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Cthulhu is a cosmic entity created by writer H. P. Lovecraft and first introduced in the short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published in the pulp magazine ''Weird Tales'' in 1928. Considered a Great Old One within the pantheon of Lovecraftian cosmic entities, the creature has since been featured in numerous popular culture references. Lovecraft depicts Cthulhu as a gigantic entity worshiped by cultists. Cthulhu's anatomy is described as part octopus, part man, and part dragon. Its name was given to the Lovecraft-created universe where it and its fellow entities existed, the Cthulhu Mythos. ==Etymology, spelling and pronunciation== Though invented by Lovecraft in 1926 the name Cthulhu is probably derived from the word chthonic meaning subterranean, but often used in reference to deities or spirits of the underworld in Greek religion. Cthulhu has also been spelled as ''Tulu, Clulu, Clooloo, Cthulu, Cthullu, C'thulhu, Cighulu, Cathulu, C'thlu, Kathulu, Kutulu, Kthulhu, Q’thulu, K'tulu, Kthulhut, Kutu, Kulhu, Kutunluu, Ktulu, Cuitiliú, Cqulu, Thu Thu''〔Harms, "Cthulhu," "PanChulhu," ''The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana'', p. 64.〕 and in many other ways. It is often preceded by the epithet ''Great, Dead,'' or ''Dread.'' Lovecraft transcribed the pronunciation of ''Cthulhu'' as ''Khlûl′-hloo'' and said that "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."〔H. P. Lovecraft, ''Selected Letters V'', pp. 10 – 11.〕 An approximate IPA transcription, based on this description and the non-IPA signs, would be (), with a voiceless velar lateral fricative. S. T. Joshi points out, however, that Lovecraft gave several differing pronunciations on different occasions.〔S. T. Joshi, note 9 to "The Call of Cthulhu", ''The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories''〕 According to Lovecraft, this is merely the closest that the human vocal apparatus can come to reproducing the syllables of an alien language.〔"Cthul-Who?: How Do You Pronounce 'Cthulhu'?", ''Crypt of Cthulhu #9''〕 Long after Lovecraft's death, the spelling pronunciation became common. The role-playing game ''Call of Cthulhu'' said "we say it kuh-THOOL-hoo" while noting that "Lovecraft said it 'klhul-hoo' or 'tluhluh'". 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Cthulhu」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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