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For several months I've been a regular participant in this site's chatroom, Mos Eisley. But I've never seen Star Wars, so I don't know how to pronounce the name! Is it "moz ice-lee" or "moss eyes-lay" or something else?

PS. If it makes a difference, I speak British English.

PPS. Anyone who DVs me for not having seen Star Wars will get a revenge-DV if they haven't read Wheel of Time ;-)

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Just listen to Obi-Wan:

Let's say it together now: "moss ice-zlee".

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    I can't say "ice-zlee". That "szl" cluster seems impossible to me. Anyway, do we want to imitate Obi-Wan's British accent? How do the native Tatooinians pronounce it?
    – user14111
    Sep 5, 2015 at 0:24
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    @user14111 : Geographically, Alec Guiness and I were born only a few miles apart, and so it's fairly natural for me...
    – Praxis
    Sep 5, 2015 at 0:26
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    There is no z - he says "moss ice-lee".
    – Pepijn Schmitz
    Sep 5, 2015 at 14:14
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    @randal'thor: There's definitely a "z" there. N_Soong hears it too and his description includes a z...
    – Praxis
    Sep 5, 2015 at 15:13
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    @randal'thor - I hear the 'z'.
    – user50519
    Sep 5, 2015 at 15:21
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moss i-sszlee

Visit Wookieepedia:

Mos Eisley (pronounced /mɑs aɪzliː/, moss izelee,

And here's a sound clip of the pronunciation, also from Wookieepedia.

To me it sounds more like 'moss i-sszlee'

As for how a native Tatooian pronounces it, listen to Watto which confirms it is 'moss i-sszleee'.

Just for some background, the same Wookieepedia site describes it as being:

located in a valley somewhere to the southeast of the Jundland Wastes[5] and roughly 80 kilometers north of Anchorhead, near the desert palace of Jabba the Hutt.

and Lando Calrissian is supposed to have said:

"Mos Eisley is known as the galaxy's armpit. I guess there are worse parts of the anatomy where we could be stuck."

It was mentioned in Episode II: Attack of the Clones and seen in A New Hope.

Nothing can compare with the real Mos Eisley though ;-)

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  • Wookieepedia spells it "moss izelee" but I can't hear the "z" on the sound clip, it sounds like "moss icelee" to me. So which is it, "ize" or "ice"?
    – user14111
    Sep 5, 2015 at 0:00
  • @randal'thor those android reflexes come in handy ;)
    – Often Right
    Sep 5, 2015 at 0:03
  • @user14111: There's definitely a "z" sound, but there's a softer "s" sound that precedes it, which is why I'm going with "moss ice-zlee".
    – Praxis
    Sep 5, 2015 at 0:09
  • @user14111 I've added a link to how Watto pronounces Mos Eisley, the only other instance of it in the canon movies
    – Often Right
    Sep 5, 2015 at 0:46
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    @user14111: no, vowels don't affect the voicing of consonants, and initial consonant clusters are a different phonetic environment than cross-syllable concatenations.
    – JPmiaou
    Sep 5, 2015 at 6:02
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This is hilarious... have to try my hand.

It is somewhere between

Moss eyes, Lee.

and

Mouse eyes, Lee.

Remove any pause at the comma and you're there.

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  • "We've captured a freighter entering the remains of the Alderaan system. Its markings match those of a ship that blasted its way out of [Moss Eyes Lee]." No Z's.
    – Mazura
    Sep 5, 2015 at 23:30

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