Pronunciation Guide for Inda

Of course anyone who reads the book is welcome to "hear" the names any way they want to. But if you want to know how they sound to me, below is a guide.

I tried to keep them as phonetic as possible, as phonetic spelling is the norm in that world, but they have different alphabets, including letters for double vowels and some other sounds not common in English. An exception would be the 'c' next to 'z' which I've been messing with--the sounds closest are z plus ts, but I don't like the way Vorztsin looks for a name, so I've kept it as Vorzcin. There's also a problem with the Sartoran Ya, which is a forceful sound--often with a silent h up front--we don't have it in English…I keep messing about with various ways of spelling it, and have never come up with the ideal fix because of the way 'y' sounds wiggle about in spoken English.

General note--all vowels are pronounced, including final 'e' which is usually an 'eh' sound in most of the eastern countries, and 'ee' in the west of the southern continent. The 'a' is never the flat 'a' as in the American 'cat' but, almost always the sound is closer to the 'o' as in 'hot'--I spell it ah below.

Marlovan (Mar-LOH-vahn) Terms

Adaluin--Ah-DOLL-yew-in

Anderle--AHN-der-lee

Barend--BAH-rend

Branid--BRAH-nid

Camarend--CAH-mah-rend

Chelis--CHELL-iss [the 'ch' as in 'cheese']

Choraed Elgaer--Khoh-RAY-ed Ell-GAY-air

Dal--doll

Darchelde--Dahr-CHELL-deh [ch as in cheese]

Dei--DAY-ee

Dyalen--DYAH [as in Ya-ha-ha!]-lenn

Edli--ED-lih (the i in 'sit' with an 'h' sound at the end)

Evred--EHV-red

Fareas--Fah-RAY-us (the Sartoran pronunciation would be FAH-reh-us)

Fijirad--Fih-JEE-rod

Ghael--[say 'hail' with a g on the front]

Hadand--Ha-DAHND

Harskialdna--Hahr-skee--AHLD-nah

Hesea--Hess-AY-[as in 'stay']-ah

Inda--IN-dah ('in' as in 'in and out', not EYE-N-dah)

Indevan Algara-Vayir--IN-deh-vahn Al-GAH-rah-Vay-EER

Iofre--YOH-freh [that's the 'yo' as in 'yo ho ho', no 'eye' sound]

Jarend--JAH-rend

Kethedrend--KETH (as in Beth)-eh-drend

Jaya-Vayir--JAH-yah--vay-EER

Manther--MON-[as in on]-thair

Montredavan--An--MAHN-tray-dah-van-On [the v is almost an f, and will vanish]

Montrei-Hauc--Mon [as in 'on']-TRAY-ee HAH-uck

Montrei-Vayir--Mon[as in 'on']-TRAY-ee--vay-EER

Resveas--RESS-veh-us

Savarend--Sah-VAR [as in 'far']-end, Sartorian pronunciation: SAH-vah-rend

Shendan--SHEND [as in 'end']-on

Sierandael--See-air-AHN-day-ell

Sierlaef--See-air--LAY-eff

Tanrid--TON [as in 'on']-rid

Tdiran--TDEER-on

Tdor--t'dor--no vowel sound between the consonants

Tesar--TESS-ahr

Tlennen--TLEN-nen

Varlaef--Vahr-LAY-eff

Vedrid--VEHD [same sound as in 'said']-rid

Yvana-Vayir--YAH-vah-nah-vay-EER

Other Names

Chwahir--the 'ch' is a back-of-throat-cough-WAH-hurr

Jeje--Jeh-jeh [though in the east it sounds more like Jay-jay]

Kodl--KOH-dul

Saranden--Sah-RAHN-den

Sarias--Sah [saw]REE-ahs, or Sartoran, SAR-Yas, a distinct 'YA!' sound for the 'I'

Taumad--TAH-oo-mod

Tau--Sartoran pronunciation TAH-oo, most just say Taw as in 'jaw'

Vorzcin--VORZ-tsin