Game Guides Archive
Thread: How do you pronounce things in the Star Wars Universe? Are there official pronunciations?
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AmadisdeLully
Tue Dec 21, 2004 7:23 pm
#1
Well, since most of these names are made up and the spellings are rather creative, how do you pronounce these items? Should there be a standard pronunciation? Here is how I pronounce them:
Pronunciation Key (the vowel sound as the vowelof the word): a = cat, A = card, e = late, E = let, i = seed, I = lit, o = note, O = caught, u = moon, U = book,uh = the (schwa sound), Uh = cut,ay = light, aw = house, oy = boy, & = not, $ = urgeü = German über or French tu, th = think, sh = she, j = jeep, ch = chips
Cities and Planets:
1. Corellia is"kOríliuh"
2. Tyrena is"tayrínuh"
3. Kor Vella is"kOr vÉluh"
4. Doaba Guerfel is"doÁbuh guhrfÉl"
5. Bela Vistal is "bÉluh vIstál"
6. Vreni is "vrÉni"
7. Lok is "l&k"
8. Nym is "nIm"
9. Theed is "thid"
10. Moenia is "moíniuh"
11. Kaadara is "kuhdÁruh"
12. Keren is "kÉruhn"
13. Deeja is "díjuh"
14. Rori is "rÓri"
15. Narmle is "nÁrmuhl"
16. Restuss is "rÉstuhs"
17. Talus is "táluhs"
18. Dearic is "déuhrIk"
19. Nashal is "nuhshÁl"
20. Mos Entha is "m&s Énthuh"
21. Mos Taike is "m&s táyke"
22. Bestine is "bEstín" (I used the -in with the aid of thepronunciationsof Tatooine and Dantooine)
Foods and Drinks:
1. Bofais "bófuh"
2. Aitha is "áythuh"
3. Caf is "kaf"
4. Pkneb is "pknEb"
5. Kanaliis "kuhnÁli"
6. Bliel is "blil"
7. Dustcrepe is "dÚhstkrep"
8. Teltieris "tÉltiuhr"
9. Jaar is "jAr" (Do you New Yorkers or Brits say "jA"?)
10. Wastrilis"wástruhl"
11. Kwevvu is"kwévu"
12. Blap is"blap"
13. Charde is"chArdé"
14. Protato is "pruhtÁto"
15. Endwa is "Éndwuh"
16. Gwouch is "gwawch"
17. Cho-Nor-Hoola is "cho nOr hóluh"
18. Puk is "puk"
19. Karkan Ribenes is "kÁrkuhn rIbÉniz"
20. Trimpian is "trÍmpiuhn"
21. Veghash is "vÉghash", although I used to say "véGash" (The G being a guttural g sound!)
22. Ormachek is "OrmuhchÉk"
23. Gruuvan Shaal is "grúvuhn shal"
24. Havla is "hávluh"
25. Scrimpi is "skrÍmpi"
26. Ahrisa is "Arísa" Sometimes I say "Ahrísa", but that h syllable ender is hard for an English speaker.
27. Patot Panak is "puhtót puhnÁk"
28. Ramorrean Capanata is "ruhmÓriuhn kÁpuhnAtuh"
29. Vegeparsine is "vÉjuhpArsin"
30. Bivoli Tempari is "buhvÓli tEmpÁri"
31. Canron is "kánr&n"
32. Rakririan is "rákrIriuhn"
33. Xermaauc is "shÉrmawk" (I think Xuxa influenced by "sh" as in Portuguese,versus a z- pronunciation)
34. Terrata is "tErÁtuh"
35. Won-Won is "w&n w&n"
36. Chandad is "chándad"
37. Para is "paruh"
38. Parwan Nutricake "pÁrwAn nútruhkek"
39. Pyollian is "pyóliuhn"
40. Felbar is "fÉlbAr"
41. Nanana is "nuhnánuh"
42. Dweezel is "dwízuhl"
43. Citros is "sItrós"
44. Gorrnar is "gÓrnAr"
45. Kiwik Clusjo is "kiwík klúsjo"
46. Ryshcate is "rüshkét" (I think I was influenced by Albanian "y" here which is ü)
47. Pikatta is "pIkÁtuh"
48. (Glazed Glucose) Pate is "pAté" (French what of course)
49. Vagnerian Canape is "vagnÉriuhn kanuhpé" (canapé is from French, so no it is not kuhnép!)
50. Cavaellian is "kÁvuh-éliuhn"
51. Sweesonberry is "swísuhnbEri"
52. Deuterium-pyro is "dutÉriuhm páyro"
53. Gralinyn is "grÁhlInIn"
54. Kylessian is "kaylísiuhn"
55. Veronian is "vEróniuhn"
56. Cortyg is "kÓrtIg"
57. Durindfire is "dÚrIndfayr"
58. Aludium pu36 is "uhlúdiuhm piyúth$rtisIks"
59. Accarragm is "ÁkuhrAgm"
60. Antakarian is "antuhkáriuhn"
61 Garrmorl is "gArmÓrl"
62. T'ssolok is "tuhsÓluhk"
63. Vasarian is "vuhsáriuhn"
64. Bespin is "béspuhn"
65. Skannbult Likker is "skánbUlt lÍkuhr"
66. Vayerbok is "váyuhrb&k"
67. Elshandruu Pica is "ElshÁndru píkuh"
68. T'illa-T'ill is "tÍluh tIl"
69. Tranna is "trÁnuh"
70. Deneelian is "duhnÉliuhn"
71. Vercupti of Agazza Bolereeuu is "vErkúpti uhv uhgázuh boleréu"
72. Thakitillo is "thAkuhtílo"
73. Angerian Fishak is "angériuhn fIshák"
As you can see English has influenced by pronunciations greatly, I imagine that German speakers have different pronunciations.
Message Edited by AmadisdeLully on 12-22-2004 05:41 PM
5150Newbster
Tue Dec 21, 2004 7:39 pm
#2
5* for you good ammount of thought and time went in this post!
Message Edited by 5150Newbster on 12-21-2004 07:40 PM
TakO_Paleae
Tue Dec 21, 2004 7:41 pm
#3
Nice Job 
Message Edited by TakO_Paleae on 12-21-2004 10:09 PM
E-Wavingwalker
Tue Dec 21, 2004 7:54 pm
#4
check out his Pronunciation key...the i in thid is pronounced like the e in seed.
you're right but u didn't read the whole post
AmadisdeLully
Tue Dec 21, 2004 8:21 pm
#6
TakO, you need to read my pronunciation key...Anyway, I used a more "International" transcription (in most languages "i" is the "ee" of English) because it it less cumbersome and English is very inconsistent. For example, the "-ough" thing: bough [baw], rough [rUf], through [thru], cough [kOf], though [dho]', lough [l&kh], hiccough [hIkuhp]...wow seven pronunciations for -ough in English...
gera
Tue Dec 21, 2004 8:53 pm
#8
Most of Star Wars names depends on (or similiar to) Eastern and Mid-Easternlanguages and read as Eastern pattern (mostly from throat as in speaking)
Many of you may be unfamiliar to that term but all names are READ-AS-IT-IS. This means, all letters are read as they sound. Sounds in those names does not change depending on previous letter or next.Like C letter does not sound as 'k' and 's' at same time (eg. Cord vs Cell words) you may hear difference is movies. Previously discussed Rancor word (however, Anthony Daniels has spoken it with his humble British accent as ran-core) read as 'Run-core'
Simply once spoken alphabet is formed, you can read all words simply by just reading their letters.like "i" letter sounds "ee" like in teen and it is same for alwords read. Bestine, Bespin, Corellia.
Thinking from starting point of movies, Tunusia which speaks arabic andwhich we may not give exact example (just because of alphabet differences). However, another Eastern language Turkish is a good example for comparing alphabet vs. sound using latin alphabet.
There was a similiar "how-to-read" part at end of Tolkien's Lord of The Rings Trilogy books.
And good work AmadisdeLully.. oh and "Lok" is just as "Lock" 
AmadisdeLully
Tue Dec 21, 2004 10:02 pm
#9
Tatooine is based from the Tunisian city/region Tataooine. Tataooine is a French spelling for the city. Since France owned Tunisia, many of the local Arabic or Berber names are transcribed using a French system. In actuality the city is transribed as /tat.aawiin/, it is written in Arabic as taa-t.aa-'alif-waaw-yaa-nuun. The two t's are different. The first is a regular t and the second an emphatic t. I imagine that Dantooine and Bestine are based on Tatooine though. Perhaps -ine means something in the Star Wars Universe.
Mafaza
Tue Dec 21, 2004 10:30 pm
#10
AmadisdeLully wrote:
Well, since most of these names are made up and the spellings are rather creative, how do you pronounce these items? Should there be a standard pronunciation? Here is how I pronounce them:
Pronunciation Key (the vowel sound as the vowelof the word): a = cat, A = card, e = late, E = let, i = seed, I = lit, o = note, O = caught, u = moon, U = book,uh = the (schwa sound), Uh = cut,ay = light, aw = house, oy = boy, & = not, $ = urgeü = German über or French tu, th = think, sh = she, j = jeep, ch = chips
Cities and Planets:
1. Corellia is"kOríliuh"
2. Tyrena is"tayrínuh"
3. Kor Vella is"kOr vÉluh"
4. Doaba Guerfel is"doÁbuh guhrfÉl"
5. Bela Vistal is "bÉluh vIstál"
6. Vreni is "vrÉni"
7. Lok is "l&k"
8. Nym is "nIm"
9. Theed is "thid"
10. Moenia is "moíniuh"
11. Kaadara is "kuhdÁruh"
12. Keren is "kÉruhn"
13. Deeja is "díjuh"
14. Rori is "rÓri"
15. Narmle is "nÁrmuhl"
16. Restuss is "rÉstuhs"
17. Talus is "táluhs"
18. Dearic is "déuhrIk"
19. Nashal is "nuhshÁl"
20. Mos Entha is "m&s Énthuh"
21. Mos Taike is "m&s táyke"
22. Bestine is "bÉstin" (I used the -in with the aid of thepronunciationsof Tatooine and Dantooine)
As you can see English has influenced by pronunciations greatly, I imagine that German speakers have different pronunciations (yeah well they like some pretty lame music, too).
Eheh.
Corellia, to me (as all of these will be), is "Kor el ee-ah."
Tyrena is one of the following: "Tier'-eh-nah," "Tie-ree'-nah," or "Tie'-wren-ah" (my favorite).
Lok is, "Lock," Loque," or "Antidisestablishmentar' ian-ism."
And finally, Bestine: "Bestine." It isn't pronounced "Bestine," like many think it is. I know, cause I been there, when I was in Germany (Dath'-oh-mere).
Message Edited by Mafaza on 12-21-2004 09:35 PM
AmadisdeLully
Tue Dec 21, 2004 11:00 pm
#11
The "&" vowel as in English "not" is the same as in English "lock", so when I say my Lok is "l&k", we are talking about the same vowel. Of course, I cannot write in IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet), so I had to come up with conventional ways of representing these vowels and consonants. I would like a "letter" for "letter" reading, but that would be hard to do for some of them. I assume when I see a "th" in SWG, they mean the English "th" sound a voiceless interdental fricative (English also has a voiced interdental fricative...for example think (voiceless) versus that (voiced). The letter "c" is a problem because in many languages "c" can take many pronunciations. English has "c" as /k/ or /s/, Castilian Spanish /k/ or /th/, Czech /ts/, Italian /k/ or /ch/...
Mafaza
Tue Dec 21, 2004 11:03 pm
#12
Oh for Pete's sake Amadis you needa girlfriend.
& BTW, the castillians are hilarious with their lisps. . . 
AmadisdeLully
Tue Dec 21, 2004 11:26 pm
#13
Actually Castilian Spanish is far from "lispy". They have two phonemes, /s/ is a very "thick" voiceless apico-alveolar sibilant, and /th/ a voiceless interdental fricative. The so called "lispy" Spanish dialects are called "ceceo" dialects (meaning they haveonly /th/)and there are a few in Central America and southern Spain. This is my job, so I think I know what I am talking about...lol
Message Edited by AmadisdeLully on 12-21-2004 10:27 PM
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