101
votes
Accepted
How to pronounce Fritz Leiber's name?
In this videotaped interview the interviewer initially mispronounces Fritz Leiber's name as LEE-ber (rhyming with Bieber) but Leiber corrects him,
"My name is LYE-ber" [rhyming with cyber].
- 159k
68
votes
Accepted
In Wyndham's "Confidence Trick", a sign at an Underground station in Hell is misread as "Something Avenue". What should it be?
One assumes that it said Avernus, which is Latin for "Hell"
- 676k
52
votes
Accepted
What is the correct pronunciation of Hermione?
JKR pronounces it exactly as it's pronounced in the films
and from the FAQ on JKR's old website (along with a handy guide for how to remember it)
Q. How do you ...
- 676k
34
votes
Accepted
How was the pronunciation of Data decided?
Patrick Stewart crystallized the pronunciation during the first script reading
I'm at the Star Trek 50th Anniversary Celebration in Las Vegas right now. Brent Spiner just revealed the answer to this ...
- 111k
33
votes
Accepted
In "Pandora's Box", Heinlein says "odd genre" is a pun. How is it a pun?
This appears to be a science-fiction writer in-joke. The same pun was called out by editor James E. Gunn in his autobiography as having been made by Forrest Ackerman a decade earlier.
I took the ...
- 676k
28
votes
AT-AT pronunciation
"At-At", according to LucasFilm.
Joseph Lin, a journalist at Time Magazine, asked LucasFilm this very question. They responded that the official pronunciation rhymes with "hat-hat".
http://techland....
- 111k
25
votes
Accepted
Are there any in-book clues that the T in "Voldemort" is silent, and why did the movies choose to pronounce the T?
It's because most Americans don't speak French:
In an exchange with a fan on Twitter, author JK Rowling confirmed that
the 't' in Voldemort is actually silent, contrary to its pronunciation
in the ...
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23
votes
AT-AT pronunciation
Both are correct
According to Dave Filoni, producer of Star Wars Rebels and former director of the Clone Wars the answer is both.
In an interview during Star Wars Celebration 2016 he says:
I say ...
- 331
22
votes
Accepted
How to Pronounce Elanor?
You can hear Christopher Tolkien saying "Elanor" in a recording of him reading the final passage of The Lord of the Rings. He gives the three syllables about equal emphasis, but I think the ...
- 4,134
17
votes
What is the correct pronunciation of Hermione?
A phonetic pronunciation of her name is given in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Ron says her name while his mouth is full of food, and it is rendered as four syllables.
‘Oh, c’mon, ’Er-my-...
- 95.3k
17
votes
Accepted
Are all "C" words pronounced with a hard "K" or just Elven ones?
In the invented languages, "C" is always hard
There's a note near the end of the first part of Appendix E which clarifies this:
In names drawn from other languages than Eldarin the same ...
- 163k
13
votes
Accepted
What's the pronunciation of the word Goa'uld from SG1?
I'm not a phonetician1, so this is going to be a very amateurish answer from a phonetics perspective.
Different characters on the show typically used one of two pronunciations2:
go-aah-oold, ...
- 163k
12
votes
Accepted
How do you pronounce planet Ix?
It's pronounced as written. Ixian = "ick-see-ann"
You can hear a clip of Frank Herbert reading from God Emperor of Dune to get a pronunciation guide
In-universe, ...
- 676k
12
votes
Is there an official pronunciation of the name "Jadis" from CS Lewis?
In case it helps someone, she bears the very same name - same writing at least - in the French edition of the book.
It happens that Jadis is a French name meaning "a - very - long time ago".
It ...
- 1,224
12
votes
Accepted
How are you supposed to pronounce the name "Hiero" from "Hiero's Journey"?
"Hee-eh-ro" (probably).
The Appendix N book club added Hiero's Journey to their list of must-read authors in 2017. As part of their research they evidently spoke to several of Lanier's ...
- 676k
10
votes
Accepted
Pronunciation of 'Teixcalaan'
This is what the author says:
Teyks-kah-lan. First vowel is the sound in 'hey', second vowel is the
'a' in 'father', third vowel is the 'a' in 'sample'.
This is not as precise as rendering it in IPA,...
- 61.8k
9
votes
Accepted
How is the 'o' in Tuvok pronounced?
Your use of 'mate' suggests you speak a British- or British-descended English. I'll proceed on that assumption.
Have a look at this list of Lexical Sets for UK and US English, in particular the LOT ...
- 2,188
9
votes
How is the 'o' in Tuvok pronounced?
The pronunciation of Tuvok corresponds to the way Spock is pronounced.
- 186
9
votes
Accepted
How is Kamala Khan's name pronounced?
The co-creator of the new Ms. Marvel (Sana Amanat) says her name in this interview. It's as you would expect it to be pronounced; Ca-mah-laa
The character's other co-...
- 676k
9
votes
How does one pronounce "Asshai"?
In audiobooks, Asshai is pronounced as ASH-eye or a-SHY, depending on the narrator's accent.
In the HBO's show Game of Thrones, it is pronounced as uh-SHY.
For your reference, you may check these ...
- 457
8
votes
How is the 'o' in Tuvok pronounced?
"Like the o in clock" is correct.
Listen to how differently the British and American accents make it sound - the crew of Voyager have American accents, so make it sound like an "a" to those used to a ...
- 2,478
8
votes
Accepted
How would you pronounce the name "Sidheag"
According to the author's website
Sidheag ~ SHEE-ak alternatively pronounced SIDH-hey, just to make
matters confusing. (Again, chosen for its meaning, all the pack names
are.)
The word itself ...
- 676k
8
votes
Accepted
How do you pronounce the name "Kahlan"?
The author pronounces it (depending on his mood) as Kay-linn or Kay-lenn.
Kay-lenn
Kay-Linn (in this interview he corrects the interviewer and explicitly confirms ...
- 676k
7
votes
Which names (besides for Voldemort) do the movies pronounce wrong?
With what little I know about the French language, I know that Beauxbatons should be bo-ba-to (French).
Despite failing at French, they got the Celtic names pretty well. I was actually surprised when ...
- 131
7
votes
How to pronounce Ayesha?
Quoting from the Wikipedia page for the first sequel:
In the introduction, Sir H. Rider Haggard links the name Ayesha to Muhammad's wives, and the Arabic name (Arabic: عائشة, ʻĀʼishah, pronounced [...
- 102k
7
votes
What is the correct pronunciation of Hermione?
Hermione is a real name, taken from ancient Greek and along with other classical names was fairly common in English speaking countries around the turn of the 19th century, much like Penelope (still ...
- 3,198
7
votes
How does one pronounce "Asshai"?
Consult with the following table:
Source
IPA
Pronunciation
HBO
[ə'ʃaɪ]
ə-shy
Roy Dotrice (Audio books narrator)
[a'ʃaɪ]
a-shy
John Lee (Audio book narrator for AFFC)
['aʃaɪ]
ash-eye
You can refer ...
- 48.3k
6
votes
Pronunciation of "Teatime"
The pronunciation in the Nigel Planer audiobook is pretty much as written in the text, with short hard syllables, and the 2nd and 4th syllables stressed.
https://vocaroo.com/i/s022ncicq2Wx
Note that ...
- 676k
5
votes
Accepted
Why does pronunciation of spells matter?
Yes pronunciation maters.
“STUBEFY !” Neville shouted again, pointing his wand at each
Death Eater in turn, “STUBEFY ! STUBE —”
At this point we know neville is competent enough to use stupefy ...
- 66k
5
votes
Why does pronunciation of spells matter?
As I see it (this is just my interpretation as a reader), mastering spells seems to have levels. Much like Beginner, Novice, Advanced, Legendry, etc:
Beginner level:
Beginner stage. Mostly the first,...
- 3,530
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