: Re: Do hard to pronounce names break immersion? I have a character in my book named Jiolluav (with the correct accent, Zholl-you-of or /ʒōl-'yoo-äv/), and I've written my entire "novel" (it's a

@Bryan361

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I’m only going to give my view as a foreign English reader.

It doesn’t matter, I’ve found out I mispronounced Elminster, Hermione and half of the names on the Lord of the rings mythology. It didn’t break immersion cause I would just pronounce the names (in my mind) as it would fit me and hence it will always sound natural (to me).

An unknown reader will not know better so he’ll make up the pronunciation as he sees fit and carry on with it. The word itself will evoke the made up image of the character in the reader’s mind and they will become linked disregarding how you intended the name to be pronounced.

Your friend has troubles because you tried to force him into a given pronunciation when he had already decided on something else. That’s what breaks immersion.

Pronunciation guide, for me at least, is counterproductive, reader is interested on the story, not in a linguistic class.

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