Skywind Pronunciation Help
Welcome to the Pronunciation Guide, a handy resource page for Skywind voice actors and filecutters! Here's how you can use this guide:
Look up a pronunciation by searching the table below.
See the Tips for Using the Pronunciation Guide for how to understand the phonetics types.
Use the General Dunmeri Pronunciation Rules below this guide for any words not yet documented.
Check out the FAQ at the end for more pronunciation tips.
For more help or to request a word be added to the Guide, reach out in #filecutting or #voice-acting. Don't guess! Your teammates will be able to help you before you record your lines so you can avoid having to do retakes in the future. Almsivi guide you!
Tips for using the Pronunciation Guide
The Pronunciation Guide notates words in several different ways to make this resource as comprehensive and accessible as possible. Here are some tips to make the most of the guide!
Sound Samples: Scroll all the way over to the right to listen to recordings for each pronunciation from our amazing Voice Acting team!
"Sounds Like" Pronunciations ("HLAH-loo"): Generally, this is what most folks on the team use. While these pronunciations can be a little less precise than AHD and IPA pronunciations, between this and the recordings mentioned above, they make it so our filecutters and voice actors can be successful without having to know anything about phonetics.
AHD Pronunciations ("hlä lōō"): American Heritage Dictonary (AHD), also known as enPR (English pronunciation) is a non-phonemic respelling used to represent sounds of the English language. Some people, particularly native English speakers, find AHD to be easier than IPA because it uses all the same letters of the English alphabet.
IPA Pronunciations (/'hlɑ.lu/): International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a notation system designed to represent all sounds of human speech. It is the most precise way to depict a pronunciation because it's not limited to just English phonemes and also depicts stress. IPA helps us ensure consistency across accents and is particularly useful for folks who speak English as a second language. Best of all, IPA can be copy and pasted into a text-to-speech tool like this IPA Reader and read aloud to you!
For words not listed: We strive to keep this page as complete as possible, but with the amount of dialogue in Skywind, it's impossible for our volunteers to proactively to document everything. For any Dunmeri words that don't appear on this list, use the General Dunmeri Pronunciation Rules below. For more help or to suggest a new word be added to this list, reach out to your team mates in #filecutting or #voice_acting!
For more information about AHD and IPA, including a comprehensive comparison table for each phoneme, check out the English Pronunciation page on Wiktionary.org.
General Dunmeri Pronunciation Rules
You can use these general pronunciation guidelines to determine how a Dunmeri word should be pronounced if it does not appear in the list above.
Vowels
There are 6 major vowels, and they're almost universally spoken in the same way.
A as in father
E as in egg
I as in pig
O as in home
U as in doom
Y as in very
Dunmeri vowels should be pronounced discretely from each other, as in Japanese. Karaoke, for instance, maintains the a and the o in the middle as distinct sounds - same for the Dunmeri word 'Oad', meaning harbor. It's not just a long O sound (like toad), it's long-O and then A as in 'father' - two syllables.
Double vowels of the same type are to be held for a slightly longer duration - again as in Japanese. The Dunmeri alcoholic beverage 'greef' is not to be pronounced with a long 'E' sound, but rather E as egg. Just hold the vowel sound a bit longer.
Vowel Caveats and Exceptions
An "ay" together will have a long "A" sound (as in "say"), rather than separate ah-ee sounds;
an "ai" together will have a long "i" sound (as in "die" or "sigh"), rather than separate "ah-ih" sounds (e.g. the Odai river);
there are many additional cases where the "ai" will sound like an "ay"; please see the pronunciation guide!
an "i" at the end of a word (excluding when it is part of an "ai" pair) will have a long "e" sound (similar to real-world names like Bobbi);
an "us" together at the end of a word or name will sound like "uhs" (as in "focus" or "cautious"), rather than "oos";
an "on" together at the end of a word or name will sound like "on" (as in "con" or "gone"), rather than "own";
an "oth" together will rhyme with "moth" rather than "oath"; and
a "yn" together will rhyme with "bin" and "thin" rather than "bean" and "keen".
Other exceptions will be explicitly noted in your script (e.g. Gnisis: KNEE-sis).
Dunmeri Consonants
Dunmeri consonants are the same as English consonants for the most part, with a few quirks. Double 'L's you can pronounce just like regular 'L'. The name Llethri would be normal 'L' sound, 'e' as egg, 'th' as 'thistle', 'i' as pig.
Aspirated L: H+L gives what is known as an aspirated L, where you 'breathe out' an 'H' sound as you go into the L sound. The beginning of the word Hlaalu is an aspirated L, followed by 'a' as 'father' (held for a bit longer from the double vowel), L as normal, and 'u' as 'doom'. Note that Hlaalu only has two syllables.
Tip for pronouncing Aspirated Ls: Put your tongue in the spot for the L sound, and try to make the H sound while holding it there, before transitioning to the actual L sound.
Apostrophes
For most Dunmeri words the apostrophes can be thought of as splitting sounds. The word f'lah (which is just a shortened version of fellow) should have a distinct pause between the 'f' sound and the last part of the word.
Frequently Asked Questions
How should I pronounce an NPC name if it's not on this guide?
Most NPC names are either Dunmeri or based on real languages, such as Latin, French, or English. To determine which pronunciation guidelines to apply to the name, Google the name and check the race.
Dunmer names: Check the Pronunciation guide above to see if the name is noted. If not, pronounce the name according to the General Dunmeri pronunciation rules above.
Altmer Names: Can use the Dunmer pronunciation rules, but note that Altmer names tend to use "y" as a consonant rather than a vowel.
Bosmer Names: Can also use Dunmer pronunciation rules, but note that Bosmer names tend to make use of the Tolkein "dh" for a hard "th" sound ("th" like in "those")
Imperial Names: (ian-ius names) Latin pronunciation
Breton Names: French pronunciation
Redguard Names: No particular guidelines, but their names tend to just be "generic English/American". Redguards sometimes have fantasy names like any other, but they often have names like Jim, Katie, Gary, Gwen, Ian, Jeanne, and Jamie.
Orc Names: Typically use short vowels for everything, with the exception of the "gro" in male surnames having a long o.
Khajit Names: No particular guidelines
Argonian Names: No particular guidelines
If you're not sure, ask for help in #voice_acting or #filecutting. Chances are, some of us will have likely recorded those names already and can tell you how to pronounce it.
Should an NPC follow Dunmeri pronunciation guidelines if they are not a Dunmer?
Previously, it was acceptable for non-Dunmer characters to mispronounce Dunmer words. However, the result was not as immersive as we hoped it would be and have now changed out guidance to aim for more consistent pronunciations. By and large, all speakers should be getting the pronunciations correct, regardless of race.
The only exception is if the "mispronunciation" is in line with the speaker's accent. For instance, if a speaker is shifting all short-i sounds to a long-e on regular words, then it's okay when a Dunmer word with a short-i gets pronounced with a long-e.
If you're ever unsure, don't be afraid to ask for help in #voice-acting or #filecutting!
Are the pronunciations the same as in the other Elder Scrolls games?
For the most part, yes. If a word has a "canon" pronunciation from the original game or from later installments, we use that pronunciation, even if it is not consistent with Dunmeri pronunciation rules (such as Balmora).
However, it's important to note that some words have alternative pronunciations. Early in development, it was initially decided that "Dagoth Ur" and "Dunmer" would be different from their canon pronunciations to align with the Dunmeri vowel pronunciations. However, after much internal debate, we changed this to be in line with their pronunciations in the original Morrowind. That means “Dunmer” is now pronounced with a soft “u” (Dŭn mər) and “Dagoth” is now pronounced with a long “a” (Dā goth). The alternate, non-cannon pronunciations of "Doon-mer" and "Dah-goth" are now only used by Ashlanders.
Other certain exceptions are noted on the guide above, most which apply only to Ashlanders.
Do non-Ashlander characters speak in Dunmeris?
Although Dunmeris is typically spoken by Ashlanders, regular, non-Ashlander dunmer will sometimes speak in Dunmeri as well, especially if they particularly dislike outlanders (Camonna Tong members) or are Velothi (class of semi-recently settled Ashlanders).
How should Dunmeris language lines be pronounced?
The Dunmeris language and accent are inspired by the sound of Eastern European languages, such as Polish. Don't worry, you don't have to actually speak or understand the language! If you have Dunmeri lines, you are just expected to read it phonetically and fluidly. A translation should also be provided in your script for context
Additional dialogue reference recordings for the Dunmeris language:
How should you pronounce the names of Dwemer ruins?
The rules for Dunmer vowels generally apply to Dwemer vowels as well: A as in father, E as in egg, I as in in pig, O as in home, and U as in doom.
The tricky part for Dwemer places is when consonants are smashed together without vowels. In this case, try to vocalize the consonant as if there were a very brief vowel sound (the schwa) after it.
Skyrim has a few examples for canon pronunciations of Dwemer ruins:
We've documented many of the ruins in the guide above, but if you have a question on one we haven't recorded yet, don't hesitate to ask for help in #voice_acting or #filecutting!
Ready to record your lines?
Remember, always record your audio in 44100hz 16 bit mono and leave at least 0.5 seconds between lines! Always export your work as a WAV file.
Additional Resources:
Have a question?
Your teammates are here to help! If you have a question that's not covered by this guide, reach out in #filecutting or #voice-acting!