Writer's Notes! - Language and Pronunciation

Language/Pronunciation

I was asked a long time ago to provide a reference for the pronunciation of names, so here's a brief note in that regard. 

To start with, I should acknowledge that I'm not at all bothering to invent a language for Caelia or any other kingdom in Kaleida. By necessity, the narrative is in English and the dialogue is in English, so having the main characters all conveniently speak English while every other race speaks some completely alien language seems a bit ethnocentric. 

Accordingly, a lot of names will be derivations or outright bastardizations of words and names from other languages in the 'real world.' 

• "Native Caelian" doesn't really exist, given "native Caelians" don't really exist.  There won't be any 'old Caelian' names.

• The ancestral tongue of Gnomans is based on old school Latin, so Gnoman names will tend to sound like Latin words. Although, the founders of the Gnoman empire share a common ancestry with humans and dwarves, their spoken languages are all pretty far removed from "Old Feguncian," so the similarities among them aren't obvious.

• The old languages of elves will be based on Japanese and Greek, but names in Caelia will be heavily anglicized (despite the age of some Elves). 

• Dwarvish names will primarily be based on German and Hindi.  

• Arbarii names will probably end up a mish-mash of Hebrew, Arabic, and Greek. 

• Orc names are more or less random nonsense accounting for the pronunciation difficulties surrounding their tusks (tip of the hat to Warhammer for mentioning that problem); because some orcs have pronounced lower teeth, you won't see many words that depend on bilabials or otherwise require the meeting of the lips.     

Of course, names are rooted in old languages, but spoken language is very dynamic, evolving into different regional dialects. Even within the same region, spoken language varies as a function of culture, exposure, education, and temperament.

• The Gnomans don't have a unifying accent because their domain is large, with high internal mobility. In other words, if you ask a Gnoman where she's from, she's likely to say something like "all over the place." Though it doesn't necessarily come off in the dialogue (because I didn't want to be super-cartoonish), Vinny has something comparable to a Brooklyn accent. (Though if the My Cousin, Vinny reference didn't communicate that, I don't know what would.) 

• While many elves are just average people working in the fields alongside humans and orcs, there are definitely some 'old money drama queens.' In a world of 'haves' and 'have-nots,' they are the 'had-and-hanging-ons,' who lecture their children about emotional discipline and propriety, but readily express that as frigid passive-aggressiveness with occasional outbursts of melodrama. So, think New England WASP/Southern Belle, without the slang. Kaira actively tries to avoid this, but it's been deeply ingrained in her - her attempts to be 'folksy' and salt of the earth tend to come off as obviously superficial.   

• Dwarves are generally well educated, and as a culture they value both precision and beauty in what they create. Consistent with that, they would tend to enunciate clearly, and speak at a moderate pace and volume. Ochsner, of course, does not always abide by this - she's lived in Kingstown a long time, and is easily excitable by nature. 

• Due to being pushed to the fringes of society, orcs primarily speak with rural or lower class dialects - this is consistent with a tradition started by J.R.R. Tolkien, whose orcs spoke with distinctive cockney accents (albeit, with no rhyming slang). Given that Caelia is supposed to feel a bit more North American and a bit less European, it'll be a bit different in these books; for example, one charming, well educated fellow combines southwestern U.S. and western Canadian, while his brutish father speaks with a combination of British cockney and American 'red neck' that's essentially a crime against grammar.

As to the pronunciation of specific names:

Azraea Michelle Thanel 

• Pronunciation: In "Azraea" emphasize the Z and the second A. The first A is short, like in the word "cat", the second A is long, like in the word "wave", and the third A is short, as in the word "about." "Michelle" Is exactly like the real world, western name. In "Thanel" The "Th" is audible but not emphasized. The "an" sounds like the "an" in "plan", not "plane". The "el" sounds like "L" (like Superman's Kryptonian name, actually).
• TLDR: << ah-ZZ-RAY-uh MEH-shell th-Ah-nell >>
• Origin: "Azraea" is a reference to "Azriel," the biblical angel of death, though the name is pronounced pretty differently. "Michelle" is a reference to the biblical archangel "Michael", though the pronunciation is westernized. "Thanel" references the Greek personification of death, "Thanatos."
• Reasoning: Azraea is the descendant of immigrants; as such, her name would have some old world history behind it, but also some elements of cultural assimilation. Since my readers are going to be mostly, if not exclusively western, I threw a familiar, real world western name into the middle of an otherwise unfamiliar one. Is "Michelle" an immersive name for a fantasy? Given the main character of Star Wars is named "Luke," and his mentor was "Ben," I think I'm okay. As to the meaning behind the name, she is a necromancer, so if anything I probably made it overly obvious. 

Ochsner

• Pronunciation: The "chs" is pronounced as "x", not "sh" - where people get the latter, I have no idea, but it can produce arguments even within the same family.
• TLDR:  << OX-nuhr >>
• Origin: This is a real world, German name that means "Ox herder". 
• Reasoning: None, really, except that it's a sort of 'humble' name like 'Smith' or 'Shepherd,' which fits the character's disposition. 

Kairumina Doro Asterigennithika

• Pronunciation: Please don't make me.
• No, Really: << KAI-roo- MEE-nuh DOH-roh ass-TEHR-eh-GEHN-ith-EH-kah >>
• Short: << KAI-rah >> 
• Origin: Mangled Greek: "Charoúmenos Dó̱ro Astéria pou Genní̱thi̱kan"
• Reasoning: Her family name translates to "Star Born", so appropriately pretentious. But her given name translates to "Joyous Gift", which will make more sense when you learn more about her parents.

Vinny, Vidi, and Vicki

• Pronunciation: Exactly what you'd imagine.
• TLDR: Tough.
• Origin: It's a pun on Julius Caesar's famous quote, "veni, vidi, vici" - I came, I saw, I conquered. 
• Reasoning: The Gnomans are supposed to bear an unsubtle similarity to the ancient Romans, though even more than the Romans, they value one-sided, crushing victories in everything - essentially, surveillance, sabotage, and espionage should make the outcome of any conflict a foregone conclusion. Caesar's casual assertion expresses the Gnoman attitude concisely, and the specific names for the Gnomans have some individual relevance to their characters.

That's all for this week! See you Monday for the start of chapter 3!