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Thursday, June 5, 2014

Say What?

Art by David Lewis Johnson
While I've tried the render the names of the various species and cultures in the Strange Stars in the closest to a phonetic pronunciation in English as possible, while still being (relatively) elegant on the page. This still usually means a good deal of ambiguity.

To try to alleviate that, here's a pronunciation guide with the best IPA approximation and a plain language description:

djägga [d͡ʒɛɡɑ]: JEH-gah.
Dzrrn [d͡zr̩:n]: dz (as in adds) uhrn.
hyehoon [hjɛhu:n]: HYEH-hoon.
ksaa [ksɑ:]: ks (as in axe) ah.
kuznuh [kəznə]: KUHZ-nuh
ngghrya [ŋ̍ɡ͡ɣɾjɑ]: ng (as in sing)-gh (a sound not in English) ryah.
vokun [vokʊn]: vo-KUN (u as in put).
ssraad [ʂɹɑ:d]: shrahd.
yssgalahl [jiʂɡaɫaɬ]: Just call them "Slavers."
Zyanthian [zjænθiæn]: ZYAN-thee-an.
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8 comments:

  1. Chris C.June 5, 2014 at 11:14 AM

    That's cool. I've often wished pronunciation guides were included in gaming material.

    ReplyDelete
  2. DavidJune 5, 2014 at 12:30 PM

    "the best IPA approximation"

    India pale ale approximation? interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  3. iemattiasJune 5, 2014 at 2:45 PM

    I love IPA! so refreshing...

    ...to have a thoughtful pronunciation guide. Is that a glottal fricative in the ngghrya?

    ReplyDelete
  4. The Angry LurkerJune 5, 2014 at 3:01 PM

    A great help with the tongue twisting pronunciations!

    ReplyDelete
  5. garrisonjamesJune 5, 2014 at 3:59 PM

    This goes well with beer, and is pretty helpful as well. A good idea. Might have to do something similar one of these days...

    ReplyDelete
  6. TreyJune 5, 2014 at 4:43 PM

    @David- Yes. But also International Phonetic Alphabet. :)
    @Mattias - Velar affricative is what it's supposed to be.
    @Fran.- You're welcome.
    @Jim - Why not?

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  7. Gothridge ManorJune 5, 2014 at 6:04 PM

    That's a smart way to do it. I know when I run into unpronounceable words, I can't remember them and I pass over it or call it something else.

    ReplyDelete
  8. TreyJune 6, 2014 at 9:32 AM

    Me too. when reading I tend to just recognize them rather than say them; that doesn't work when you've got to say them aloud in a game.

    ReplyDelete