Curious how words (and names) in the various languages are pronounced? Check out this guide for an in-depth description of the pronunciations.
The Northern Language
Vowels
Most vowels on their own make the “short” version of the vowel sound in English, but not all.
- A – “ah” as in “tall”
- E – “eh” as in “bet”
- I – “i” as in “give.” Exception: when a word ends in an “i,” it makes an “ee” sound as in “tree”
- O – “oh” as in “cove”
- U – “uh” as in “cup”
Combined Vowels
- AE – “ay” as in “hay”
- AI or IE – “aye” as in “fire”
- AU – “ow” as in “cow”
- OU – “oo” as in “group”
Pajairi
Vowels
All vowels in the Pajairi language make the sound, no matter where they appear in the word or whether they have vowels around them. Multiple vowels in a row are all individually pronounced. Double vowels are pronounced by simply prolonging the sound. Eg. “bato” (ba-toh) means “to ask.” The past tense (asked) is “batoo” (ba-tooooh).
- A – “ah” as in “tall”
- E – “eh” as in “bet”
- I – “ee” as in “tree”
- O – “oh” as in “cove”
- U – “oo” as in “troop”
Stressed Syllables
Most often, the first syllable is stressed. (Noh-kah and Kar-i). However, longer words typically have the second syllable stressed.
Examples
Soa Ditura – Meaning “Sun Voyage.” Pronounced: Soh-ah Dee-too-rah
Pajairotika – Pah-jah-ee-ro-tee-kah
Full Name Pronunciations
Names in the desert combine their human and keeper name into one work, unlike the rest of the world. The pronunciation reflects this in where the stress on the words is.
NokaMia – Instead of two words (Noh-kah Mi-ah), this name is pronounced Noh-kah-mi-ah
Nicole Aisling - Author 