How Do You Say That?

[Dasair]

This is such a neat thread; sooner or later, I'll tend to ask people (if it's not expressly stated somewhere) how to pronounce their characters' names.

 

My main's name started out as something completely crazy that I adapted to FFXIV conventions later. The original base was Xsaiav'lairnn (much more of an 'elf' name) which was actually pronounced Ks-SAY-vel-air-nn.

 

Post-Elezen conventions, it became Xavarian, and ended up going with the pronunciation Ks-say-VAIR-ee-en to still sound similar to the original concept. (however, in my head, I said it like Ks-sah-VAR-ee-en for the longest time. ICly, he doesn't really care much about mispronunciations either way.)

 

Mystrife is said like MIST-reef-ff or MIST-riff-ff, that extra 'ff' being there to account for that.. weird silent e in French that draws the sound out a bit more, but doesn't really have much of a sound to go with it beyond a tiny little added 'breath' I guess. The difference between the 'ee' and the short-i sounds don't much matter either due to how quickly that end part is said. (Almost like the word 'Mischief'.)

 

Yorumei takes on Japanese pronunciation rules and is basically Yo-roo-may, with a slight roll on the r.

[Klynzahr]

Introducing my character as Sthalwilf Haemrstymmwyn has always been a good "opener" for me, as the responses of people trying to pronounce the Roegadyn language has always been fun.  It also opens up conversation pretty well most times.  :3

 

I run into this a lot and the results are usually great fun.

Although Klynzahr Iyrnahctwyn looks intimidating it is actually one of the easier to pronounce Roe names in my opinion. The trickiest parts are the 'y' sound and the 'ah' sound that show up a few times.

 

The 'y' falls somewhere between a long 'eee' and a short 'i' sound, but it's closer to the E of clear than the I of click.

 

The 'ah' is pronounced like the last syllable of Sarah, basically a softer form of the short 'A' sound. The 'h' slides into the vowel and almost disappears, making it relatively easy to just ignore.

 

The name itself flows like  kleen-ZAHR  ear-NAHKT-veen  When spoken quickly the last name should vaguely resemble the name Earnest, followed by the wyn suffix.

 

Since Klynzahr refuses to translate her name, she will often shorten it down to Klyn, (which follows the previous vowel rules) or even Klin (which sounds just like it's spelled).

[Kismet]

All of my XIV character's names are extremely easy to pronounce. There have been times where my one alt Lhei has had her name said as "Lee" or it was misspelled, but that's only happened on maybe two occasions. (She's going to become a completely off-screen char come Heavensward, anyway.) My character Astrid has a brother named Lamont that some people might pronounce "La-mon" or "La-moh", but it's really just a hard 't' at the end.

 

I made sure all of my characters had names that were easy to say for the average person because I have 3 characters in GW2 who all have names that... I got over-creative with. One is a sylvari with a very Celtic name, so I give people a pass for that one. Plus, I don't RP her often. The other two were my mains, however. I... could have been smarter about spelling for one and more accurate to cultural background for the other.

 

Meanwhile, almost all my characters in Tera had names that no one could say, save for my main. It's been a slippery slope, but I've learned from it.

 

I know I could just say screw it and not care what anyone thinks, but my frustrations over it come from a lifetime of people not being able to pronounce my name IRL correctly or using it as a source of teasing (that's the misfortune of having an EXTREMELY French name)... With time, the scars will fade. But for now, it still hurts. T_T

 

[Dat Oni]

Edgar Von Gandervalt is pretty easy to wrap your head around, but Ed's tribal name is a bit of a doozy:

 

Z'sira'a Tordone, pronounced Zoh-Se-er-ah Tor-Dawn-Ah. I don't know what I was smoking, either.

 

As for Kopo, a lot of people pronounce his name one syllable at a time, when there's a silent O snuck in there.

 

Koporo Aporo is actually pronounced Kopro Apro, as if the O's don't even exist. This is a nod to his accent, which slams words and conjunctions together all haphazardly.

[Vali]

Val-ee-Rely-ah Far-oh

[Dogberry]

Is as in Kiss

Ki as in Key

Er as in Air

Ka as in Ka-boom!

 

Iskierka

[Knight Kat]

According to the naming conventions, the only race vocally capable of properly pronouncing Kiht's name are Miqo'te.

 

https://wiki.ffxiv-roleplayers.com/pages/Category:Miqo%27te

 

Ki(short hiss)t

 

While I'm sure other races can hiss, I guess the Miqo'te can make a very unique type of hiss. For all other races, the 'h' becomes silent.

 

Kiht Jakkya = Kit Jack-ya

 

Some have thought Kiht would be pronounced "Kist" or "Keet" with the (short hiss), but I don't think so; otherwise, the other races would be able to pronounce it.

[Darien Cadell]

Kora Badgery.

 

It is more sophisticated than that, but that's all I expect anyone to say.

[Spethah]

Was X'Septhaja = She-Sep-tha-ya 

 

Now it's just Septhaja. Everyone calls her Septha.

[Martiallais]

Zarek Windsoul: Zare-ick (like Derek but with a Z) Wind-Sol

 

Martiallais Heuloix: Marshal-lay Ho-lu-wah

[Asmodean]

Asmodean (ahs-MOH-dee-an) Gaidin ( GAI-din)

 

Once I start to rp more I wont be surprised most just call him Asmo for short.

[KHMarie]

Serylda Troklas:

Sare-RIL-dah Troke-liss

(Her name was originally supposed to be Troklos, but I have otherwise went away from that)

 

I've found people will often shorten it to Sery, and just call her that. Whether she is okay with it or not, is kinda w/e.

[Telluride]

I'm gonna risk going a bit off-topic because of something that sticks in my craw:

 

[pronunciation rant warning]

 

Teledji Adeledji.

 

The English MSQ voice over, with every character pronounces it, "Tell-EDGE-ee ad-el-EDGE-ee"

 

I don't know how the other languages pronounce, it, but I cringe hard every time I hear it. HARD.

 

It is much more musical and rhythmical, at least in English, to pronounce it thus:

 

"TELL-Uh-Jee Uh-DELL-Uh Jee"

 

The stress pattern would be the same as in how an English speaker would pronounce "Melody Fidelity." Try it a few times, and see how it rolls off the tongue.

 

The rhyme is better, and the rhythm has much better euphony (much closer to Iambic rhythm, which is what, historically, English speakers find pleasing, and is the basic meter of Shakespeare).

 

The actual Japanese preference for stress, in the case of this name, may be different, I'm only concerned with the English. This pronunciation better fits what Lalafell are supposed to value in their names.

 

Unless.... Teledji secretly gets off on having a very weirdly pronounced name, and making people choke on it, which is believable, little bastard that he is.

 

And Nathan Telluride isn't hard... is it?

 

[end rant]

[Sounsyy]

Sounsyy (s-Ow-n-see) (or... "Sound" minus the D + "See")

Mirke (m-erk) (Rhymes with smirk, jerk, work, twerk, lurk, perk...)

[Makyn Loneseeker]

Heh. HEH.

 

So, a lot of people pronounce the name like... Bacon. (Yes I know my username doesn't help.) But actually, this is /not/ how Makyns name is pronounced. -gasp!-

 

Makyn is pronounced 'Maa - Kin'

[Aduu Avagnar]

well some people call me Neko... (Yes, I'm looking at you Clio....)

 

its Naa-Koh-Lee.

[Ha'uruh Nunh]

Howl.

 

I think "Ha-OO-ruh" is about to fall off from disuse at this point, but that's how I mentally pronounce it.

 

My Lala is "AHN-noo-noo."

 

And Restless Wind is pronounced "Restless Wind."

[K'nahli]

The K' in K'nahli's name is supposedly meant to have a "Koo" sound to it but I learned about that too late so, while acceptable, I generally pronounce her name like this:

 

The K' part is a standalone letter, so think  "Kih" or "Kit" with the removal of the 't' sound at the ending.

 

"-nah" is pronounced literally as the dismissive form would be in english.... "nah".

 

and finally, the "-li" part is pronounced like the english name "Lee".

 

 

Altogether, phonetically it would sound more or less like:

 

"Ki-na-lee" or "Kih-nah-lee".

 

Meanwhile, the "correct" version would be:

 

"Coo-na-lee" or "Coo-nah-lee"

 

 

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

 

 

For K'taynu, I have a bad habit of pronouncing the 'K' same way I do for K'nahli, so his name sounds like this:

 

"Kih-tay-nu" where "tay" sounds like the beginning of "take" and "nu" sounds like "noon" or "nunh" with the ending removed.

[Cliodhna Eoghan]

Howl.

 

I think "Ha-OO-ruh" is about to fall off from disuse at this point, but that's how I mentally pronounce it.

 

My Lala is "AHN-noo-noo."

 

And Restless Wind is pronounced "Restless Wind."

 

oh thank you! i was sooo unsure about the last one. just kinda kept saying it "twitchy breeze" >n<;;

[Gegenji]

Altogether, phonetically it would sound more or less like:

 

"Ki-na-lee" or "Kih-nah-lee".

 

Meanwhile, the "correct" version would be:

 

"Coo-na-lee" or "Coo-nah-lee"

 

You're pretty Coo', Nahli.

[K'nahli]

Altogether, phonetically it would sound more or less like:

 

"Ki-na-lee" or "Kih-nah-lee".

 

Meanwhile, the "correct" version would be:

 

"Coo-na-lee" or "Coo-nah-lee"

 

You're pretty Coo', Nahli.

 

Ughhhhhhh! Okay, I admit... that made me laugh.... (_ _) ;;;;;

[Khorijin Orben]

Nick is a pretty easy name. I struggle with some other things. I used to pronounce La Noscea as La No-See-Ah and now it's La No-sha.

[Clover]

K'mih is pronounced like Japanese Kumi (like Koda Kumi).

 

I don't know much about English, but I think English speakers write that sound as "coo"? That's how Japanese people said that K was pronounced for miqo'te tribes, so yes.

 

Mih is just a normal English "me".

 

(I don't really know much about English pronunciation. Both in Spanish and Japanese, things simply sound as you write them, so merely writing Kumi is crystal clear to me).

[K'nahli]

Nick is a pretty easy name. I struggle with some other things. I used to pronounce La Noscea as La No-See-Ah and now it's La No-sha.

 

What? I pronounce the former too...

[Clover]

Nick is a pretty easy name. I struggle with some other things. I used to pronounce La Noscea as La No-See-Ah and now it's La No-sha.

 

What? I pronounce the former too...

 

It's ラノシア in Japanese, so the former seems the correct pronunciation (unless I'm simply mistaking what "La-No-See-Ah" is supposed to sound like. As I said, I don't really know about English sounds).