Go here. According to this, "Tsoo" is Hmong for "beat", "break", or "smash". And you pronounce it (oh, THIS will drive you all insane)...
Joong.
For the record, that's a "J" sound followed by a weird Hmong vowel that's somewhere between the pronunciation of "o" in "jot" and that in "noon". Oh, yeah, and that weird vowel is always followed by an "ng" sound when it's at the end of the word.
Despite the fact that I'll probably pop the tendons holding my tongue in place, I will pronounce it that way for the rest of my life out of respect for the Hmong people.
Peace out.
~7eh |_|17im473 1n<0mpr3h3n518l3 5h0<|<z0rz
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Go here. According to this, "Tsoo" is Hmong for "beat", "break", or "smash". And you pronounce it (oh, THIS will drive you all insane)...
Joong.
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Obviously, Hmong transliterators are quite heavy on the opium.
gonna stick with "stew"
My question on the Tsoo and the like is where they come from.
Tsoo, in and of it's self, reminds me of the Japanese "Tsu," along with the use of Ninja, which are Japanese, though the referances to the animals in their names is somewhat reminisent of Kung Fu and it's animal stances practice. However the leader Tub Ci is not able to be pronounced with Japanese sylibles, which leades me to think it's Chinese or Korean. The presence of the Sorcerers and Ancestor spirits don't solve anything as that type of stuff is in at least Japanese and Chinese cultures.
I wouldn't mind if we there was an answer to where their origins spawn from.
The Tsoo are Hmong. It's an ethnic group in China and southeast Asia.
-Guardian-
Crimson Archon - 50 bs/inv scrapper
-Protector-
The Stain - 40 dark/dark corruptor
Astro-Avenger - 47 ss/inv tanker
The Scarlet Spectre - 26 ill/storm controller
As an aside, I'd really like to see more plot advances with the Tsoo, as well as a more in-depth look at their background.
Maybe they'd be a good subject for a Paragon Times article.
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WAtched a PB last night in the arena toy with an INV/Eng tanker last night.
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I bet that happened last night, huh?
Debt is temporary, prestige is forever
My Screenies and Videos :: My Toon List
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Go here. According to this, "Tsoo" is Hmong for "beat", "break", or "smash". And you pronounce it (oh, THIS will drive you all insane)...
Joong.
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So, then... shouldn't we spell "Hmong" this way?
HMOO.
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"Well, what's your middle name?"
"Ivan."
"Ivan. Well, maybe Gus isn't so bad. Might be something there."
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Wow.. Both a Redname AND a Right Stuff quote in the same thread. Crikey! 
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My question on the Tsoo and the like is where they come from.
Tsoo, in and of it's self, reminds me of the Japanese "Tsu," along with the use of Ninja, which are Japanese, though the referances to the animals in their names is somewhat reminisent of Kung Fu and it's animal stances practice. However the leader Tub Ci is not able to be pronounced with Japanese sylibles, which leades me to think it's Chinese or Korean. The presence of the Sorcerers and Ancestor spirits don't solve anything as that type of stuff is in at least Japanese and Chinese cultures.
I wouldn't mind if we there was an answer to where their origins spawn from.
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LIke Narfman said, it would make a great article for the Life section of the Paragon times, complete with the correct Hmong pronounciation of "Tsoo" as "Joong" or an explanation of the Tsoo if they aren't really Hmong. That would be pretty cool.
A community piece, celebrating a cultural festival or something, complete with residents saying how Tub Ci is really not a bad guy etc 8) (I don't know about Tub Ci too much unforuntately)
Upsen.
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Obviously, Hmong transliterators are quite heavy on the opium.
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Even worse--they were French. No, I'm not joking. The transliterations for languages of "Indochina" were mostly worked out by the French, who have the least sensible usage of the Latin alphabet in the first place (even worse than English).
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In college, I majored in Russian studies (language, history, etc.). When pronouncing the "ts," I always thought of the sound that a highhat (the piece of a drumset that has two opposable cymbals, worked with a pedal) makes. A very brief, staccatoed "t"-sound, followed by an "s."
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Folks, it is NOT THAT HARD to do. Can you say "cats" or do you have to say "cat-is" or "cas"? If you can say "cats", you can say "tsac".
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In-house, we pronounce them:
<ul type="square">[*]Tsoo : tsoo (ts like tsunami or the end of its, oo as in oops)[*]Kheldian : kell' dee in[/list]And a bonus one:
<ul type="square">[*]Vahzilok : vaz' ih lock[/list]
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What about "Skuls"?
Surely it should be:
Khel' dee an (short a)?
I pronounce the "t" in Tsoo, but I say it very softly. It sounds like I am saying "Sue" but if you listen closely the T is there, it almost sounds like a s mixed with a z. I don't say "Tuh-Soo" like some people (heh).
Best way I can describe it: Say the word "Mitsubishi." Now take off the "Mih" and the "bishi" and there you go.
And I say Vahzilok like the dev described, except the "vahz" I say has the same vowel sound in "Fozzy" Bear.
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The Tsoo are Hmong. It's an ethnic group in China and southeast Asia.
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I thought they came from Fresno. 
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Go here. According to this, "Tsoo" is Hmong for "beat", "break", or "smash". And you pronounce it (oh, THIS will drive you all insane)...
Joong.
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So, then... shouldn't we spell "Hmong" this way?
HMOO.
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No no no...there is a convervation of O's
TSOO has 2 O's, as does Joong.
So logically, Hmong should be spelled "HMO"
And to continue the movie quoting,
"Those <bleeping> HMO's"
"Actually, i believe thats the technical term for them"
Many younger kids that hear the "TS" words like Tsunamis pronounce them like a Z. Which is pretty close. Cats makes nearly the tsame tsound, but the T is a little tsoo hard. Tsoften it up a little bit.
And remember...
Tsunamis Tsuck!
It's threads like this that show the wisdom of not having voice communication built into the game.
Can you pronounce "mitsubishi", like the motor company?
Same way, just don't say the "mi" or "bishi" parts.
Think of the "t" as though it were finishing off a previous word and stress the "s".
Realistic all-natural character: Every time a NPC shoots me with a gun I run to the nearest hospital and don't play that character for about a week.
So, is it ok to call the running Tsoo Mobs, "runaround tsoo?"
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Actually someone found a linguistics website where a Hmong speaker spoke the word "Tsoo" (Which incidentally means "To Hit or Strike"). And yes, the Tsoo are NOT Chinese or Japanese, they are Hmong. Anyway, the word "Tsoo" sounded much like someone saying "jong" or "djong". Very interesting.
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I highly doubt this is true; its more likely that the Hmong have a word /Tsoo/ that is similiar in appearance or pronunciation, but not the same word as was intended by the devs when they created the content.
As for the pronunciation, since many of the languages in the East are tone-based and use different allophones for the vowels than we use, its entirely possible for us Westerners to hear a word pronounced in a manner that we would spell completely differently.
I am convinced they were referring to "Tsu" or "Tzu" but spelled in a unique manner (possibly based on 19th century transcriptions of chinese which often employed more archaic seeming spelling). This can be seen in famous chinese names such as Lao Tsu, Kung Fu Tzu (Confucius), and Sun Tzu. I believe it merely means "Wise One" or "Scholar" or something like that.
I tried to search for some suitable Etymological source to quote - but alas all such seemed to be in Chinese which I do not speak or read (or I could speak with more authority). We must have some Asian players who are familiar with Chinese who can comment though no?
Another thing to keep in mind is that since the various Chinese languages (there are 5 basic ones I think, with over 1 million dialects) are tone based, one single syllable can have multiple meanings based on tone which is seldom transcribed or indicated in Western translations. If I recall correctly, there is a Cantonese or Mandarin poem that is a play on words, it consists entirely of the word /i/ using different tones and so to a westerner not used to hearing those tones and unfamiliar with whichever language it was it sounds like "ee ee ee ee ee" etc repeated 48 times or something.
The biggest maxim of Etymology is that if someone - particularly a speaker of the language who is not trained in linguistics - *thinks* they know the origin of a word, they are most likely wrong. There is a concept called "Folk Etymology" which refers to the speakers of a language thinking they know the origin of a word and thus ascribing that origin (incorrectly) to the word. It becomes common knowledge to many speakers by this means but is still incorrect. Folk Etymology is endemic, and extremely common.
For example, a common English 4 letter word referring to sex (which I will not include here so I don't get banned) has been ascribed a folk etymology of being a contraction of "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" and was supposedly branded on those women accused of being prostitutes. This is comletely erroneous, and is not the origin of the word. The actual word appears to come via Scots English and originate in Scandanavian/Norwegian (ie we got it from Viking invaders most likely). You can look it up yourself here:
Etymological Dictionary
Yes, I was an erstwhile Linguistics major in University before I ran out of funds and drive to be academic. I should really return some day 
Maybe My film title contest entry "Waiter, theres a fly in my Tsoo!" , is funnier now
If you're talking about Chinese Lao Tze, Kong Fu Tze, etc... then Tze/Zi/Tzu is pronounced as "dze" and technically means person/seed/son/kid meaning. So if the Tsoo are Chinese, maybe they are "The People", "The Sons", "The Seeds" or "The Kids", none of them used quite correctly.
I still think they're Japanese Ninjas.
One meaning for Tsu in Japanese, is Harbour. (like in Tsunami, or harbour wave)
Maybe Tsu is short for something, like when you call Alexander "Alex", or Elizabeth "Liza" or "Beth"... There's many Japanese words that are very suitable for a ninja organization that starts with Tsu-.
Here's a few examples...
Tsubasa (wings)
Tsuki-nanimo (Moon-whatever)
Tsuru (Crane) there are some Tsoo that are Crane warriors right?
Tetsu (Iron)
Tetsubo (Iron club)
Tetsubishi (Caltrops) hey we're getting somewhere....
Tsu is also used as the sound effects for some things, like a running ninja, tsutsutsutsu! http://www.oop-ack.com/manga/soundfx.html
Upsen.
(while searching I also came across this page on how to say Star Trek things in Japanese that was too neat to pass up)
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coulda just said "sue" since it's the same sound as what you described
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Nope. Check out tsunami's pronounciation at dictionary.com, then check out the one for sue.
When you make an English 'ess' (S) sound, the tip of your tongue isn't touching anything. Air passes between your tongue and the roof of your mouth. When you make the 'ts' sound in tsunami or Tsoo, you start with the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth, just a little bit behind your front teeth... as if you were about to say 'teeth'. Then you start making the 'ess' sound, opening up a small space so the 't' sound's there, but only for a moment.