148 replies to this topic

[Lord Mord]

I now say the Dargon House name thus: "tar-GAR-ee-uhn"

But I used to pronounce it: "tar-geh-RYE-uhn," which I still kind of like.

[Sandor's Lady]

TempestBrewer, on Jan 11 2009, 20.52, said:

The only thing I remember is that I heard that GRRM pronounces it tar-gar-ee-een.  Weird.

Aw, man!  Tar-gar-ee-en sounds too "normal" - now I'm sad.  Tar-gar-yen sounds more like "ooh, these wierd mystical dragon riders" IMO  :thumbsdown:   I always assume if it was supposed to be 4 sylables like that, he would have spelled it more like he spells Dondarion - Targarion or Targarien.  Oh, well, just shows what I know...

[Middlejon]

I'm never sure when it comes to pronuncations but for what it's worth I say:

Tyrion = Ty - ron (but I think it should be Ty - ree - on or Ty - ren.)
Daenerys = Dan - are - rys (although looking at it, it looks like it could be Day - ner - reece.)
Viserys = Vis - er - rys
Targaryen = TAR - ga - (ye)n - it's sort of difficult to get that phoneme without using the phonetic alphabet

Then again, when I'm not concentrating I pronounce Targaryen "Tarragen" which makes them sound like a herb :P

[Emo Targaryen]

OK, it's no perfect IPA, but close enough:

Petyr = /'pet(i)r/ with only the slightest hint of an i between t and r.
Baelish = /'beili$/
Danaerys = /de(i)'neris/; the unstressed /ei/ tending to /e/
Viserys = /vi'seris/ so his name rhymes with his sister's
Targaryen = /tar.'ga:r.jen/, three syllables
Catelyn = /'kætlin/, like Catheryne
Tyrion = /'tai.ri.en/, three syllables
Qhorin = /k(h)o:rin/, with the k aspirated and spoken rather deep in the throat
Aegon = /'eigen/; Aemon = /'eimen/. Actually, I don't find it that unlikely that /eig/ might become /eg/ (Egg). Just think about Catheryne (/'cæþ.../) becoming Kate (/keit/).
Jaime... well, "word of god" says it's /d$eimi/, but my first impulse was to pronounce it the spanish way and make him /(x)aime/ (not entirely sure how to pronounce a spanish j, though. Somewhere between /h/ and /x/, I suppose)

[Ocean of Notions]

I've been very curious about the treatment of diphthongs.  I suppose the ae can be pronounced long i, a or e.  I'm going to go with either the first or last or Aenys would be pronounced... you know...  For the most part, I've been pronouncing it like a long i (which, I think is the proper Latin way), but I haven't encountered many other people who do the same.  But for some odd reason, I still pronounce Baelish "bay-lish" instead of "bye-lish".  I suppose I'm just inconsistent.

As for Danaerys, I've been pronouncing it "dan-air-iss" with equal emphasis on the syllables.  And Targaryen "tar-gar-eean", also equal emphasis.

[The Valonqar]

Targaryen: I originally pronounced this like TAR-JAR-YEN but now my brother's got me into saying TAR-GARRY-EN and i really love this particular pronunciation. Despite this, i think GRRM meant for it to be pronounced TAR-GAR-I-EN or TAR-GAR-YEN.

Daenerys: for me it's DAY-NER-IS (more like day-nerris)

Tyrion: there is only one way to pronounce tyrion and its TI-RI-YON

Cersei: ...KER-SI...

Catelyn: i go for the normal CATE-LIN but i can empathise with those who say CAT-E-LIN.

Brienne: is BREE-EN......bry-EN is just ridiculous.

Anyway , thats my take on their names....

[dancer]

Seems like I am wrong, I always pronounced (in my head)


Jaime as Jay-M
Daenerys as Day-En-Eriss
Cersei as Sir-Sy
Targaryen as Tar Gar Yen
Qhorin as Kwor-In

[Rinso]

Off the top of my head...

Jaime - Jay-Me
Tywin - Tee-Vin
Cersei - Sir-Say
Tyrion - Tee-ree-on

Targaryen - Tar-gAr-ean
Daenerys - Day-Ner-Is

[Wee Vulcan]

What about these instructions: http://awoiaf.wester...iation_of_names?

[The Anti-Targ]

With the ae thing I read some time ago GRRM answering someone who asked about the pronunciation of maester. He said to pronounce ae as ay, like may and hay. So I've applied that pronunciation to all other instances of ae in names. I figured GRRM would use different spelling if he wanted a different pronunciation, so Aemon = ay-mon, Aegon = ay-gone.

I've never seen a V sound for Tywin before. It has always been tie-win for me. But always t(i)-reeon for Tyrion, but it could  be tire-ion too.

Jaime has always been Jaym for me. I'm a bit bummed that it should be Jamie, Jamie sound like a kids name to me. Jayme is a bit more unsusual.

[The hairy bear]

The Anti-Targ, on May 8 2009, 14.10, said:

With the ae thing I read some time ago GRRM answering someone who asked about the pronunciation of maester. He said to pronounce ae as ay, like may and hay. So I've applied that pronunciation to all other instances of ae in names. I figured GRRM would use different spelling if he wanted a different pronunciation, so Aemon = ay-mon, Aegon = ay-gone.

The "ae" in the Valyrian names is not pronounced as the "ae" in Maester, as the readings by GRRM prove. Different languagues, different pronunciations.

The Valyrian "ae" should be pronunced as a single vowel, between "a" and "e". That's why the nicknames of Daenerys and Aegon are "Dany" and "Egg" respectively.

[QueenArya]

Hmm, I always pronounce Daenerys as DAY - ner - eez, Targaryen as tar - GAR - ee -enn, Tyrion as TIRR - ee - on, Cersei sir-SAY or sir-SIGH...in the targaryen names like Rhaenys, Viserys etc I always pronounce the "ys" as "eez"..VIZ-er-eez, RAY-neez and so on.  :dunno:

[mdsb]

A pronunciation key would be ok.
Though I am not sure if enough readers would use it.

[Restless]

Cersei - Ker-si?!
Sir-say or Tzer-say sounds way better and more exotic... ;)

[Master Cilander]

I say Den Air-Eez when speaking Dany's name.

I say Tie Ree On for Tyrion but it might be Tier ee on.

I say Eye Mon and Eye Gon for Aemon and Aegon but I could see Emmon and Eggon too.

[KyleLitke]

I swear GRRM actually said it was pronounced "Day-ehn-air-ihs" or something like that. Because I always pronounced it "Dayn-air-ihs", and then I read the responses to letters on Westeros.org and since then have been pronouncing it the other way. I don't honestly remember if he said it but I didn't think I would have started saying it differently otherwise.

There were a couple weird ones. I seem to remember him writing that Sansa was "Saun-suh" which was odd to me. Don't remember all of them though.

[Cold Pie]

KyleLitke, on Oct 15 2009, 08.00, said:

I swear GRRM actually said it was pronounced "Day-ehn-air-ihs" or something like that. Because I always pronounced it "Dayn-air-ihs", and then I read the responses to letters on Westeros.org and since then have been pronouncing it the other way. I don't honestly remember if he said it but I didn't think I would have started saying it differently otherwise.

Maby it's just my brain playing tricks with me but doesn't the "Day-ehn-air-his" (the bold) part pronounce Diana? Like princess Diana?  Could be one of GRRMs references. Depends of how you pronounce "Day" though. Like the word "day" or the word "die"?

[Nehet]

For what it's worth, this is how he pronounced the names while reading a chapter from ADwD and answering general questions afterwards at the Fargo Valley Con:

Danaerys Targaryen: Dan-AIR-is Tar-GARY-in

Tywin: TIE-win

Tyrion: TEAR-eeon (TIER-ee-on is another way to spell the sounds, I suppose)

Cersei: SIR-say

Jaime: JAY-mee

However, I doubt that he'd be bothered with any of the various pronunciations that folks have so I'd say to go with what works for you ;-)

[mdsb]

Isohoo, on May 8 2009, 04.24, said:

What about these instructions: http://awoiaf.wester...iation_of_names?

Those pronunciations I take to be from the site's maker/makers, not from George Martin.

[McCloskey]

With the pilot being filmed and presumably many of the character and House names spoken we should get an idea of how they are pronounces. Not sure if it will count as canon but GRRM has seen the filming and approves thus far.