How to pronounce...

Friday 14 September 2007

I have finally put together a guide to pronouncing some of the names of my characters. I divided them into three groups: Anglo-Saxon, Celtic, and Elven.

Before we start, keep in mind that I am not an expert in Old English or in the various Celtic languages, so there may be some mistakes. I have also, somewhat rarely, changed a pronunciation a little according to my own tastes. We can blame it on regional variations. But for some characters I think you are in for a surprise.

Notes on Anglo-Saxon Names

The ‘th’ sound

The ð (“eth”, capital Ð and þ (“thorn”, capital Þ are letters no longer used in modern English. They both had the ‘th’ sound, but in very olden times the þ had the sound as in ‘thin’ and ð the sound as in ‘that’. Already in the eleventh century, this distinction no longer existed in writing, but I have consistenly used them below to indicate the sound required, so you can take a hint from the spelling of the name. Generally ‘th’ was pronounced as in ‘that’ between vowels, and as in ‘thin’ at the beginning or end of the word. Hint: Compare modern ‘clothe’ and ‘cloth’!

Y is U and G is Y

The letter ‘y’ was not prounounced like modern Y. It was a vowel, usually pronounced more like the French ‘u’ as in ‘tu’, but I have written it ‘oo’ below since most of you don’t speak French anyway. If you want to know how approximately “Wyn” was pronounced, hold your lips like you are saying “Woon” but try to pronounce it “Ween”, and you will make a nice Frenchy sound. Once again, keep an eye on the spelling of the name to see whether ‘oo’ is really meant to be pronounced like the ‘u’ in Wulf or the ‘y’ in Wyn.

The letter ‘g’ was sometimes pronounced like a modern ‘y’, depending on the letters that followed, as well as custom in some cases.

General notes

Anglo-Saxon did not have silent consonants. A lot of our silent consonants, like the ‘k’ or ‘gh’ in ‘knight’, derive from Old English consonants that were pronounced.

Also, the modern tendency to deaden any vowel that is not in a stressed syllable into a sort of ‘uh’ sound (the schwa) was not yet present. Vowels were pronounced much more clearly then. There were long and short vowels, though I did not write the names with the line over the long vowels as I might have done. I did indicate long vowels vs. short vowels in the pronunciation though (compare the ‘i’ in Gifmund and Giða, for example).

Anglo-Saxon Names

Ælfden	ALF-den
Alfred	ALL-fred
Alred	ALL-red
Arnulf	AHR-noolf
Alwy	ALL-wih
Baldwin	BALD-win
Brinstan	BRIN-stahn
Britamund	BRIT-ah-moond
Britmar	BRIT-mar
Cædwulf	CAD-woolf
Cedric	CHAID-rich
Cynemaer	KOO-neh-mar
Cynewulf	KOO-neh-woolf
Diera	DEE-eh-rah
Drage	DRAH-yeh
Eadgard	AD-gard
Eadie	AD-yeh
Eadgiþ	AD-yith
Eadgiða	ad-YITH-a
Eadric	AD-rich
Eadwulf	AD-woolf
Ealdgyþ	ALD-yooth
Egelric	EH-yel-rich
Elfleda	elf-LADE-ah
Eðelmund	ETH-el-moond
Eðelwyn	ETH-el-woon
Gifemund	YIF-eh-moond
Gifmund	YIF-moond
Giða	YEE-thah
Gunnilda	goon-IL-dah
Gyða	YOO-thah
Heafoc	HAF-ohk
Hildegiþ	HIL-deh-yith
Leofric	LYOF-rich
Oswald	OZ-wahld
Seaxburga	sax-BOOR-gah
Sigefriþ	SIG-eh-frith
Synne	SOON-neh
Þeobald	THAY-oh-bald
Wynflæd	WOON-flad

Notes on Celtic Names

The ‘ch’ sound as in Scottish ‘loch’ or German ‘Bach’ is transcribed as ‘kh’ below so as not be confused with the ‘ch’ sound.

Celtic Names

Áengus	AYN-gus
Aíbínn	EE-been
Aed	ADE
Aileann	AY-lyan
Cainnech	KAW-nekh
Cátan	KAWT-un
Cathal	KAW-hul
Cían	KEE-un
Colbán	KOLL-bawn
Comgeall	KOM-yall
Condál	KON-dal
Cuilén	KWIL-ane
Diarmait	JAR-match
Domnall	DON-nul
Donnchad	DON-khud
Éda	EH-duh
Eilidh	EE-lee
Eithne	EEN-yuh
Eochaid	OH-khudj
Ete	ET-uh
Éua	OO-wuh
Faelan	FAY-lun
Flann	FLAWN
Gormán	GOR-mawn
Gwynn	goo-WEEN but pronounced almost in one syllable
Lathir	LAW-heer
Líadan	LEE-uh-dun
Lígach	LEE-gukh
Lulach	LOO-lukh
Máel Coluim	MAIL-kol-im
Máire	MAR-uh
Murchad	MUR-khad
Órlaith	OR-lee
Sáerlaith	SAR-lee
Uallach	OO-uh-lukh

Notes on elven names

Elven names are super-easy to pronounce because they are pronounced exactly as written — at least when I bother to put the accents on the vowels. The elves have their own writing system, so if I write in English letters, I am just writing it phonetically.

Consonants

All of the consonants are pronounced as you know, with a few exceptions.

There is a throaty ‘ch’ sound as in Scottish ‘loch’, and this is written ‘kh’.

A double ‘ll’ is pronounced as in the Italian ‘gli’, but if you don’t know Italian, a ‘lli’ sound as in “million” is close enough.

A double ‘rr’ is pronounced like a Scottish trilled ‘r’ at the beginning of the word (i.e. trilled with the tip of the tongue), while it is like a French ‘r’ anywhere else in the word (i.e. pronounced in the throat).

A double ‘ww’ is pronounced a little like an ‘r’ for someone who has trouble pronouncing ‘r’… think of Elmer Fudd pronouncing ‘wascally wabbit’. If you don’t know what I mean, a regular ‘w’ sound is close enough.

There is also the sound transcribed as ‘ÿ’ but I don’t even want to get into that. (It is a velar approximant, for you linguistics fans.)

In short, elven has a ton of lateral and approximant consonants, giving it its somewhat liquid sound to English speakers.

Vowels

The primary vowels are as follows:

a — ah sound, like the second a in ‘aha!’
é — long a sound, as in ‘say’
í — long e sound as in ‘me’
i — short i sound as in ‘pin’
ó — long o sound as in ‘tone’
ú — long u sound as in ‘moon’

Stress

Elven words are almost always stressed on the second-to-last syllable. If the vowel in that syllable is an “a” or a short “i” (not “í” with the acute accent), then the stress is moved to the last syllable, assuming the last syllable is not also one of those vowels. For example, kisór is pronounced “kis-SOR”, but kílós (“dog”) is pronounced “KEE-los”.

Nicknames

Elven males (especially with longer names) are often given short nicknames, usually one syllable, that are formed by taking some letters from their name and moving them around to produce another word. Bonus points if it’s insulting. Shósúdín for example is called Shús, which means “hole”. Dartésas was Dasí, which simply means “this”.

Elven females don’t get insulting names, and they often just get the last two syllables of their name if it does form a word. Lasrúa is called Rúa by her friends and family. It means “lynx”. Paul calls her Lú, however, which he created for her quite as if she were a boy. He doesn’t even put a feminine ending on it. He’s her brother so he can get away with it. (It means “shrew”, though the elves don’t consider that to be a synonym for a bitchy woman… just a small and insignificant animal, like a little sister.)

Elven Names

English	Transcription	Meaning
Aia	Aía	star
Anshé	Anshé	seven
Dara	Dara	sky
Dartesas	Dartésas	dense cloud-cover
Dasi	Dasí	this
Dashela	Dashéla	blood-flow
Dre	Dré	eight; spider
Dru	Drú	water
Hila	Híla	cause
Ilal	Ilal	moss
Illira	Illíra	wind that blows up leaves before a rain
Imin	Ímín	embers
Iylaine	Ílléna	torchlight
Khara	Khara	fir
Khummirr	Khúmmírr	horse
Kirin	Kírín	mole
Kiv	Kív	maple
Lar	Lar	elder tree
Lasim	Lasím	waxing moon, “fire moon”
Lasrua	Lasrúa	waning moon, “water moon”
Lema	Léma	benefit
Lena	Léna	firelight
Lensurrima	Lensúrríma	“firelight-yellow moon”; Oct./Nov.
Lira	Líra	air
Llam	Llam	claw, fingernail
Llosh	Llósh	beserker wolf
Lor	Lór	glow, cold light
Madra	Madra	branches, crown of a tree
Mash	Mash	shadow
Miria	Míría	mist, fog
Morin	Mórín	underground lake
Nina	Nína	elm tree
Nush	Núsh	dark dawn
Omur	Ómúr	rowan
Osh	Ósh	leaf; (obs.) shade, shelter
Pima	Píma	sparrow
Pol	Pól	rock
Polin	Pólín	bedrock
Rakha	Rakha	badger
Ri	Rí	night
Ris	Rís	peace
Rish	Rísh	dark night; death
Sallama	Sallama	rainbow
Sara	Sara	whirlwind
Sela	Séla	flowing water
Sora	Sóra	serpent
Saralla	Saralla	mountain
Shenadru	Shénadrú	dew
Shosudin	Shósúdín	“drought moon”; Aug./Sep.
Silea	Síléa	flower bud
Sin	Sín	earth
Sorin	Sórín	worm
Surr	Súrr	yellow
Talan	Talan	sprout
Tashnu	Tashnú	dark dawn
Teodru	Téódrú	water vole
Vash	Vash	still, dark water; the watery void preceding creation
Vin	Vín	foot; fifteen
Vin	Vin	snow (Finn’s elven name)