Pronunciation guide
From A Wiki of Ice and Fire
Unlike J.R.R. Tolkien, who provided detailed instructions for the pronunciation of the languages of Middle-earth, George R.R. Martin has provided no canonical way of pronouncing Westerosi names, stating "You can pronounce it however you like."[1] However, it is possible to establish some guidelines.
The pronunciation guide uses International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbols. See IPA chart for English to learn about the symbols, and the IPA article proper for the problems of displaying and entering them.
Contents
Guidelines
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As with every good guide, we need a guide for the guide. Entries marked with:
- "GRRM", based on authorial chapter readings and question-and-answer sessions with George R.R. Martin.
- ("RD") and ("JL"), based on the audio book adaptations read by Roy Dotrice ("RD") and John Lee ("JL").
- ("RH") indicates the Random House audio interview.[2]
- ("FF") indicates the Fast Forward television interview.[3]
- ("GoT") indicates the TV show.
- Question marks (?) are probably the pronunciations based on re-acquiring themes.
Characters
Areo Hotah | GRRM-CBC | ['ɑriəʊ həʊ'tɑː], sometimes ['həʊtɑ] |
Arya | GRRM-FF GoT |
['ɑɹiə], like English aria ['ɑɹjə] |
Benjen | GRRM[4] | ['bɛndʒɛn] |
Bran | GRRM-FF | [bɹæn], like English bran |
Brienne | GRRM-RH RD, JL GoT |
[bɹi'ɛni] [braɪ'i:n] [bɹi'ɛn] |
Caleotte | GRRM-CBC: | ['kælɪɒt] |
Catelyn | (?: | ['katlɪn]) |
Cersei | GRRM-RH RD JL |
['sɝseɪ]. ['sə:sɪ]. ['sɪəseɪ]. |
Daenerys | GRRM-RH | [dən'ɛɹɪs] (?: [deɪ'nɛ:rɪs]) |
Dany | GRRM-RH | ['dæni] |
Davos | GRRM-RH | ['dɑːvos] |
Doran | GRRM-CBC | [dəʊ'ræn] |
Jaime | GRRM-RH | ['dʒeɪmi] (?: ['dʒeɪmɪ]) |
Jojen | (?: | ['dʒəʊdʒən]) |
Jon | GRRM-RH | [dʒɒn], like English John |
Jonquil | GRRM[5] | ['dʒɒnkɪl] |
Lysa | (?: | ['laɪsə]) |
Petyr | GRRM [6] RD |
[pi:'tɚ], like English Peter [pɪ'taɪə] |
Rhaegar | GRRM[7], GoT | ['reɪgɑr] |
Rickon | GRRM-RH | ['ɹɪkɒn] |
Tobho | GRRM[8] | [toʊ:'boʊ] |
Tommen | GRRM-CBC | ['toʊmən], RD, JL: ['tomən] |
Tyrion | GRRM-RH | ['tɪɹiən] (?: ['tɪrɪən]) |
Tywin | (?: | ['tʌɪwɪn]) |
Viserys | (?: | [vɪ'sɛ:rɪs]) |
Houses and surnames
Presumably, bastard names (like Snow and Rivers) are always pronounced like the corresponding common noun.Baratheon | (?: | [bə'ræθiən]) |
Frey | GRRM[9] | [freɪ] |
Lannister | GRRM-RH | ['lænɪstɚ] |
Stark | GRRM-RH | [stɑɹk], like English stark |
Targaryen | GRRM-RH | [tɑɹ'gɛɹiən] (?: [ta'gɛ:rɪən]) |
Places
Asshai | RD: | [a'ʃaɪ]. JL: ['aʃaɪ] |
Westeros | GRRM-RH | ['wɛstɚos] |
Titles
Khaleesi | (?: | [kə'lɪ:sɪ]) |
Maester | (?: | ['meɪstə]) |
Ser | (?: | [sə:], like English sir) |
References and Notes
- ↑ The Citadel. US Signing Tour (New York City, NY) November 15, 2005 So Spake Martin
- ↑ Random House audio interview with GRRM. [1]
- ↑ Fast Forward video interview with GRRM. [2]
- ↑ The Citadel. Various Pronunciations October 24, 1998 So Spake Martin
- ↑ The Citadel. Torcon (Toronto, Ontario) August 28-September 1 2003 So Spake Martin
- ↑ The Citadel. To Be Continued 4 (Chicago, IL), May 6–8, 2005. So Spake Martin
- ↑ The Citadel. Pronunciations May 8, 1999 So Spake Martin
- ↑ The Citadel. Torcon (Toronto, Ontario) August 28-September 1 2003 So Spake Martin
- ↑ The Citadel. Torcon (Toronto, Ontario) August 28-September 1 2003 So Spake Martin