# NPC Dictionary of Name Pronunciation



## WiredNerve (Dec 2, 2009)

I am always fouling up names and such... Has anyone produced a pronuncation guide for WOTBS?


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## Morrus (Dec 2, 2009)

I seem to remember Ryan clarifying some pronunciations in a thread a while back, but there's no guide. Any particular names you're having trouble with?

Most of the time it doesn't matter, as long as you're consistent.


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## TarionzCousin (Dec 13, 2009)

How does one pronounce "Naem"?


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## RangerWickett (Dec 13, 2009)

Throat Warbler Mangrove


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## Nebten (Dec 17, 2009)

When I was trying to sound out Ragesia for the first time, I was stumbling over the words. My friend said something similar, "Dude, who cares, we won't know any difference."


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## RangerWickett (Dec 18, 2009)

Ouch.

Ruh- (like rough)
gee - (like geek)
zha - (like Polynesia)


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## John Doom (Dec 22, 2009)

Wow, I have been pronouncing that 'Ray-jis-E-uh'. 

To my players, I am right. Unfortunately, I now know that deep down; I am wrong.


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## Jhaelen (Dec 23, 2009)

I'd pronounce it Ruh-gae-see-uh. I.e. as written 

Note that I'm German, so 'as written' is quite unlike what a native English speaker would think.


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## Slander (Dec 27, 2009)

@Jhaelen Apparently the German influence in Wisconsin extends beyond beer, brats and polka into word pronunciation as well . Pronouncing "Ragesia" any other way seems ... off.


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## Morrus (Dec 28, 2009)

Just to confuse matters, in the trailer I think it gets pronounced Ra - jee - zee - uh.

As far as I'm concerned, as long as you're consistent it's pronounced however you like it best.


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## Amphimir Míriel (Dec 30, 2009)

I chose to pronounce it  "Rah-geh-sia", but I'm a native spanish speaker, so that may have something to do with it...


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## EugeneZ (Jan 5, 2010)

This is a good thread. A few off the top of my head, but I will probably be back later:

Innenotdar: IN-naen-oh-dhar?
Tiljann: TILL-jhan? TILL-yhen?
Lyceum: lie-SEE-um? Pretty sure about this one. "Lie" as in to tell a LIE.
Jutras: ZHOO-tras? JEW-tras? Er.... YOU-tras?

Also, I like pronouncing Bresk: Brezhk.


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## Jhaelen (Jan 5, 2010)

EugeneZ said:


> Lyceum: lie-SEE-um? Pretty sure about this one. "Lie" as in to tell a LIE.



Well, the German pronounciation is definitely different, since the 'y' will be pronounced as 'ü' (I'm not sure what phonetic string to use for an English speaker).

Considering the ancient Greek origin (~ lykeion) the 'c' would originally have been pronounced as a 'k', though (the same is true for several creatures from greek myth, like 'centaur' or 'cyclops').

So, over here it's either pronounced 'Lü-zä-um' or 'Lü-kä-um'


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## RangerWickett (Jan 5, 2010)

Lyceum - http://www.thefreedictionary.com/lyceum
I pronounce it sort of like Lie, Sea, Um, with an emphasis on the Lie, but apparently you can also put the emphasis on the Sea.
Basically, I use "lyceum" in the 'school' sense. I learned the word from Talislanta originally.


Since I'm American, usually everything was designed with American sensibilities, but hey, feel free to call it whatever you want. 

Innenotdar: Vaguely similar to "In- and Out-door." in-un-OT-dar.

Tiljann: TILL-jhan.

Jutras: I didn't invent this one, so you'd have to ask the author, but I say JEW-tras.


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## Jhaelen (Jan 6, 2010)

RangerWickett said:


> Since I'm American, usually everything was designed with American sensibilities, but hey, feel free to call it whatever you want.



Sure!
I normally try to translate translatable place and pc names to a close German equivalent, however this can result in quite clumsy names especially when word combinations are involved.

My admiration for interpreters definitely increased after trying to come up with good translations, especially when trying to conserve puns or wordplay.

I also continue to be surprised about the correct pronounciation of some words, I'd never have guessed, I'd been pronouncing wrong for ages. One example is 'worm'. It would have never occurred to me to pronounce it exactly like 'wyrm'.

It certainly takes some getting used to to deal with a language that doesn't have consistent pronounciation rules.

Anyway, all of this is really fun. I can understand why Tolkien was fascinated by languages


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## sfedi (Jan 6, 2010)

Yeah, English is quite tricky in the pronunciation department.

That's why they have spelling contests 

We should all speak Esperanto


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## Marius Delphus (Jan 6, 2010)

Well, the usual explanation has to do with the fact that English is in one respect a gleeful mish-mash of many other languages -- it does make spelling "by ear" (and, conversely, pronouncing "by eye") a not-inconsequential task. I certainly get tripped up on occasion... and (not to brag) I'm considered quite good at spelling.

On topic, while I have been enjoying this material for a while, practically none of the pronunciations posted so far "sound" right to me. I'll do my best to notate a few of my own; hopefully they will work for other than native English/American English speakers. Also I'm sure they will "sound" completely wrong not only to Ryan but to other folks who have also been enjoying this material for a while. (The upside down "e" is the "schwa," the sound which is sort of an "uh" and can only appear in an unstressed syllable in English.) That said, here's a semi-random sampling of things I've been hearing in my head while reading (just for fun I chose 10 places and 10 NPCs):

Ragesia: rə-JEE-zee-ə
Seaquen: SEE-kwen
Shahalesti: shə-HAL-ess-tee
Innenotdar: inn-EN-ət-dahr
Ycengled: EE-ken-gled
Lyceum: lie-SEE-əm (as "we see 'em")
Dassen: DAS-sən
Ostalin: OAST-əl-ən or oast-AHL-ən (can't decide)
Sindaire: sin-DARE
Korstull: kor-STOOL (not sure why)

Longinus: lon-JIE-nəss (as "angina")
Pilus: PIE-ləss (as "try this")
Shaaladel: SHAWL-ə-dell
Shalosha: shə-LOW-shə
Gabal: gə-BALL
Khagan Onamdammin: KAH-gahn oh-nahm-DAHM-ən
Kathor Danava: KAY-thor DANN-ə-və
Lee Sidoneth: LEE sie-DOH-nəth
Simeon Gohanach: SIM-ee-ən go-HANN-ək
Solei Palancis: SOLE-eye pə-LANN-sis

Of course none of these are in any respect official.


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## Morrus (Jan 12, 2010)

Marius Delphus said:


> W
> Khagan Onamdammin: KAH-gahn oh-nahm-DAHM-ən




As you know, I pronounce this something along the lines of "Onomdamindamindamindamindamindamindamindamin... aw hell, whatever his bloody name is!".


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## RangerWickett (Jan 12, 2010)

Morrus said:


> As you know, I pronounce this something along the lines of "Onomdamindamindamindamindamindamindamindamin... aw hell, whatever his bloody name is!".




Actually Marius has that one pretty spot on. Well, sometimes I say KAY-gən, but usually it's KAH-gən oh-nahm-DAHM-ən


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## John Doom (Jan 12, 2010)

RangerWickett said:


> Actually Marius has that one pretty spot on. Well, sometimes I say KAY-gən, but usually it's KAH-gən oh-nahm-DAHM-ən





Khagen Smith... got it.


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## Morrus (Jan 12, 2010)

John Doom said:


> Khagen Smith... got it.




I'm so gonna use that!


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