Pronunciation Guide

Languages in Shadows of the Vale

While the main characters of the Shadows of the Vale series are Larik, the language they speak in the story—and the predominate language in Tellyr—is Vyrian. Because the Vyrians represented such an important centre of trade and knowledge during the height of their Empire, the other countries of Tellyr adopted their tongue in order to better engage in trade. The Mokians assimilated the least of this language and mainly speak their own language still. The Turians are fluent in both Vyrian and Turian. The Lariks, on the other hand, are beginning to lose their native language as Vyrian become the language of preference.

As such, the maps for the story—which are made from a Larik point of view—represent a number of different languages. The names of things which predate the Vyrians typically retain their Larik name (such as Eddenran, meaning great river, and Estinlar, meaning second land), while many of the newer names bear a mix of Larik and Vyrian words. (For example, Great Stone (Vyrian), Elham (small settlement in Larik).)

Most of the names in Shadows of the Vale are simple to read, and are pronounced as you would expect. However, here are a few general rules of thumb and clarification on certain pronunciations:

Larik Pronunciations

Larik Language

The Larik language favours short vowels. Long vowels are rare, and follow common spelling, with the exception of "ea" which is almost always pronounced with as a short "e", like in "bed". Exceptions include "ar" (usually pronunce like "ar" in "park", except in Larik and Laranran where it is pronounced like "air" in "fair"), "or" (pronounced like in "for"), "ol" (as in "old"), and "er" (like in "her").

Names:

Ara (ARE uh)
Eddenhas (ed DIN hass) (rhymes with mass)
Eddenran (ed DIN ran)
Elsoddin (el SOD in)
Estinlar (ES tin lar)
Frostavin (FROS tav in)
Laranran (lair EN ran)
Larik(LAIR ik)
Merak (mer AK)
Nevenspire (NEV in spy er)
Vanstead (VAN sted)
Widderran (wih DER ran)

Turian Language

The Turian language _____. Here are a few rules of thumb for reading Turian:
-ai makes the long a sound

-i at the end of a word makes the long e sound

-single o makes the long o sound (unless paired with r, in which case it's pronounced or)

-singe e at the end of a syllable makes the long a sound

Names:

Ailo Nim (eye low NIM)
Ai Turi (EYE ter ee)
Anari (ah NAR ee)
Falmir (FALL meer)
Jarnel (jar NEL)
Jalen (JAY len)
Jevari (jeh VAR ee)
Melari (may LAR ee)
Mervidian (mer VID ee in)
Ornak (OR nak)
Oma’Turi (oh muh TER ee)
Pevendor (PEV en dor)
Tera Nim (tair uh NIM)
Tregarr (tray GAR)

Mokian Language

The Mokian language favours longer, more complex words. Here are a few rules of thumb for reading Mokian words:

-Double i (ii) makes the the long e sound.

-Single i makes the short i sound.

-Single e after a w (or at the end of a word) makes the long a sound.

-Single o makes the long o sound.

Aniiva (AW nee vuh)
Jakkenekevwe (ja ken no KEV way)
kweshiin (KWAY sheen)
Kwiijhan (KWEE _____)
Meshawa (may SHAW wuh)
Mokai (mo KIE)
Mokiwe (mo KEE way)
Ogiichim (oh GEE chim) (hard g)
Ogiishine (oh GEE she nay) (hard g)
pechawa (pay CHAW wuh)
Shiimu (SHE moo)
shinegwan (she NAY gwan)
winoshiin (wih NO sheen)

Mokian Pronunciations

Turian Pronunciations

Other Pronunciations

Other

For various reasons, there are some words in Shadows of the Vale that don't fall neatly into one of the previous categories. Pronunciations for those words can be found here.