# "How do you spell your name, anyway?"



## Ireth (Jan 6, 2013)

Just thought I'd make a thread asking about this issue in case it ever comes up in my stories (which it likely will, given the sheer amount of characters with names that are hard to spell, or that appear nothing like how people think they should be pronounced). When dealing with a name that has one or more accents, how would I go about having a character spell the name out in dialogue? Take, for example, LÃ³egaire. Would I say, "It's spelled L-Ã“-E-G-A-I-R-E," or maybe "L-O with an acute accent-E-G-A-I-R-E"?


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## MadMadys (Jan 6, 2013)

D-J-A-N-G-O.   The D is silent.

On a more related note, the one time I've done this I just broke it down like, "Ezzentil.  E-zen-teal" or some such wording.


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## saellys (Jan 6, 2013)

Does LÃ³egaire even use an English alphabet? I recall that one _Avengers_ issue where Spider-man asked Thor to spell MjÃ¶llnir and the next frame was a speech bubble full of runes.  If he does, maybe have him spell it out in one go and then add, "Accent over the first E."


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## Ireth (Jan 6, 2013)

MadMadys said:


> D-J-A-N-G-O.   The D is silent.
> 
> On a more related note, the one time I've done this I just broke it down like, "Ezzentil.  E-zen-teal" or some such wording.



*nod* I've done that in other places with the same name I used above. Honestly, this could be all the same conversation. "Your friend Liam--" "It's LÃ³egaire, Dad. Lee-ra." "How on earth do you spell that?" Etc.


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## Ireth (Jan 6, 2013)

saellys said:


> Does LÃ³egaire even use an English alphabet? I recall that one _Avengers_ issue where Spider-man asked Thor to spell MjÃ¶llnir and the next frame was a speech bubble full of runes.  If he does, maybe have him spell it out in one go and then add, "Accent over the first E."



He does know how to write in the English alphabet, though he's probably more comfortable with Ogham or some ancient Runic system. At one point he writes a letter to the heroine in English, and she notes that his writing is a bit off, like he's not entirely used to using the English letters. She knows he's probably thousands of years old, so it doesn't surprise her.


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## Shockley (Jan 6, 2013)

I speak far fewer languages than I write/read (ah, the dead), but extrapolating from French (probably a bad idea) you'd spell it with the accent - but 'oh-aigu' flows better than 'oh-acute accent.'


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## H. Y. Hill (Jan 6, 2013)

Ireth said:


> He does know how to write in the English alphabet, though he's probably more comfortable with Ogham or some ancient Runic system. At one point he writes a letter to the heroine in English, and she notes that his writing is a bit off, like he's not entirely used to using the English letters. She knows he's probably thousands of years old, so it doesn't surprise her.




In that case, he even know how to spell his name properly in English? He's more used to a different alphabet. IMO, it should be spelled how the character thinks the pronunciation is spelt. (Also, English spelling has almost no accents)

"Lo-gherr(?)"


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## wordwalker (Jan 6, 2013)

Except, in a written story spelling gets a bit surreal-- it's only something characters need when writing a message comes up anyway, and the oddness of spelling what the reader's already reading means it may be cleaner to flat out skip it. Or someone might have a way of introducing themselves with "LÃ³egaire-- that's L-accented-O etc", for characterization and half for comedy, or it might get a bit more attention to highlight how cultural contrasts, history, or uneducated folks show up in complicating spellings.

(Or for some formal worlds: "LÃ³egaire-- my card.")

I think the issue is more the other way around:



H. Y. Hill said:


> IMO, it should be spelled how the character thinks the pronunciation is spelt. ...
> 
> "Lo-gherr(?)"



In a written story, what readers want is how to pronounce things. And the odder a name is to them, the closer its pronunciation comes to deserving a slot early on in that "Sex, age, size, hair, etc" checklist that brings a character to life. I guess the same logic applies to fitting it in: people might stop to show people how it sounds if the character bothers or it's comedy, or culture makes it harder, and it's most likely when someone tries to pronounce a name they've just read.

(J.K. Rawling had so many fans asking her about "Hermy-One" that she wrote in a heavy-accent character (minor character, no accent overload) that said "Her-my-knee.")


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## Anders Ã„mting (Jan 6, 2013)

saellys said:


> I recall that one _Avengers_ issue where Spider-man asked Thor to spell MjÃ¶llnir and the next frame was a speech bubble full of runes.



Slightly off topic, but I liked that in the Thor movie, Stellan SkarsgÃ¥rd actually pronounced the Ã–, even though nobody else did.


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## Addison (Jan 6, 2013)

I think, instead of spelling it like that (especially if it has an accent) you should spell it out like the character is saying each syllable.


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## psychotick (Jan 7, 2013)

Hi,

I've never written this scene, but my thought would be that characters wouldn't ask you're MC to spell his name, unless of course they're writing it down for some reason, but rather they'd want to know how to pronounce it - much as your readers would since they can already see how its spelled. So go to syllables that are other commonly accepted words, and hope that they can't be misconstrued.

Cheers, Greg.


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## Xaysai (Jan 7, 2013)

I'm so lazy I just pronounce difficult words in my head however. Sometimes I get to the end of a book and and realize that a character I just read for 400 pages actually has two letters in their name that I haven't been pronouncing...

*derp*

On a slightly related note: Kevin Hearne has a sword in the Iron Druid Chronicles named "Fragarach" and I can't help but read it as "Fraggle Rock". I'm dating myself, I know...


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## Ireth (Jan 7, 2013)

H. Y. Hill said:


> In that case, he even know how to spell his name properly in English? He's more used to a different alphabet. IMO, it should be spelled how the character thinks the pronunciation is spelt. (Also, English spelling has almost no accents)
> 
> "Lo-gherr(?)"



Well, he'd know how to write his name in Ogham or whatever alphabet is used, so (I think) it's just a matter of transliterating it into the English alphabet letter by letter. He wouldn't Anglicize the spelling at all. Having him sign his name (or write a whole letter) in Ogham would be funny, but it would defeat the purpose, since at that point she has no one around to translate it for her (she's in prison, and she's not supposed to be receiving letters [it was sneaked into her cell], so she can't even ask her guards to translate it. Assuming, of course, that they speak Gaelic and not Welsh.)



wordwalker said:


> Except, in a written story spelling gets a bit surreal-- it's only something characters need when writing a message comes up anyway, and the oddness of spelling what the reader's already reading means it may be cleaner to flat out skip it. Or someone might have a way of introducing themselves with "LÃ³egaire-- that's L-accented-O etc", for characterization and half for comedy, or it might get a bit more attention to highlight how cultural contrasts, history, or uneducated folks show up in complicating spellings.
> 
> (Or for some formal worlds: "LÃ³egaire-- my card.")
> 
> ...



Well, the heroine already knows how his name is pronounced when she first meets him and he introduces himself, but she doesn't get the spelling until a few days later, when he writes her a letter. She comments in her thoughts that his name looks nothing like how she thought it'd be spelled, judging by the pronunciation he gave her when they first met, though she knows Gaelic is a tricky language to figure out for a non-speaker.



Addison said:


> I think, instead of spelling it like that (especially if it has an accent) you should spell it out like the character is saying each syllable.



I could, but the thing is, with the silent letters and everything I'm not sure where to divide the syllables. ^^;



psychotick said:


> Hi,
> 
> I've never written this scene, but my thought would be that characters wouldn't ask you're MC to spell his name, unless of course they're writing it down for some reason, but rather they'd want to know how to pronounce it - much as your readers would since they can already see how its spelled. So go to syllables that are other commonly accepted words, and hope that they can't be misconstrued.
> 
> Cheers, Greg.



See my responses to wordwalker and Addison. ^^;


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## Androxine Vortex (Jan 9, 2013)

I have a similar problem and hopefully I could get some help (pardon me for hijacking)

I needed to make a name for a very powerful demonic character. I was going through some old notes and stuff and found a character I made a long time ago called Nexverxe. Now it's pronounced Nex verse but now looking at it X doesn't make an S sound. But any way I try to spell it I don't like the way it looks. I was thinking Nexverse but idk it just doesn't feel the same you know? I want toLeave it with the second X but I don't want the reader to pronounce it wrong. Maybe Nexverxse?


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## Ireth (Jan 9, 2013)

Androxine Vortex said:


> I have a similar problem and hopefully I could get some help (pardon me for hijacking)
> 
> I needed to make a name for a very powerful demonic character. I was going through some old notes and stuff and found a character I made a long time ago called Nexverxe. Now it's pronounced Nex verse but now looking at it X doesn't make an S sound. But any way I try to spell it I don't like the way it looks. I was thinking Nexverse but idk it just doesn't feel the same you know? I want toLeave it with the second X but I don't want the reader to pronounce it wrong. Maybe Nexverxse?



I prefer Nexverse, personally; Nexverxse just looks awkward and redundant, since the X already contains an S sound.


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## Androxine Vortex (Jan 9, 2013)

I also have another character named Stygash. His name is pronounced stig esh. I don't want people to look at it and think it's st I gash. I have a hard time writing down my names and matching it to how it sounds. do you think that name needs work?

I'm thinking of adding a list of names at the beginning of the novel with their correct pronunciation. I don't have anyridiculous names like Eolaeyandriin or weird stuff like that but I would like my reader to be able to correctly say my names. Do you think that's a good idea?


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## Ireth (Jan 9, 2013)

At first glance I thought the name was pronounced with a long I as well. I guess that's the trouble with the letter y. ^^; I'm not sure what to suggest as an alternative though.

A glossary of names does sound like a good idea. I've considered doing the same with my books.


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## Androxine Vortex (Jan 10, 2013)

The only alternative is Stigash and though I don't hate it I'm the type of person who makes something and then revises it but it kills me to change it because I know it's not the original if that makes sense.
Do you think a publishing company would have a problem with having that sort of glossary? I mean I don't see how it would hurt your book but they might think it weird because I've only seen one series of books written that had a list of characters in the beginning.


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## wordwalker (Jan 10, 2013)

You could look for in-universe ways to do it. The first time the MC hears the name it's a bit mumbled and you write: 

_"Nams stiggash."
"Huh?"
"I said, the name's Stygash."
_

(This works better if the listener knows the language well enough that when he hears it clearly, "Stygash" is automatically how he sees it spelled.) Or, if friends abbreviate it often and it comes out "Stig" instead of "Stige," the point is made. Or some person (used to a different culture and accent) mispronounces it and needs correcting.

Games like this can be fun. As long as you only have one or two names you need to do this for.


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## Ireth (Jan 12, 2013)

Thinking about LÃ³egaire again, and his limited familiarity with the English alphabet... how effective would it be if I had him spell out his name using the names of the Ogham symbols?

"How do you spell your name, anyway?"
"Luis, Onn, Eadhadh, Gort, Ailm, Iodhadh, Ruis, Eadhadh." [hint: if you're confused, look at the capital letters.]
"...And in English, that means...?"


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