-2

I'm currently reading the wonderful novel "Ancillary Justice" by Ann Leckie, and there's a political force who's name is "Radch" and everything that belongs to them is said to be "Radchaai", like "Radchaai ship". I wonder what is the correct pronunciation of these words? Particularly I have trouble deciding if "ch" is more like "k" or "tsh". I think it's "tsh" but am not sure since I've never met that letter combination before.

Even though someone might say that the described world and hence the name are fictional and may not correspond to the standard pronunciation rules for English language, I would claim the opposite is true since the book is written by an English-speaking american author in English language and is originally intended for the English-speaking audience. If not explicitly stated otherwise, invented words in fictional books must always correspond to the most standard pronunciation rules (i.e. not being exceptions) for the broad readers audience to properly converge on vocalization, especially taking all the marketing implications into account. So what I would appreciate is a statement from a native English speaker on how to properly pronounce this letter combination.

Glorfindel
  • 14,499
noncom
  • 149
  • As it is a science fiction novel, the correct spelling could be anything, mostly depending on how the Radch do pronounce it themselves. Even something completely unrelated to "normal" english pronunciation. – skymningen Apr 07 '16 at 08:22
  • 1
    Since the possessive or adjectival formation -aai is not an English formation, this question is not actually about English. The easiest English pronunciation of the odd word Radch is probably /rædʃ/, and hence /'rædʃaɪ/. – Andrew Leach Apr 07 '16 at 09:32
  • @skymningen please read my update – noncom Apr 07 '16 at 09:58
  • @AndrewLeach thank you for clarifying the pronounciation for me. Also, please read my update. – noncom Apr 07 '16 at 09:58
  • @noncom Peeving updates are generally frowned upon. I would advise rewriting the question, incorporating your points into it holistically (which will not inconvenience any answers at the moment). – Andrew Leach Apr 07 '16 at 10:04
  • 4
    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it is not about the English language (other than in an extremely peripheral way). – Edwin Ashworth Apr 07 '16 at 10:15
  • @AndrewLeach though I truly felt the resentment for the overengineered (as it seems to me) misunderstanding and the forced misleading concept that such words cannot be pronounced correctly or standardly, I agree that constructive approach is better. – noncom Apr 07 '16 at 10:19
  • @EdwinAshworth it is a direct question on pronounciation in English of a particular word (a proper name), written in English by a student learning English. – noncom Apr 07 '16 at 10:20
  • 3
    “Radchaai” is not in the English lexicon; it is only on-topic to ask for the accepted pronunciation of words in the English lexicon (and usually such questions would be closed for lack of research anyway). I've had a quick look on the internet; apparently, the 'accepted' (by the readers of the audiobooks) version is not even decided upon. – Edwin Ashworth Apr 07 '16 at 10:31
  • 1
    It's a mistake to assume "If not explicitly stated otherwise, invented words in fictional books must always correspond to the most standard pronounciation rule." Besides, even words that follow the rules perfectly can be ambiguous. Look at the confusion about the pronunciation of "drow." Does it rhyme with "cow" or "crow"? Neither pronunciation of "ow" is really more "regular" or "standard" than the other, as there are many common words in each category. – herisson Apr 07 '16 at 14:18
  • 1
    The question of how a native English speaker would pronounce an unfamiliar word is not off topic. Hard to answer, maybe. But there's a good question hiding in there. I've given it a shot. – MetaEd Apr 07 '16 at 21:03
  • 1
    The author has a description at annleckie.com/about/frequently-asked-questions – user662852 Jul 02 '20 at 19:24
  • Ancillary Justice is published (among other forms) as an audio book. Presumably that pronounces it properly! – GEdgar Nov 20 '20 at 01:35

1 Answers1

1

The writer is out of luck. A native English speaker will stumble. The letter combination “radchaai” is not merely a non-English word. It is actually an illegal combination of letters in English.

There is no sound corresponding to “aa” in English. There are a small number of words spelled with “aa”. Unfortunately they have varying pronunciations. They are either foreign imports or words with a syllable break between the two letters. The reader confronted with “aa” will pronounce it by analogy, the results depending on what known word with “aa” in it comes to mind. Some possibilities:

  • /ɑː/ as in aardvark, bazaar
  • /eɪ/ as in Baal (English pronunciation)
  • /əʔæ/ as in tetraacetate
  • /aʕa/ as in Baal (Hebrew pronunciation)

The combination “dch” is rare in English, but there the writer has a chance. English words containing “dch” are compounds (bedchamber, grandchild, godchild, woodchuck, headcheese, windchill). The reader will tend to see a compound and place a syllable break in the unfamiliar word after the “d”.

If the analogous word that comes to the reader’s mind is foreign sounding (such as Baal), another effect, which we might call “looks foreign”, will cause other parts of the word to pronounced differently also. Some people will read “rad” as /rɑd/ (instaed of /ræd/), and some people will divide “ai” into two syllables (as would be correct in many non-English languages).

There will also be disagreement over where to put stress, the results again depending on the analogy that comes to the mind of each reader. For example:

  • 'rad-chaai
  • rad-'chaai
  • 'rad-cha-ai
  • rad-cha-'a-i

If the author cares how this word is to be read by English speakers, it would have been helpful to either provide a pronunciation guide or use a conventional English spelling.

2020 Postscript

The question asked is how a native English speaker would pronounce the name. But a closely related question is how the inventor of the name, Ann Leckie, might have heard the name in her own mind.

The book itself offered no guidance, but after publication Ann posted a statement on the subject. The statement apologized for the difficulties that readers had with pronunciation, and offered guidance.

Her “r” is “like the sound of the letter R”. There is no one way to pronounce the letter “r”. But elsewhere she comments that “however you’re pronouncing things is probably right somewhere”, so she seems to mean the reader to pronounce “r” in whatever way is natural.

Her “a” and “i” are like those of Romance languages – which is to say, like the “a” in “palm” or “bra”, and the “i” in “pizza” or “casino”. Her “ai” is two separate sounds: “a” followed by “i”, again as often seen in in Romance languages. Her “aa” is like “a” but longer.

And she hears this particular name with a stress on the first syllable. Taken all together, I guess the author might be hearing something like:

  • /'rad.tʃaːi/ (RAHD-chaah-ee)
MetaEd
  • 28,488
  • I don't understand why you say the *writer* is out of luck. I suspect she knew exactly what she was doing in using the "aa" combination of letters. – Peter Shor Apr 07 '16 at 20:59
  • Out of luck if the intent was to convey a particular pronunciation. I agree that the chosen spelling does convey a sense of the alien. – MetaEd Apr 07 '16 at 21:00
  • 1
    Regarding "aa," there was a similar question earlier: How to pronounce “aa” vowel pair? – herisson Apr 08 '16 at 00:35
  • 1
    Other possible pronunciations for "ch": /ʃ/ as in "chute," /k/ as in "character," /x/ as in "loch," /ç/ as in "Mädchen"... – herisson Apr 08 '16 at 00:40
  • A very thorough and explicit answer, thank you very much, also for the connections to various situations that you describe, it gives more food for further thought. Seems like that somehow I really like this topic :D probably because I can "taste", "feel" and "see" the pronounced sounds a bit synesthetically, so it is very meaningful for me. – noncom Apr 08 '16 at 00:43
  • It might not have been available in 2016, but for whatever reason this was an active question today (but not accepting new answers), and there now exists an author-supplied pronunciation as an artifact on the internet https://annleckie.com/about/frequently-asked-questions/ – user662852 Jul 02 '20 at 19:22
  • @user662852 Thank you, that was illuminating. – MetaEd Nov 20 '20 at 00:03