Friday, January 27, 2012

Would it frustrate you if the characters in a book had Irish names, for those of you unfamiliar with Irish?

For those of you who aren't Irish, would it annoy you if you were reading a book with names like Aoibheann, Caoimhe, Róisín, Aisling, Bronagh, Clíodhna, Oisín, Ruaidhrí, Caolán, Pádraig, etc.? I really want to use those names for characters in something I'm writing. Would you be able to live with it if the story was fantasy? Would it help to have a pronunciation guide at the beginning or end of the book or is that just hassle?|||I actually prefer it if the characters have unique names that I haven't heard of. The usage of common english names annoys me more, to be honest. I have no idea why, but english names are kind of boring... I don't mean to offend anyone though...|||Yes. For a reader to truly feel a connection to your book they need to be able to at least pronounce the characters name. If you want to use Irish names then you should use the names, but use a spelling that everyone can relate to.


ex. Róisín (no one knows what that stands for or will even do the research.)


spell it = Rose, Rosheen, Rosa, Rosine so that people can pronounce it at least.|||No. It wouldn't.





Now go write. Seriously. Instead of worrying about everyone mispronouncing your characters' names.|||No. I personally would find it a relief in a fantasy story. Please use the irish name.|||If you're writing English, i would include it as an appendix. Because not many people are going to know that names like Caoimhe are pronounced as Keva.|||I think you're fine. There are a lot of character names in books that I can't pronounce. ALWAYS stay true to your character, no matter what.

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