Poll: Zelda: Skyward Sword HD's Biggest Question - How Do You Pronounce Fi?

Like FEE, just that you pronounce FI(fee)

It doesn't make alot of sence but I pronounce it Fey

Feeeeeeeeeeeee

I think they changed her name. I explicitly recall exclaiming "NO" every time she interrupted the Wii game.

I prefer “that annoying jawn”.

"Phai" cause that's her name in german and I guess that's how "Fi" should be pronounced too

Say “WiFi” out loud. If you say “wi-fee,” palm your head. If you say “figh” then you probably know how to pronounce this stupid name.

I smell an English bum- wait wrong rhyme.

Always did 'figh' but always felt 'fee' sounded better.

@BloodNinja It's clearly wiffy. No clue where everyone got why fai from.

I say "figh" because the Japanese is "Fai"

Her name in Japanese is written ファイ, which is literally "Fai." Why they decided to spell it "Fi" for the English release is beyond me.

This isn't up for debate. Hyrule Warriors has voice acting where her name is actually spoken out loud.

Fee. Because the short-form of Fiona is pronounced that way and Japanese pronunciation would tend that way too.

@chocolate_supra Finally someone with common sense. Always look to how the Japanese did it.

I said fee. Oh well, figh it is. I’ll purposely mispronounce it, because I hated this game.

I pronounce it Fee even though I am aware of the original "Fai". I'm sorry.

According to the Nintendo Power Podcast from July 2021 it's officially "figh". Straight from NoA itself.

I’ve always said figh. I’ve never heard of anyone saying fee…

Fee so it's pronounced as if it's short for Fiona, surely...
I've thought about it too much now and maybe we should just not speak her name out loud anymore lol

@XenoShaun Hahaha, thank you for that

@noswitchbutidc You must be new here LMFAO

It's pronounced: "Fee"
The narrator literally says it in the original Hyrule Warriors.

I did pronounce it as fee but in Hyrule Warriors the narrator pronounces it figh

How it's pronounced in Hyrule Warriors...

@Aya-chan the narrator does not pronounce it that way at all

I think it's Fee.

BTW, this is a very unpopular opinion, but I'm playing Skyward Sword for the first time, never played it on Wii U, and I'm having such an amazing time. I cannot understand the hate it gets from fans. Yes, it no Breathe of the Wild, but the game is gorgeous. Flying through the sky, revisiting every land to find something new, I'm just loving this game.

I was gonna play it either way because this was the only Zelda game I haven't played, but reading the reviews set the expectations really low. But I just can't get why it was received with such negativity.

Anyway, go play it yourself if you never played it.

They really should have just translated her name as Phi. It would have caused so much less confusion.

Shortly before the original launch I remember seeing some japanese promotional material and the katakana was "fai" so that's what I use.

It looks like it should be pronounced 'figh' but I pronounce it 'fee.'

@luxoricious It certainly doesn't deserve all the hate it gets. Most of the vitriol comes from people's knee-jerk reaction to motion controls in general. However, it does have some flaws that prevent it from truly soaring mostly involving the ridiculous backtrack quests in the second half of the game.

Like said previously, it's officially pronounced "figh". Hyrule Warriors has voice acting, and that's how it's pronounced in this game.

I actually pronounce it as A-N-N-O-Y-I-N G. I thought I heard they were supposed to “scale back” on Fi’s constant interruptions in this remake but she still appears waaay too often for me.

Master! There’s a 85% chance that switch is a time stone!

You don’t say? You mean the same switches I’ve been hitting for the past few hours? Who knew?!

I pronounced it Fee, because I thought as it was on Wii that was the intention but rhyming with "High" and "Sky" makes a lot more sense... Oh well. I'll live.

@TyroKith It just helps that their written language is a syllabary with very little pronunciation variance. As opposed to English where each vowel and some consonants have two or three completely different pronunciations depending on context.

If I was going to pronounce it as "fee," I'd rather it be spelled Fii since it came out on the Wii.

I instinctively read unknown words as if they were Spanish, fee, sure comes in handy when reading Japanese names.

I think the argument that it's pronounced "figh" because it is "Fai" in Japanese is little off the mark. It's like asking the pronunciation of Mega in Megaman and saying well in the Japanese it's Rockman so the pronunciation of "mega" is actually "rock."

Yeah, that's not a perfect analogy because "Fi" and "Fai" are very similar, but the localization did make the choice to change the spelling and it can be pronounced both ways. They may have intended it to be pronounced the same way, but language is complicated.

I always pronounced "Fi" like Phi, the greek letter. But then again, I remember people always having different pronunciations of Navi.

@MS7000 Yeah that's exactly why I always pronounced it as "Figh" as well, because of Greek letters like Phi and Pi.

Wi-Figh = Wireless internet
Wi-Fee = What you might call your wife.

I've been reading it Bowser until today.

@Purgatorium That's a terrible example.

Primark or preemark!

I've actually called her Fee all these years because I guess it's like the shortening of the name Sophie which can sometimes be Fi

When i played the remaster though, my partner referred to her as Figh

How to you pronounce Mario?
> "Mary-Oh"
> "Mah-Ri-Oh"

I've never understood why people mispronounced her name.

Her Japanese name is clearly written Fai not Fi.

And do people really say Why-Fee for Wifi? Like, they wrote it this way in English because they wanted to reflect the English spelling of WiFi. She even communicates with Scrapper and the Goddess Hylia via WiFi signals - that's the whole point of her name!

Fee.

Fee I say.

Fee.

Are there many Fionas in Hyrule then?

I love these little pronunciation articles. Especially the Pokémon ones.

As for the poll in question? I've always pronounced it as "Fee" and I'll stick with that, even with knowing Nintendo's canonical suggestion

@TyroKith It's the greatest example ever. Just because you didn't read the wikipedia article on Japanese syllabary like the rest of us and are therefore not an expert on Japanese doesn't give you the right to be wrong on the internet. Megaman is pronounced Rockman because that's the Japanese. And by extension the Sega Mega Drive is actually the Sega Rock Drive. I have a PhD in Linguistics and a black belt in all eastern martial arts so I would know.

@westman98 Sensei told me it was pronounced 'jumpman.'

I have always pronounced it as rhyming with high. To me, it was to rhyme with see it would be written as Fii (which would have been a great nod to the Wii).

Fee sounds much better in Norwegian. Fai doesn't fit in nearly as good in our language.

Fee, like 'bee' or 'Wii', or like short for Fiona. I don't think it matters how it's pronounced in other languages, those are other languages and that's what localisation is for.

"Fee" for me. I must admit that "Figh" does sound more serious and (maybe) mythical.

It's Figh, because that's how the narrator pronounced it in Hyrule Warriors. That's what confirmed it, after all. I mean...

"FEE, FI, FOE, FUM, SOMETHING STINKS!"

Fee has always seemed more natural to me,and sounds a lot more feminine than "fai" IMO.

On the WiFi note... Some of you are aware that some languages (e.g. French) pronounce it "wiffy", right?

I always assumed Fee, because my friend Fiona calls herself Fi...

I've never understood why people feel entitled to judge other people for not knowing the original Japanese transliteration. As if being fluent in Japanese is par for the course.

Next question: Girahim with hard G or a soft J?

@gaga64 Guy - ray - him

Obviously not.

@AG_Awesome Nice to see some Philly representation on this site!

+1 to all comments stating that the Japanese pronunciation should be referenced to answer questions like these.

Figh is the correct pronunciation

Fee, of course.

In German her name is spelled "Phai" which is always pronounced like figh.

@noswitchbutidc you alright buddy..?

Who wants to get into an argument over English vowels? It’s flawed to begin with!

The same way the Spanish translation writes her name. "Fay". (Similar to "Figh", as others have mentioned)

It ought to rhyme with Navi, I would think.

@Chowdaire I don't think I am on the second half yet. I'm on the Lake Floria right now, about to get to the Cistern dungeon. Enjoying it so far. And it's true I'm playing the game on handheld mode, and the controls are great. It feels so natural so swing your sword with the right stick. And the camera too, it just flows.

Maybe on Wii U or even on Switch I guess the controls could get frustrating if your playing it with only motion control.

But well, I repeat, it is not the greatest Zelda game ever, but it is an amazing experience. And feels Zelda-ish through and through.

Japanese: ファイ
Pronunciation: Fai, or how you put it: "figh"
More proof: Spanish: Fay

@NambanRonin We need to get a Wawa shop in BotW 2!!

Kind of like American vs Beitish ways of saying flavor / flavour "Flaver" and "Flayvore" and "Flayvah"

Where's my "slow news day" option, Gav??

Shouldn't it be 100% obvious that it is pronounced however the Japanese pronounce it?
Japan is this game's origin after all.

I pronounce it Figh as in high, but perhaps more importantly; how does she pronounce it herself? And what are her preferred pronouns?

Thank you, Nintendo Life, for including (A) the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) transcriptions for the pronunciation variants in the article and (B) the obvious 'fee-fi-fo-fum' pun in the poll!

@Clarice She/Her/Spirit of the Sword

This will be one of those American/English thing won’t it like the nonexistent word ‘Addicting’ or how Soldering is pronounced how it is spelt and not ‘Sawdering’.

It’s obviously Fi like the Greek alphabet Phi. In all the examples above Americans are wrong. Queens English ftw.

I always called her "Shut the **** up."

Everyone saying "well in Japanese it's Feigh so ooooobviously that the only smart and respectful way to pronounce it" gonna start calling Charizard 'Lizardon' then yeah?

Fis Japanese name is phonetically Fai (as in five) discussion over.

It's pronounced: wa loo ee jee.

The way Roger sang in these words Freddie wrote: "My life is in your hands, I'll fo and I'll fie"

@blodermoder Perfect! That's it

Depressing that "fee" is winning the poll when it's an incontrovertible fact it's "figh"/Fai.

@Ogbert That would hold more weight if Charizard's english name was also Lizardon and not something completely different. It goes beyond fanboyish purism; with this character in particular, they went through the trouble of giving her phonetically identical names in every language.

And yes, Nintendo of America also uses "figh" whenever they pronounce the name.

I actually go back and forth between "Fee" and "Figh." Often depending largely on how the person I'm talking to pronounces it.

I pronounce it as “fee” because that’s an actual name and that’s what most people’s minds immediately jump to when they read that name. But she’s essentially a digital hologram, so I guess it makes sense for it to basically be a shortened version of wi-fi, as dumb as it sounds to pronounce it that way.

I pronounce it eff igh, as it stands for Ferry Intelegence.

*Fairy Intelligence. Please excuse my French. I'm from Germany.

I always pronounced it Fee, because in the Wii days there wasn't really anyone to tell me otherwise.

I'm not about to change that because I don't care enough to do so.

It's clearly pronounced "Fi". How can there be any kind of discussion? 🤨

I always felt it was similar to Pi.

@chocolate_supra Because if you wrote it as Fai, English people would pronounce it as /fei/, which Nintendo didn't want to call her.

I say fee but I know it's figh because of how the narrator in Hyrule Warriors pronounced it

Wow really? Most people pronounce it as fee? I immediately said it as figh, because of the WiFi similarity as you said in the article. Fee would be like Fii, right? Like the Wii? I dunno, that's how I interpreted it.

I've always thought it was fee because of...

Do re mi...
Fa so la ti...
Do

Fi

There's also Sofi as well. So yep, moral of the story: English is hard.

The correct pronunciation just sounds like a horrible name.

English needs a Overhaul in its spelling.

I pronounce it as “fi”

So, do all the "it's obviously Fie" people also sing "do-re-MIE-fa-sol-la-TIE"?

@NotoriousWhiz just saw your comment!

Holy crap! It’s Fi that rhymes with “eye,” as I just looked up the Japanese.

Here I thought it was “Fee” all this time 🤯

I don’t think people understand that this poll is asking how YOU pronounce it.

It doesn’t matter how Nintendo say it. It doesn’t matter what the Japanese spelling is because all we are seeing is two letters, Fi, and there are a few ways to pronounce it in English.

Fai
Fee
Fih

That’s about it really. And whatever you settle on in your head is going to be how you pronounce it.

Personally, it is Fee. Even knowing the truth, I’m still staying Fee in my head because that’s what feels right to me.

Just like Wii is not Why.
Mario is not Mar-eye-oh.
Wind is not W-eye-nd (unless you’re winding something)
And Fiona is not F-eye-ona
Etc.

(That’s how my brain processes it at least)

This was made complicated by the translators renaming her outside Japan and dropping an ‘a’. And even if they did that we would now have a poll questioning if it was Fai or Fay.

It's pronounced, "Hindrance."

Well, this is a Japanese game, so it’s pretty easy to get the answer. According to Nintendo’s website it’s ファイ, so there you have it. “Fai”

If it were supposed to be pronounced like "fee" then it should have been written "Fii" (like the Wii 😁)

Don't care, Midna better.

@Aya-chan
except according to the Nintendo Power Podcast from July 2021, they literally say it as "figh". This is from from NoA itself.

@Aya-chan
Also apparently Hyrule Warriors said “figh”

I was saying FEE but it was confirmed to be FIGH so I'm saying that now. I'm still going to say ENN-EEE-ESS and not NESS though... Not budging lol.

I would have thought Figh if asked and thought about it, or Fi with a soft "I" as my natural inclination. Think of FIT without the T.

If it was "fee" we'd be seeing the name be spelt with two i's to make "Fii" which... would be a really cheesy way to stick with the Wii naming conventions.

It's "figh" according to Hyrule Warriors (for the record, NOT made by Nintendo).

@katiedawky1
But that would put her on a par with Lord Voldemort!

I always thought of it as 'Fee' - but ever since my niece told me how it was pronounced in Hyrule Warriors, I've tried to remember to say it the intended way.

Easy it's fi as in -fi sharpened 4th of the sol-fa scale.

Navi flashbacks ensue

In Spanish, she's Fay, so, Fi is pronounced like wi FI.

@dartmonkey

How do you pronounce Pi then? (As in that 3,141592654 number.)

Can we now do the same for Yoshi... the name that American's seem to want to say in a way that even Yoshi himself doesn't say it...

@BloodNinja How dare you Blood Ninja! You shall address her by her full, proper title which is clearly Captain Obvious.

@Tempestryke LOL

Haha excellent

I voted Fum for the record, because I think its funny.

… Bob..

Is how I pronounce it

I pronounce it...

FEUER FREI

@BloodNinja But English isn't a phonetic language, so just because it's pronounced one way in 'wifi' doesn't necessarily mean it's pronounced the same in another. I guess that's what this debate is about. In Japanese I imagine there is a lot less confusion about how Fi is pronounced.

@Richardwebb Oh, I fully understand that, but my joke still stands

It's always been "Figh", Nintendo has made that very clear ever since the E3 it was first shown, idk why so many people say "Fee"

@Bizaster Maybe, however I played skywards sword years before I even knew what ace attorny was so its unlikely.