Sibling pronounciations and hard words?

[Dankolisic]

In my book, since it is a distant planet, they speak in their own native language. For the purpose of storytelling, they talk in English/Croatian.
I didn't want to divert as much so they basically talk the same as we do, except for some local proverbs.
But they call their fathers, siblings and grandfathers differently.
Below I will list the Croatian word then their word for it and the English word with my foreseen interpretation(which is not yet final):
For e.g. Otac ( Father) they pronounce Oček ( Ferher?) - Oček is read Ochek, and Fehrer would be the English interpretation.
Example: When Aeliz came to the house, he saw his granfa hiding his fehreh's sword under the bed.
Brat (brother) - brot ( bratha)
Deda ( granpa ) - deden (granfa)
Bratić ( cousin ) - bratiček ( kauzeen )

Question 1: Do you think they should call their family members as we pronounce it or should I stick with my original plan?

Question 2: How hard should their language be?
I guess the more advanced nations could use words as topography, segregation etc.
But could they use the same words? In an example, when a teacher orders the company to take a run to Snowpeak and back, Banut(one of the protagonists) replies: Do I look like I know the geography of this place? - because nobody in the company knows which peak is Snowpeak.
Is the word too hard or too advanced for him to answer it like that, or is a minor thing I should not pay much attention?

Thank you for your time.

 

[pmmg]

Are you suggesting that you would provide the translation in parens as its used in the text? In that case, I vote no.

I have no issues with the words being used in the language you like, just needs be clear from the context what it means.


And in the second question, if someone says go to the top of snow peak, it would either have to be obvious, or commonly known, or the character should not know it.


In my own story, I have both these issues. The MC is not worldly and does not know much about anything. And everyone speaks a different language. And I have made up a lot of words. But...I do my best to keep it in context so its not confusing. If I was to have a snowpeak, my MC would either see only one that had snow on it, or they would have to ask which one was meant.

 

[skip.knox]

The usual approach is to introduce the word with some sort of explanation. After that, just keep using the "alien" word consistently, with maybe a reminder some way further. It's done all the time in SF and in fantasy.

 

[Dankolisic]

Are you suggesting that you would provide the translation in parens as its used in the text? In that case, I vote no.

I have no issues with the words being used in the language you like, just needs be clear from the context what it means.


And in the second question, if someone says go to the top of snow peak, it would either have to be obvious, or commonly known, or the character should not know it.


In my own story, I have both these issues. The MC is not worldly and does not know much about anything. And everyone speaks a different language. And I have made up a lot of words. But...I do my best to keep it in context so its not confusing. If I was to have a snowpeak, my MC would either see only one that had snow on it, or they would have to ask which one was meant.

No, no, I was thinking in the story they never reveal that for e.g. Aeliz's Granfa is actually his Grandfather, it just comes with the dialogue and I think the reader will guess it( more because the words are similar to the real words - father - fehrer or Otac - Oček)
Ok so the Snowpeak thing, the catch is that there are a lot of peaks around them, and because Banut is so disrespectful, they deliberatelly send them to the wrong peak, and the company suffers a penalty for not completing the task.

 

[Dankolisic]

The usual approach is to introduce the word with some sort of explanation. After that, just keep using the "alien" word consistently, with maybe a reminder some way further. It's done all the time in SF and in fantasy.

I was thinking about revealing it through dialogue.
For example, in the early dialogues:
"Averil: Don't you ever think about what happened to your fehrer?
Aeliz: Not really. I never met him, he dissapeared before I descended from Darkland. But I still feel funny when I see other fehrers rasining their younglings. Sometimes i do wonder, but as my granfa says, the truth is hidden deep in the valleys."

Do you think it is enough self-explanatory?

 

[pmmg]

Yes, that works. Some of those words are not so hard to infer.

 

[Dankolisic]

Yes, that works. Some of those words are not so hard to infer.

thank you for the feedback