Well, Sardy definitely has an accent and in some languages, such as German, the "J" sound that we know is pronounced as a "Y". If you'll notice, he doesn't really leave the "J" silent. He just calls him "Mister Yarrel".

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[–] sushiactress 18 years ago

I thought it was because he's so evil that he can't pronounce J because Jesus starts with J. I dunno, really.

I hate the people who love me, and they hate me!

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[–] Mex5150 15 years ago

Hi

I thought it was because he's so evil that he can't pronounce J because Jesus starts with J. I dunno, really.

There are a few people saying this (or the same with Jehovah), but it makes no sense, the film has nothing to do with the christian mythos.

It is infinity more likely to be a linguistic thing about the pronunciation (people from different countries often pronounce the same letters in different ways) rather than a two thousand year old fairytale is isn't mentioned anywhere else in the movie.

~Mex

--

Did you ever notice that people who believe in creationism look really un-evolved?

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[–] manofsteel4455 10 years ago

You mean to tell me you Atheist can't even have a discussion just like this one without trying to insult religion?

You want to play the game, you'd better know the rules, love.
-Harry Callahan

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[–] Mex5150 10 years ago

Hi,

We can, it's just some (including me) choose to call out the ridiculous nonsense that some people believe when we see it LOL

I don't even remember posting the above comment (but then it was half a decade ago), still stand by it though.

~Mex

--

Did you ever notice that people who believe in creationism look really un-evolved?

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[–] BrianT999999 8 years ago

The mythos of the film is actually pretty unique, and appears to be a mash-up of Buddhist and Christian beliefs. The fact that Sardo Numspa works for the actual Devil, for example, is straight out of Christianity (I can't think of any major Eastern religion that has an equivalent figure).

Whether this has anything to do with Numspa's inability to pronounce the "J" sound in English is anyone's guess. Someone should ask Charles Dance about it.

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[–] r_dimitri22 18 years ago

I always thought it was the same reason that - as we find out Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - in the Latin alphabet, Jehovah begins with an "I." It's just supposed to illustrate that he's a very old demon.

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[–] RJ-Flethcer 18 years ago

Yeah, but he pronounces "J" as "Y" throughout the movie, in some instances almost having to remind himslef to do it seemingly. For example, when he calls the adjante dagger (spelling?) the adyante dagger, it seems a little awkward and unnatural. I have no idea why though, there must be a reason. Maybe it's on the cutting room floor.

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[–] fatboyz 17 years ago

im sure that bit in the dream where he has trouble asking for the dagger(by nearly saying ajanti dagger instead of ayanti is a definate mistake which they never cut out? anyone else agree???

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[–] atman3 17 years ago

I’m not too sure about that. I know it’s trivial, but when Eddie Murphy corrects Numspa about the pronunciation of his Eddie Murphy’s name, Numspa says, “I know.” Again, like he’s doing it intentionally. I can only presume that either: (a) he’s just trying to annoy Murphy’s character, or (b) it has something to do with a certain sacred syllable of pronunciation forbidden to be spoken by those who are evil etc. (the movie seems to be full of similarly fictionalized sacred-ritual type references); however, as Kris noted, it seems to have been forever lost on the cutting room floor…maybe the special edition DVD (like they’ll ever make one for this movie) will answer the question.Till then, I suppose it’s up to hopeless movie buffs like us to muse over.

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[–] davyboy999 17 years ago

In the brother numsi bit at the airport he does it again when speaking to Eddie.

He says yust instead of just.

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[–] russellp20012001 17 years ago

He can't say it because Jehovah starts with a J.

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[–] blue_avernine 17 years ago

Who knows. I like to think its because he's a classic Western style demon, and has to speak with the Latin alphabet. I also thought that part in the dream where he can't pronounce Adjante includes the pause because he's trying to force the sound and can't do it. Think of the old idea that those who spoke Mandarin couldn't pronounce L's.

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[–] zyggums 12 years ago

it seems to me like he "almost says it" and then catches himself like something bad will happen. Like how demons true names have power over them or something like that. Im confused about it and want to know even after 20 years!

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[–] da_rc 12 years ago

i dont think there's a real reason for this other than them wanting to incorporate something weird and funny into the movie

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[–] SidekickinWhiteFury 12 years ago

He absolutely almost says ADJANTI, catches it, corrects himself and says
ADYANTI.
That part should have been reshot.
It is an error that is not intentional.

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[–] blakjakcc 9 years ago

If it was an error Eddie's character wouldn't have told Sardo that his name starts with a J where he say's "I know". Go re-watch the movie.
And a 'J' is not pronounced as a 'Y' in German, Latin maybe, but not German.
It's like how Dracula can't say the letter J, it was put in there for a reason, if it was a goof they would have cut it as this was not a low budget film. They would have filmed many takes of every scene and there's no way they would have left such a blatant error in so many times, once maybe.
And the actor who plays Sardo Numspa (Charles Dance) is not German, Latin, or even American, he's English, and the English have no problems pronouncing J's.

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[–] aquarianbrass 9 years ago

"J" is pronounced like "y" in most languages not English including all the Semitic languages.

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[–] !!!deleted!!! (9347176) 9 years ago

The error in question is when Sardo attempts to say "the Ajanti Dagger" and gets hung up on mis-pronouncing the "j" like he does with all the other "j's" in the film. Dance semi-flubbed the line and it probably should've been re-shot. It was obvious 30 years ago and it's obvious today.

And a 'J' is not pronounced as a 'Y' in German, Latin maybe, but not German.

"J" is absolutely softened in the German language. The letter, itself, is called "yot!" Almost every native German word beginning with "j" is pronounced as if it began with a "y." What the hell are you even talking about?

-Rod

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[–] chilichilipepper 7 years ago

Heh perfect example. Say "Jaegermeister" to yourself. It is pronounced Yaeger.

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[–] CatsAreLovely (1) 4 years ago

Even more simple, yes in German is Ja, which is ya sounding.

Why am I even here near 15 years later haha.
Was nice to see this film being discussed 💙

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[–] moviechatterer (13258) 4 years ago

What thats it ?
ja, I was well aware of the german pronunciation

I sheer amount of discussion and flaming above had me thinking it was some other weird quirk or pronunciation.

I wonder if theres a 20 year old discussion about "nuclear wessels" going on over on the Star trek section :)

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[–] alex-1122 9 years ago

I am German and the "J" is pronounced "y" so "Jarrow" would be pronounced "Yarrow". It's a phonetics thing!

on the other hand, the letter "a" is pronounced ~ 5-6 different ways in English, while it is only pronounced one way in German, so ... :-)

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[–] chilichilipepper 7 years ago

I realize this is 11 years old, but well people responded recently.

I think way too many people are looking FAR to deep into this. I just believe it was because of the accent the actor chose for the character. And I loved The Golden Child, I've watched it quite a bit. Nothing in the movie suggests that him being unable to prounounce the hard J is based on anything religious.

It is simply the "Pan American" English accent / European generic accent that the actor went with. Maybe since the character WAS evil, it might have been used to suggest that he was a Demon or even Satan, and his unplaceable accent was a way of showing the character has been around for a long time.

Remember, the hard J didn't even exist for a long time. Jesus's real name was Yesuha (Joshua) based on his father's name. Just over time, It became Jesuha, then Jesus etc.

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[–] TheDemon (458) 3 years ago

Interesting discussion.
So with D'Jango the D is silent.
So would Numsie then call him Ango?

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