#subterfugeverse worldbuilding

[chaoticspacefam]

Subterfugeverse Name Pronunciations

Jumping on the name pronunciation bandwagon cause I’ve seen a couple of my mutuals doing this *fingerguns* and I realised that even though I included it on the fancy bio page (yes, I’m still working on it I haven’t forgotten, I just need more screenshots/pictures and time to write out all the detailed lore schtuff) I forgot to put it on the mobile Masterpost. So I’ll be popping this link onto there now too for everyone’s perusal :’D LONG POST AHEAD

So, the only ones I ever really used specific “grammar” rules for were the tomato family (+ Aria because her name is actually rooted in High Sith), all the others are just pronounced as we would normally use the syllables in English.

I haven’t got any OCs rn who would have used Common Sith, they’re all Highborn Nobility Brats 🤣 so High Sith it is pshshsuysgd

I used the canonical information we’re given on the pronunciation of the vowels, I ignored absolutely everything else about it bc if you scroll down and read the bit at the bottom of “Behind the Scenes” it’s clear that the phonetics are a hot dumpster fire so it’s basically free real estate* *a.k.a. I used my (admittedly limited) MFL knowledge of pronunciation in Afrikaans and German to make “educated guesses” on what seemed to flow best with the vowel sounds so pls don’t come for me and be gentle, I’m trying to make them sound ✨pretty✨ while still being as lore-accurate as is possible mmmhmm

Ok good, without further ado then~

The Ahaszaai - High Sith

“Ahaszaai” itself is pronounced “ahh-zzy-aye” (with a very quick “flow” and little pause between the first and second syllables, but more stress on the final syllable, as in “buy”). Phonics-wise, I could have spelt it “Aszai” and kept the pronounciation the same per the messy “rules” given by canon, but I think “Ahaszaai” reads a lot nicer, don’t you? :D

Saarai

“szah-rye”

“S” is more of a “Z” sound in both Afrikaans and German so it made most sense to me, to say the same would be true in High Sith given the “hardness” of the vowels. It flows together better. As with her family name, the end of Rai’s name is stressed on the last syllable (as in “buy”) as well. Named both for the High Sith word, meaning “Truth”, and chosen by her father due to the similarity with her late grandmother, Saa’thri (”szah-th-ree”), as a way to honour her memory.

Ni’kasi

“nee-kah-zhee” ETA: after some time and a lot of research, I’ve discovered that Kas’s name  DOES in fact have a meaning in High Sith, it means “Divine Warpath” (yeah, D’leah went hard with her kids’ names sjkgdjkgd). Again, as is true with a lot of Sith words, all long vowel sounds here. Ni’kasi’s name tends to sound a lot more “elegant” than her twin’s, as the  “s” in her name is softened by the surrounding vowel sounds, whereas Saarai’s is a lot harder as it preceeds the vowels ;)

Kissai 

“kee-sz-igh” Named after the Priest caste of old (by the same name), for his more serene personality. This is somewhat ironic, as topping out at near 7 feet tall it’s almost certain that he had Massassi (Warrior caste) blood in his line and was unlikely to have been related to any Kissai-caste Sith at all.

D’leahane | D’leah*

*whose name breaks nearly every “rule” but she’s the token red herring don’t mind her lmaooo

“Duh-leh-nuh”, the second “a” in her name being a silent letter that isn’t enunciated with the others | “Duh-leh”

Abaron

“ah-bah-ron”

Not much to add about this one! Basically what it says on the tin!

Tyûk

“tee-uck”

From the High Sith word meaning “Strength”, Saarai wanted to give him a “strong” name in the hopes that it might bring him better fortunes in his life. For so long, part of me wanted to break the “rules” here and pronounce it as “tee-yook” because it would have sounded equally plausible, but if I’m gonna treat the other circumflexed letters as short vowels like they’re supposed to be then the same thing has to apply to Ty’s name. 🤣

Shakkai | Sha

“zzh-haah-kye”  | Zs-hah

Same as her sisters, “s” makes a “z” sound, for her “full” name the vowel sound is quite drawn out, but for the shortened/nickname version both the beginning syllable and the vowel sound are shorter and less stressed.

Her name doesn’t have a particular meaning, I just liked the way it sounded. There’s a word on the known vocab list (without a translation), “Shokkai”, I typo’d an “a” instead of an “o” - I already have a “Sho”, so I’d decided her nickname would be “Sha” instead so I wouldn’t get confused - when I did her first Character Sheet but actually liked how it sounded so I kept it hahaha

*fun fact, I nearly named her Shâsot which means “passion” but it just didn’t sound “right” as a name, so I went with Shakkai instead.

Paalea Izreni | Paa

“Paah-lee-uh ees-ren-ee” | “Paa” is literally just like the first syllable of her full name

Just like “s” makes a “z” sound, “z” makes an “s” sound. She gets to go here because she’s Kissai’s half-sister and therefore through marriage is part of the Ahaszaai family, even if she still uses their family’s “maiden” name and not the Ahaszaai name herself.

Again, it doesn’t mean anything in particular, it just sounded pretty *shrugs*

Non-Ahaszaai High Sith Names

Other characters who were named with the High Sith language, though they don’t belong to the Ahaszaai bloodline.

Aria

“Ah-ree-ah”, all long vowel sounds for her, no short “uh” ‘s here, vowel sounds in Sith are loooonggg (unless you’re D’leah because she said “fuck you Elven this is my name we’re keeping it” XD) , which means absolutely no “arrie-uh” either, please, you’ll upset her.

“But Elven “arrie-uh” is a real name and that’s how we would pronounce it!” Well, yes, except that Aria’s father actually named her for the High Sith word “Ari” (ah-ree), which means “Lord”, and not our version of the name and therefore, she uses the “Sith pronunciation” :’D

Chwûq

“Chuh-wuck” One of Aria’s Tuk’ata, named by her father Roan when he earned their trust, Chwûq’s name means “Embers” and was chosen for the glowing appearance of her eyes. All short, quite heavily stressed syllables for her name.

Taral

“tah-raah-ll” Aria’s second Tuk’ata and Chwûq’s mate. From the High Sith word meaning “He who protects”, for his loyalty to his mate, Roan and Aria.

Kahri

“Kh-haah-ree” Ni’kasi’s pet miniature sleen, named for the High Sith word meaning “Fang” (yes, she gave her lizard the lame typical “dog” name, but it sounds so much cooler in High Sith! 😂). The first syllable is heavily stressed, as if with a catch in your throat.

Naalush Zuzuul | Alu

“naah-loosh soo-zool”, as with Aria, the first syllable of his nickname is drawn out, like “ahh-loo”, not a single-syllable, “alloo” as it would be in English.

Tsâhis Zuzuul

“saah-hees soo-zool”

Pretty standard pronunciations, neither of their names mean anything, I just put together some Sith phonics and they came out pretty neato! ^^ Using the same logic from the “s” sound, I’m assuming “z” and “ts” can both function as a phonetic “ss”, the second “z” in their last name is a little more stressed and closer to an English “z” - it just sounds less weird that way ok guys? Good. ^^

Others - Elven Is Too Lazy to Separate The Rest By Species

Vano Shenly | Va

“Vah-noh shen-lee” | “Vaah” (in her full name the syllable is quite short, but for the shortened version that Aria, Merak and Vette use as her nickname, the “a” sound is a little more drawn out ;)

Merak Shenly

“murr-ack shen-lee”, pretty much how it’s spelt again. His and Vano’s are by far the easiest ones to not get “wrong” pfpfpf

Zi’verikreen | Ziri/Zee

“Zee-veh-ree”, “kreen” is pronounced pretty much as spelt. “Ziv’eri” is a Twi’leki word meaning “scorching”, for her fiery personality. I couldn’t find any solid fanon on Twi’leki phonetics/pronunciation (*cough* and I fell down the spiky tomato rabbithole and started to obsess over them instead*coughcough*) so I kind of used my best judgement here, other than Saarai, hers is one of my favourite names to say. It’s just so ✨pretty✨. Zee is pronounced as spelt, but Ziri is more drawn out, too, like “zee-ree”, though Ziri is far less “fussy” about pronunciation and will answer to “zir-ee” too, she doesn’t really care too much as long as you’re not cussing her out.

Roanan Saal | Roan

“roh-nahn” “s-aah-l” (short first and last syllable, long middle syllable) | “roh-ahn” (like “rowan”, but with a longer last syllable!)

Myala Thulie | Myla

“mee-ahr-luh thoo-lee” | “mee-luh”

mee, not my or mai for this lady! I have no elaborate explanation for this one, I just thought it sounded prettier this way

Qanarr Thimu | Qan

“Kwan-arr thim-oo” | “Kwan”

first “a” sound is somewhat stressed, as in “band” and “stand”, rest I think is self-explanatory. Again, no canon material on Catharese pronunciation so I did my own thing :3

That should cover all the mains I’m pretty sure?? If I’ve missed anyone give me a shout. How many did you have “correct” from what you thought, let me know in the tags or replies, I’m curious! :’DD