How should I pronounce Kelsier?

[Knight of Iron she/they]

I am aware of how it is pronounced in-world (Kel-see-ay) and how everyone else says it (various forms). I’m currently the pretty normal Kel-see-er. But, see, every time I say it like that my brain goes “that’s wrong.”

I’m the type of guy to go to great lengths to correct a pronunciation in my head. With Jasnah, I went from Jazz-nah to Yazz-nah, then to the more accurate Yas-nah. I went from Ren-a-rin to Re-nar-in, from Shah-len to Sha-lawn, and countless more!

I have the ability to rewire my brain this way, and have recently had to make a difficult decision.

Should I try to pronounce it Kel-see-ay? Is it an unpopular pronunciation, disliked, and never actually used? ‘Cause I can and kinda want to, but the question is, is it worth it?

[+Invocation]

I'd keep it as Kel-see-er, since if I'm remembering the WOB about the pronunciation right the Kell-see-ay pronunciation is the noble way to pronounce it and since the majority of the cast is skaa and/or actively embracing their skaa halves over their noble halves, it makes more sense in my mind if they used the skaa pronunciation.

[+Harrycrapper]

Most people don't pronounce it Kel-see-ay. The audiobook narrators pronounce it like the other one you had, Kel-see-er. I feel like I remember Brandon saying it was supposed to be Kel-see-ay, but I'm not 100% on that. It might have also been a joke if it's real. 

[Knight of Iron she/they]

14 minutes ago, Invocation said:

I'd keep it as Kel-see-er, since if I'm remembering the WOB about the pronunciation right the Kell-see-ay pronunciation is the noble way to pronounce it and since the majority of the cast is skaa and/or actively embracing their skaa halves over their noble halves, it makes more sense in my mind if they used the skaa pronunciation.

Makes sense, I think. I’ll stick to only saying Kel-see-ay as a joke.

[Weltall]

Even Brandon doesn't pronounce it 'properly' (or many other names for that matter) so say it however you like, it's okay.

[HSuperLee]

Do what I do and refuse to commit, using whatever name confuses the people you're with the most.

[Knight of Iron she/they]

2 hours ago, Weltall said:

Even Brandon doesn't pronounce it 'properly' (or many other names for that matter) so say it however you like, it's okay.

I’m aware, but my nerdy brain will let me know I’m wrong whenever I pronounce something wrong...

[LewsTherinTelescope]

The real question is whether you pronounce Vin's or Wax's names correctly...

[mathiau he/him]

3 hours ago, LewsTherinTelescope said:

The real question is whether you pronounce Vin's or Wax's names correctly...

The joke is that as a French I can't figure out whether you're supposed to prononce Vin [vin] (the natural way for a French to say it if they assume it's a foreign word) or [vɛ̃] (the way a French would say it if they assume it's a French word and missed Vin was a girl)

(the words insides the [] are written in international phonetic language)

[Zoey she/her]

On 8/25/2021 at 11:38 AM, Harrycrapper said:

Most people don't pronounce it Kel-see-ay. The audiobook narrators pronounce it like the other one you had, Kel-see-er. I feel like I remember Brandon saying it was supposed to be Kel-see-ay, but I'm not 100% on that. It might have also been a joke if it's real. 

It is pronounced Kel-see-ay, and not as a joke. But you can pronounce it however you want. I personally prefer Kel-see-ay over Kel-see-er

Used to pronounce it as Kels-seer or Kels-ee-er

[+Harrycrapper]

13 hours ago, Zoey said:

It is pronounced Kel-see-ay, and not as a joke. But you can pronounce it however you want. I personally prefer Kel-see-ay over Kel-see-er

Used to pronounce it as Kels-seer or Kels-ee-er

For my own sanity as an audiobook listener, I go with whatever the narrator does. Get's kinda hairy when the narrators contradict how they pronounced it in earlier books, but it doesn't happen super often. I do like the in universe explanation above where the nobles would pronounce it Kel-see-ay but the Ska say Kel-see-er. 

[Aspiring Writer]

On 8/25/2021 at 9:34 AM, Knight of Iron said:

Is it an unpopular pronunciation, disliked, and never actually used?

Kinda, no, and kinda? Like, Kelsier is the most natural read of the name, and how BS pronounces it in his head, but it isn't wrong, and I sometimes use it by accident after trying for a really long time to get used to it. My take, go for it.

[Woefulleaf]

If you want to go the technical route, it should be pronounced Kel-see-ay. But Brandon, being an American, meant for it to be pronounced Kel-seer.

Get my drift?

[Kingsdaughter613 she/her]

On 8/25/2021 at 0:34 PM, Knight of Iron said:

I am aware of how it is pronounced in-world (Kel-see-ay) and how everyone else says it (various forms). I’m currently the pretty normal Kel-see-er. But, see, every time I say it like that my brain goes “that’s wrong.”

I’m the type of guy to go to great lengths to correct a pronunciation in my head. With Jasnah, I went from Jazz-nah to Yazz-nah, then to the more accurate Yas-nah. I went from Ren-a-rin to Re-nar-in, from Shah-len to Sha-lawn, and countless more!

I have the ability to rewire my brain this way, and have recently had to make a difficult decision.

Should I try to pronounce it Kel-see-ay? Is it an unpopular pronunciation, disliked, and never actually used? ‘Cause I can and kinda want to, but the question is, is it worth it?

I pronounce it Kel-see-ay. And Vin as Vah(n).

I also pronounce Kholin with a Khet sound. But don’t bother with that unless you’re comfortable using the guttural. It’s not easy to pronounce if you haven’t grown up using it.