Editing Cthulhu (section)

==Etymology, spelling, and pronunciation==
Invented by Lovecraft in 1928, the name Cthulhu was probably chosen to echo the word ''[[chthonic]]'' (Ancient Greek "of the earth"), as apparently suggested by Lovecraft himself at the end of his 1923 tale "[[The Rats in the Walls]]".<ref>{{cite book |title=H. P. Lovecraft's Dark Arcadia: The Satire, Symbology and Contradiction |last=Callaghan |first=Gavin |publisher=McFarland |year=2013 |isbn=978-1476602394 |pages=192}}</ref> The chthonic, or earth-dwelling, spirit has precedents in numerous ancient and medieval mythologies, often guarding mines and precious underground treasures, notably in the [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] [[Dwarf (folklore)|dwarfs]] and the Greek [[Chalybes]], [[Telchines]], or [[Dactyls (mythology)|Dactyls]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Kearns |first=Emily |editor-last=Finkelberg |editor-first=Margalit |title=Chthonic deities |url=http://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/wileyhom/chthonic_deities/0 |website=The Homer encyclopedia |publisher=Wiley |access-date=4 May 2017 |date=2011}}</ref>

Lovecraft transcribed the pronunciation of ''Cthulhu'' as ''Khlûl′-hloo'', and said, "the first syllable pronounced gutturally and very thickly. The 'u' is about like that in 'full', and the first syllable is not unlike 'klul' in sound, hence the 'h' represents the guttural thickness"<ref>{{cite book| first= H. P.| last= Lovecraft |title= Selected Letters V| pages= 10&nbsp;– 11}}</ref> yielding something akin to {{IPA|/ˈq(χ)lʊlˌhluː/}}.{{Original research inline|date=June 2024}} [[S. T. Joshi]] points out, however, that Lovecraft gave different pronunciations on different occasions.<ref>{{cite book| first= S. T. |last= Joshi| chapter= The Call of Cthulhu| at= note 9| title= The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories}}</ref> According to Lovecraft, this is merely the closest that the human vocal apparatus can come to reproducing the syllables of an alien language.<ref>"Cthul-Who?: How Do You Pronounce 'Cthulhu'?", ''Crypt of Cthulhu #9''</ref> Cthulhu has also been spelled in many other ways, including Tulu, Katulu, and Kutulu.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia| first= Thomas| last= Harms| chapter= Cthulhu" and "PanCthulhu| encyclopedia= [[The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana]]| page= 64}}</ref>

Long after Lovecraft's death, [[Chaosium]] stated in the ''[[Call of Cthulhu (role-playing game)|Call of Cthulhu]]'' [[role-playing game]]: "we say it kuh-THOOL-hu" ({{IPAc-en|k|ə|ˈ|θ|uː|l|uː}}), even while noting that Lovecraft said it differently.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Petersen|first1=Sandy|title=Call of Cthulhu|last2=Willis|first2=Lynn|last3=Herber|first3=Keith|publisher=Chaosium|year=1981|edition=2|location=Oakland, California}}<sup>:What's in this box?</sup></ref> Others use the pronunciation {{IPAc-en|k|ə|ˈ|t|uː|l|uː}}.<ref>e.g. the video game ''[[Call of Cthulhu: The Official Video Game|Call of Cthulhu]]''[http://www.callofcthulhu-game.com/en] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200901224948/http://www.callofcthulhu-game.com/en|date=2020-09-01}} and season 14 of ''[[South Park]].''</ref>