The MOTHER games have always introduced some strange words to our vocabulary and with it have come new difficulties with pronunciation. This is a guide on how to properly pronounce these difficult words.

The phonetic spelling used a modified version of Dictionary.com's style and is as follows, beginning with the vowels...

Monophthongs: near-open A (a) / open front A, open back A (aw), close E, open E (e),close I (ee), near-close I (i), close O, open O (o), close U (oo), near-close U (u), stressed UH (uh), unstressed and reduced UH (ə).
Diphthongs: open front A+ee (ai), a+u (au), close E+ee (ei), close O+ee (oi), close O+u (oh), . Consonants: G is always "hard", unvoiced TH as in 'thigh' (Þ/þ), voiced TH as in 'thy' (Ð/ð), Japanese R (ɾ), NG like in 'king', CH like in 'chip', SH as in 'ship'.

Ninten: |neen-ten|, |nin-ten|, or |nin-ten|
From Nintendo: |neen-ten-doh| or |nin-ten-doh|. Etymology: 任 (nin) and 天 (ten); Japanese for 'duty' and 'heaven', respectfully.

Anna: |a-nuh| or |awn-uh|
Etymology: from חַנָּה (Ḥannāh); Hebrew for 'favor' or 'grace'. As in "Ḥannāh (Hannah), the mother of Shmu'el (Samuel)" from the Jewish bible.

Lloyd: |loid|
Named for his glasses (They're called ロイド眼鏡 (roido megane) "Lloyd glasses" in Japanese, which are named after Harold Lloyd). Etymology: from Llwyd; Welsh for 'grey'. Thus Lloyd's grey hair.

Teddy: |te-ɾee|
Etymology: short for either Edward or Theodore.

George: |jorj|
Etymology: from Γεωργιος (Georgios); Greek, from the word γεωργος (georgos) meaning "farmer, earthworker".

Maria: |muh-ree-uh|
Etymology: from מִרְיָם (Miriam); Hebrew, but meaning is uncertain. As in "Miriam (Mary), the mother of Yeshua (Jesus)" from the Jewish bible.

Mary: |meir-ee| or |mer-ee|
Shortening of Maria (Maria -> Marie ->Mary).

Eve: |eev|
Etymology: from חַוָּה (Ḥawwāh); Hebrew, from the word חוה (ḥāwāh) "to breathe" or the related word חיה (ḥāyāh) "to live". As in "Adam and Chawwah (Eve)" from the Jewish bible.

Carol: |keir-əl| or |ker-əl|
Etymology: from Karl; Old High German for 'man' (Karl -> Charles -> Carolus -> Caroline -> Carol). Also, it's an English word meaning "song, hymm".

Mimmy: |mim-ee|
The ordinary name? A variant of Mimi.
Also spelled as Mimmie, pronounced the same.

Minny: |min-ee|
From Minnie. Short for many different names.
Also spelled as Minnie, pronounced the same.

Mick: |mik|
The ordinary name? Usually short for Michael.

Pippi: |pip-ee|
From Pippi Longstocking [pip-ee long stok-ing] or [pip-ee lawng stawk-ing]

Mrs Lindgren: |lind-grən|
From Astrid Lindgren [lind-gren], the author of Pippi Longstocking.

A. Goodman: |ei good-mən|
From "A good man", implying that he's a good person despite him actually being a crooked politician.

Abbott: |a-bət|
The ordinary name?

Laura: |lawr-uh| or |lor-uh|
The ordinary name?

Goldrich Duncan: |gold-rich duhng-kən|
From 'gold' and 'rich' because he's a wealthy businessman.

Suzy: |soo-zee|
The ordinary name?

Big Ben Casey: |big ben kei-see|
From the TV show Big Ben.

Old Sawbones Benny: |old saw-bohnz ben-ee|
From...?

Buggerror Rosemary: way too many...
From program bug |buhg| and program error (|er-or| or |er-ər|) for the given name, and from the name Rosemary (|rohz meir-ee|, |rohz mer-ee|, or |rohz-muh-ree|) for the surname.

Tom Gullikson: |tom| or |tawm| and |gəl-ik-sən|
From the famous tennis-player and coach Tom Gullikson? Surname also transliterated as Garrickson |geir-ik-sən| or |ger-ik-sən|

Able: |ei-bəl|
From commonly used spelling-alphabet for the letter A.

Baker: |bei-kər|
From commonly used spelling-alphabet for the letter B.

Gyiyg: |geeg|
Made-up alien-sounding name? Also spelled as Giegue, pronounced the same. IE like believe, GUE like league.

Giygas |gee-gəs|
From Gyiyg. A renaming.

Mother's Day: |muh-ðərz dei|
From Mother's Day: a holiday to honor your mother.

Podunk: |poh-duhngk|
From podunk: a small, insignificant town.

Canary Village: |kuh-neir-ee| or |kuh-ner-ee| and |vil-əj|
From it being a village of canaries.

Chou Cream Zoo: |shoo kreem zoo|
From choux à la crème |shoo ah lah krem|: a French dessert pastry.

Magicant: |ma-jik-ənt|
From magic (|ma-jik|) and...replicant (|rep-lik-ənt| or |rep-luh-kənt|)?

Thanksgiving: |þeingks-giv-eeng|
From the holiday Thanksgiving. A day to give thanks for the previous year (and originally also for the blessing of the harvest). Celebrated with a big supper with all the family.

Merrysville: |mer-eez-vil|.
From Marysville, WA, US. (|meir-eez-vil| or |mer-eez-vil|). Both Marysville and Merrysville have a slough with four bridges to be crossed in order to get to the neighboring city.

Duncan's Factory: |duhng-kənz| and |fak-tor-ee| or |fak-tər-ee|
From...?

Santa Claus Station: |san-tuh klawz stei-shən|
From Santa Claus.

Union Station: |yoon-yən stei-shən|
From Union Station in Seattle, WA, US.

Reindeer: |rein-deer|
From Santa Claus' reindeer, originating from the poem A Visit from Saint Nicholas.

Mislay Triangle: |mis-lei trai-eing-gəl|
From mislay (meaning: to lose temporarily; misplace) and Bermuda Triangle (area in the ocean where aircraft and ships are said to mysteriously vanish).

Halloween: |hawl-oh-ween| or |hawl-ə-ween|
From the Christian holiday Holloween (<-- Hollowe'en <-- All Hollows' Evening, meaning All Hallows' Eve). A day to remember the deceased hallowed (saints) as well as our own loved ones. Better known for costumes, candy, and trick-or-treating.

Spookane: |spoo-kan|
From 'spook' |spook| and Spokane |spoh-kan|, WA, US: a city in a valley, just like Halloween.

Rosemary Manor: too many!
Named for the family that resides in it.

Snowman: |snoh-man|
From the "Christmas tradition". It's not really Christmas specific, but snow and Christmas go hand-in-hand in peoples' minds.

Advent Desert: |ad-vent dez-ərt|
From the Christian holimonth(?) Advent. Not really a holiDAY since it lasts over three weeks. Spiritual preparation for Christmastide (the commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ).

Yucca Desert: |yuhk-uh dez-ərt|
From yucca, a desert plant.

Easter: |ee-stər|
From the Christian holiday Eastertide, celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Youngtown: |yuhng-taun|
From young and town.

Valentine: |val-ən-tain|
From the Christian holiday Saint Valentines' Day. A day to celebrate Saint Valentine with a feast. More so used to celebrate romantic love.

Ellay: |el-ei|
From L.A. (Los Angelos), CA, US.

Holy Loly Mountain: |hoh-lee loh-lee| and |maun-tən| or |mau-ən|
From the word 'holy', relating to the religious aspects of some of the holidays other locations are named after.

Mount Itoi: |maunt ee-toi|
From Shigesato Itoi, creator of Mother.

Written by linkdude20002001