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Pronunciation Guide


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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Listening to the Mistborn audio book, apparently Kelsier is pronounced KEL-seer, Elend is pronounced EH-lend, and Sazed is pronounced SAY-zed. Lot's of first syllable accents.

Brandon has said that the people in Mistborn would pronounce Kelsier as Kel-see-ay (although he pronounces it KEL-seer), like it's French. Word of god trumps the audiobook.

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Brandon has said that the people in Mistborn would pronounce Kelsier as Kel-see-ay (although he pronounces it KEL-seer), like it's French. Word of god trumps the audiobook.

If he chooses to pronounce is Kel-seer, and the character pronounce it Kel-see-ay, does that make their pronunciation an in-world linguistic oddity? If so, ought we to pronounce it that way?

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From the Brandonothology:

RankWeis: The characters in Mistborn all have very French names. My girlfriend insists Vin's name is pronounced almost "Veh", as it would be in France, and I'm almost convinced. How do you pronounce it?

Brandon: The Central Dominance is intentionally French sounding. I say Vin's name like an American would, but everyone in world would say it with a French accent. Same goes for Kelsier, (which they would say Kel-syay.) Again, I say it as an American would, but then I'm not from the Central Dominance.

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I actually just started reading the book in French on Amazon, Fils-des-Brumes. The names slip very well into French pronunciations, and I definitely pronounce them differently. eh-LEND vin-CHUR becomes AY-len VAHN-tyur. VIN becomes VAH (just the barest hint on an N on the end). KEL-see-ur becomes KEL-see-yay. Even the planet name, Scadrial works really well in French. It's so awesome reading about "l'allomancie" and "ferochimie" and actually understanding it.

Though I have to admit, I laughed out loud at Breeze's name. Unlike most of the others, which are spelled exactly the same way. Breeze actually became "Brise" which would be pronounced exactly the same and is actually the French word for it!

Gah, I want to read to read the whole book in French, but it's sooooo expensive. I have a feeling the first few chapters are not going to be enough! Also, I really want to read Stormlight Archive in French!

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This is what Brandon says about Pronunciation:

QUESTION

How do you pronounce the Mistborn Planet? [scadrial]

BRANDON SANDERSON

Sca (as in Scab) dri (as in drink) al (sounds like ul).

MEMBER OF AUDIENCE

Okay. I always said Sca (as in Skate) dri (as in drink) al (as in Albert)

BRANDON SANDERSON

That’s perfectly fine. This can launch me into my little thing on Pronunciation. As readers, you get the say, you’re the director. I wrote the script. The director can always change things. If you want a character to look differently in your head, that’s okay. If you want to pronounce things however you want, that’s okay too. Because a book does not exist until it has a reader. It really doesn’t live. It exists, but it doesn’t live until you read it and give it life. So however you feel like doing it, go ahead. And remember, I’ve said this numerous times before, I don’t pronounce all the names right. I’m American, so I pronounce things with an American accent. The best example I give is Kelsier, because I do say Kel (as in bell) si (as in see) er (as in air), but they say Kel (as in bell) si (as in see) er (as in hey) in-world (it sounds very French). I say E (as in the letter e) lan (as in lawn) tris (as in hiss), they say E (as in the letter e) Lan (as in lane) tris (as in hiss) in-world. So there are linguistic fundamentals of these because I do have some linguistic background, but I don’t always say them right. I like saying Sa (like suh) rene (like Reen), instead of Sa (like suh) rene (like meany), which is how they say it. Which Suh-reany sounds kind of dumb in English. And in their language, it’s a beautiful woman’s name, but here you wouldn’t call someone Suh-reany, you’d call them Suh-rean.

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For me it's:

Kaladin = PALadin with K

Sarene = Say-RAY-nay (I force myself to pronounce it this way now... used to be suh-REEN)

Galladon = GAL-uh-don

Raoden = RAY-oh-den (I used to call him RAU(like "ow!")-den)

Aona = AY-oh-nuh

Dalinar = DAL(like "dad")-ih-nar

Jasnah = JAZ-nuh

Szeth = Zeth

Vin = Vihn(believe it or not!)

Kelsier = KEL-see-ur

Demoux = Deh-MO(as in "oh!")

Renoux = Reh-NO

TenSoon = ....

OreSeur = Or-SEE-ur

MeLaan = Mee-LAWN

Luthadel = LUU-thu-dell

The Lord Ruler = Tu-HEE Lard Ruu-LEER (jokes :lol: )

Ati = AY-tee

Atium = AY-tee-uhm

Malatium = MAL-ay-tee-uhm

Leras = LAIR-us

Lerasium = Lair-chull-ee-uhm (pardone my french :o )

Cosmere = KAZH-meer (jokes again! AH HAHA! Man, I'm so funny!)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Wait so how are you supposed to say Egwene and Nyneave? I've gone with EG-ween and NIGH-neeve (rhymes with weave). Though I used to pronounce Nyneave as NIN-uh-vay before my mom set me straight.

I pronounce it "Egg-win" even though it's wrong. And it ticks off my wife. She pronounces it "Eg-wayne" as per the pronunciation guide.

As to Szeth, I pronounced it Zeth until I started studying Russian. Then I found this letter that is like a "shch" sound, and started using it by accident.

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  • 1 month later...

I pronounce Szeth..... Szeth. I'm really good at sliding from one consonant to another without a vowel between, so I don't find it hard to slide from an SS sound to a ZZ sound. Kaladin is Paladin with a K. Sarene is Sah-Ree-Nee; if you pronounce quickly, with a Japanese style even cadence (NO stress), it actually sounds good.

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  • 1 year later...

Slight thread necro, but...

 

I feel like a bit of a tool. All this time I've been pronouncing Realmatic as Real-matic (RHEE-ul-MAH-tic). Only today, when thinking about the associations of the three realms and the term Realmatic in the same sentence did I realise it's probably pronounced Realm-atic (RELM-AH-tic).

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  • 1 month later...

Hearing Brandon's readings was interesting since I have gotten used to saying names a certain (often peculiar) way:

Kaladin = Ka-lah-DEEN. Actually, it kind of sounds like saying "Paula Deen" and... I don't... even... NEXT!

Shallan = SHALL-un

Jasnah = JAZ-nuh (Never gonna give J up!)

 

"Kh" like Spanish "J" (not lazy island dialects' /h/ but real /X/): XO-leen, XO-lih-nar

 

Elhokar = el-oh-KAR

 

Szeth = I don't say it consistently: seth, zeth, sheth.

 

Rysn = RIH-zin

 

Sadeas = Sa-DAY-us

 

Rock = Hawaiian sounding name (easy to say once you read through it carefully)

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I just wanna point out that even though I replied to this conversation a LONG time ago, I started a pronunciation meme on Tumblr where people actually record themselves saying lots of Cosmere names. If you all are interested in hearing my pronunciations, they can be found over here: http://featherwriter.tumblr.com/post/50974558197/cosmere-pronunciation-meme-sel-characters

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  • 2 years later...

Hello all,

 

I would like to comment what I think. My name beings Seth, it's annoying to think of it pronounced as Seth or Zeth and Suh-Zeth sounds just awful. So, I have been letting the S fall silent and pronouncing  the Z the German way, 'Ts. Making the pronunciation 'Tseth. to me this Is the most pleasant way to try and pronounce the name as I have tried all previously recommendations and more. I am seriously considering naming my son(if I ever have one) Szeth because it looks like a badass name which is why I want it to sound good.

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For me:

 

Szeth= Zeth

Kaladin=Kahl-uh-din (Chaos' pronunciation)

Sadeas=Say-dee-us

Jasnah=Yahz-nuh

Shallan=Shuh-LAHN

Kelsier=KELL-See-Ay

Vin=Vahn

Renoux= Ruh-NOO

Demoux= Duh-MOO

Sarene=Suh-REE-nee

Raoden=RAH-oh-dn (I give Arelish Aonic slightly different vowel sounds than Teoish Aonic - I thought an accent might develop over the course of Teod's history)

 

There are more, but it's already far too late where I am.  

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