World Proposal | Pronunciation Convention

I noticed that there are inconsistencies with how people pronounce the landmarks of Wynn. I wanted to propose an optional convention for the community to use, to have consistency in how landmarks are pronounced.

I will be using ARPABET, X-SAMPA, and IPA side by side in this convention to avoid confusion. These are phonetic alphabets. Think typing out the way words sound without having to go -> "Hello Kaylee" "Heh low kay lee" and instead /H-EH.L-OW_K-EY.L-IY/. Consistency.

Wynn Vowels.

VOWEL | XSAMPA | ARPABET | IPA | EXAMPLE
A | { | AE | æ | bat, mat, sat
E | E | EH | ɛ | bet, wet, let
I | aI | AY | aɪ | bite, eye, my
O | oU | OW | oʊ | boat, soak, low
U | V | AH | ʌ | but, hut, mud
Y | I | IH | ɪ | bit, fit, win
AR | Ar\ | AA R | ɒɹ | bar, far, star
ER | er\ | EH R | eɹ | bear, stare, pair
IR | ir\ | IH R | iɹ | beer, leer, steer
OR | Or\ | AO R | ɔɹ | pour, lore, four
UR | @` | ER | ə˞ | bird, nerd, stern

Using the above convention, I will spell the pronunciation of each city below. I'm only going to use ARPABET because of readability for english speakers. I will always include a word equivalent if possible for those who are still having a hard time grasping phonetic alphabets.

Wynn: /W-IH-N/ -> "Win"
Ragni: /R-AE-G.N-AY/ -> "Rag, Ni[ne]" (nine without the ne)
Detlas: /D-EH-T.L-AE-S/ -> "Det Las[t]" (don't pronounce be on debt if you normally do, and last no t)
Nemract: /N-EH-M.R-AE-K-T/ -> "Ne[t]m rack[e]t" (skip the t in net, skip the e in racket)
Almuj: /AE-L.M.OW.ZH/ -> "A[pp]l[e] mow [plea]s[ure]" (a and l in apple, mow the lawn, z in pleasure)
Nesaak: /N-EH-S.AE-K/ -> "Nes[t] ak" (Nest without t, ask without s)
Troms: /T-R-OW-M-Z/ -> "Tro[jan] m[ar]s" (trow in torjan, m and z in mars)
Katoa Ranch: /K-AE.T-OW-AH/ -> "Cat toe u[t]" (u in but, an exception because the end of the word.)
Ternaves: /T-EH-R.N-AE.V-EH-S/ -> "tare na[vigate] ves[t]" (na in navigate, vest no t)
Maltic: /M-AE-L.T-AY-K/ -> "Ma[t] l[eft] tie c[at]" (mat no t, l in left, k/c sound)
Elkurn: /EH-L.K-ER-N/ -> "[sp]el[t] kern[el]" (el in spelt, kern in kernel (like popcorn kernel)
Bremminglar: /B-R-EH.M-AY-N.G-L-AA-R/ "bre[ad] mine gl[are] ar[t]" (bre in bred, gl like glint, art no t)
Rymek: /R-IH.M-EH-K/ -> "Rim [sp]eck" (eck in speck)
Lusuco: /L-AH-S.AH.K-OW/ -> "lo[ve] suck oh [my]" (lo in love, oh like oh my)

Selchar: /S-EH-L.CH-AA-R/ -> "Sell char[t]" (chart no t)
Durum Isles: /D-ER.R-AH-M/ -> "Dir[t] rum" (dirt no t, rum like the pirate drink)
Zhight Island: /Z-AY-T/ -> "zight" (sight but with a z)
Nodguj: /N-OW-D.G-AH-ZH/ -> "node gu[sh] [plea]s[ure]" (gush no sh, z in pleasure}
Dujgon: /D-AH-ZH-OW-N/ -> "do[ne] zhown" (duh in done, shown but z in pleasure)
Skiens Island: /S-K-AY.-EH-N-Z/ -> "Sky en[d]s" (ends but no d. enz)
Maro Peaks: /M-AE-R-OW/ -> "Ma[t] row" (mat no t, row like row your boat)
Jofash Docks: /J-OW.F-AE-SH/ -> "joe f[h]ash[brown]" (hashbrown, but only hash, and f instead of h)

Gavel: /G-AE.V-EH-L/ -> "Ga v[f]el[t]" (gah in gas, felt but v not f, no t. so vel)
Llevigar: /L-EH.V-AY.G-AA-R/ -> "Lev[er] eye gar[net]" (lever no er, garnet like gem no net)
Karoc Quarry: /K-AE.R-OW-K/ -> "Ca[t] row c[at]" (cat no t, row like the fish egg, k/c sound)
Olux: /OW.L-AH-K-S/ -> "Ow[n] Lucks" (own no n)
Gelibord: /G-EH-L.AY-B-AO-R-D/ -> "Gel[t] eye board" (belt but g no t, gel)
Efilim: /EH.F-AY.L-AY-M/ -> "EF eye li[ght] m[at]" (ef, eye, laim)
Lexdale: /L-EH-X.D-AE-L/ -> "lex dal[las]" (dallas, but only dal)
Cinfras: /S-AY-N.F-R-AE-S/ -> "sign fra[ck] [fa]st" (frack no ck, fast only st sound.)
Aldorei: /AE-L.D-AO-R.EY/ -> "a[tt]l[e] door ei[ght]" (al, sattle just a and l, eight only ey)
Thanos: /TH-AE.N-OW-Z/ -> "Th[e] a[t] knows" (th sound, a in at, nowz)
Ozoth's Spire: /OW.Z-OW-TH-S/ -> "Ow[n] zo[ne] ths" (own no n, zone no ne, this but ths)
Thesead: /TH-EH.S-EY-D/ -> "Th[ere] say d[o]" (th sound, say, d sound)
Eltom: /EH-L.T-OW-M/ -> "el[ementary] tome" (el sound, tome as in book)
Rodoroc: /R-OW.D-AO-R.OW-K/ -> "row door oak"
Maex: /M-EY-X/ -> "makes"
Ahmsord: /AE-M.Z-AO-R-D/ -> "a[t] zore d" (a in bat, sore with z, d sound)
Kandon-Beda: /K-AE-N.D-OW-N_B-EH-D-AH/ -> "ca[t] do[te] n bed u[t]"(cat no t, dote no te, u in but)

Corkus: /K-AO-R.K-AH-S/ -> "cork us"
Avos Territory: /AE-V-OW-S/ -> "a[t] v owe s" (a in at, v sound, owe, s sound)
Relos: /R-EH.L-OW-Z/ -> "re[d] low z" (red no d, low, z sound)

I know a lot of these pronunciation might be the way you currently say it, it might also be very strange to get used to. The point here is to set a single sound to each vowel and stick to it. This convention can be used on NPC names, Town names, or anything in Wynn.

Please note this is just an optional convention. I would love for the whole server to adopt this, but this is unlikely. especially since there are some pronunciations here people wouldn't ever assume them to be pronounced as.

Anyway! Thank you so much for reading my suggestion!

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Sorry for the formating issue. It seems my many - were converted to strike through! OH NO!

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Also, please note that . in a phonetic string means syllabic break. just the syllables.

 

uhhh i didnt read the whole thing but seems good

ragni should be pronounced rag ni (as in nii rune) tho sounds better

 

I agree that /R-AE-G.N-IY/ "Rag knee" sounds better, but I took the sacrifice because if you were to pronounce all i's like /IY/ "ee" the other towns would sound awful. LOLOL. A lot of older languages didn't have the concept of vowels having more than 1 sound, so that's kinda where the consistency and inspiration for 1 sound per vowel, came from.

 

Like for effort, as this is really cool. I probably won’t get full consistency in using this convention because I’m so used to saying these names how I usually do… but it’s a very interesting concept and I appreciate the effort you put in to this.

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It might be interesting if there was a special convention for Ancient Wynnic, which would have the same sound at all times for a vowel, while the common tongue used currently might be interchangeable with how you pronounce a vowel.

 

Thank you! I tend to obsess over consistency and constantly make amendments to the way I say certain words. LOL, it's a ocd thing for me ig. a hobby if you will. LOL, I'm glad that it interested you. :D But yeah, it's 100% optional, and I totally get the pain of changing the way you've gotten so used to pronouncing things. LOLOL Thanks for the like!

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That is a neat idea! I'll try to play around with that concept!

 

Some of these are wrong, like Cinfras (sounds like Sin), Skien (sounds Skii), Rodoroc, Efilim, Bemminglar, Lexdale, etc

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I do not think a pronunciation guide is needed for town names or NPC names. Most people pronounce them right, and even if they don't it doesn't really matter. Also there's cases like Lutho where both Lu-Tho and Luuh-to are correct, with Lu-Tho being the conventional pronunciation and the one used for the city, but Luuh-to being the actual word the city is derived from (akulutho, or just lutho)

 

Yeah, some don't sound like most people pronounce it, but the point of this post is to have all the vowels sound the same, to achieve consistency in pronunciation. At least, that's how I took it.

 

I think it's important to note that saying some of these are "wrong" is inaccurate. Nowhere does it say how to pronounce these names. The ones you've listed might fall from the common pronunciation, but it still doesn't classify it as wrong. I'm striving for consistency. A proposal to push us towards a more consistent pronunciation. The idea is so there is never confusion later down the line when new towns drop. You can just use the same pronunciation guide. Think Japanese. Here is a counterargument.

First of all, why does Cin = Sin? Sure there are many accurances where this is true, but there are many where it's not. If Cin = Sin, then why does Sin = /S-AY-N/? There are many occurrences in English where Cin is not Sin. Icing where cin is /S-IH/ for example. You could even argue that cin = kin.

Skien is most definitely not Skiin. You can even have Google pronounce it. It's going to be /S-K-AY-N/ "sky n", please present to me an English word where ie is pronounced like /IY/ -> "ee".

All of this is down to our interpretation. With no pronunciation guide, you cannot claim any pronunciation as true. This is my way of pronouncing words in Wynn, by following a set of rules without exception.

 

Uhh... except you can ask us? It's not like these names just come into being, people on the team make them? Like, we come up with names with intended pronunciations, I'm not just coming out the blue as a player stating my opinion, I'm saying that some of these just aren't the intended pronunciation.

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It was intended to pronounced sin fras, as it is an anagram of Francis and thus has the same "si" sound.

rotisserie

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If you ask we could just tell you how new towns or characters are meant to be pronounced. Surrending our freedom in naming locations or people for "consistent pronunciation" is kind of silly

 

Uhh... except you can ask us? It's not like these names just come into being, people on the team make them? Like, we come up with names with intended pronunciations, I'm not just coming out the blue as a player stating my opinion, I'm saying that some of these just aren't the intended pronunciation.

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It was intended to pronounced sin fras, as it is an anagram of Francis and thus has the same "si" sound.

That's actually valid. I still prefer my way, but it being an anagram makes that understandable.


rotisserie

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that's a French loanword, but I'll stand corrected.

If you ask we could just tell you how new towns or characters are meant to be pronounced. Surrending our freedom in naming locations or people for "consistent pronunciation" is kind of silly[/QUOTE]

I'm confused by this. Are you part of the team? I also never claimed to surrender freedom in naming locations. This is purely optional and for the community alone. This has nothing to do with game content.

 

Yes. I am. I have a little "Builder" plaque next to my rank, which you can see. I do building, modelling, and come up with a lot of mobs-- most notably those used in the new lootrunning system.

 

Ohh! My apologies, I don't use forums often so I assumed it was cosmetic. Like, you were saying you're just a builder in general / building your house on the server.

That's cool!

I again want to reiterate that this is just am optional community convention proposal. Nothing about this is supposed to set any hard rules for future content. Just constant pronunciation. When I said future towns, I just mean, we would automatically have a way to read it. Not that you guys should make it that pronunciation.

 

...games are made by nerds

 

Agreed!

Anyways I'm going to go visit Knee-Suck now I haven't been to that snowy town in awhile

 

erm ackshually the correct pronunciation of nesaak is knee-sack, as evident by a random joke by a craftsmas cracker

 

Orthography does not have to correspond to pronunciation exactly.

Also,

No? Most town names sound wrong with /aɪ/ instead of /i/ or /ɪ/
In fact this would be slightly better if you swapped "i" and "y"

 

they might be including the "i" in the words "isles" or "island"

 

the only place name that "i" is normally /aɪ/ in the supplied list is "Zhight" lol

 

i really don't think we need definitive pronunciations in the game itself when it doesnt really matter how you pronounce any of the town names

it also leads to people going "ermmm ackshually youre pronouncing it wrong" which is already a thing with wybels and it's annoying

 

(Joke but I just can't stop subconsciously pronouncing it as Knee-Suck/Nii-Sahk, just like Wybel canonically being called Wibble)