Can you please repeat that?

 This week's Top 5 Wednesday list is all about pronunciation and names. We have all read books where we have come across a name and just stop and stare at that name. How do you pronounce that name? So this week I will be writing about my top 5 most confusing and unpronounceable names I have come across. I will warn you that some of the characters in this weeks list come from the same book because either I do not have that many names I can think of or most likely the book was full of extremely confusing names which have really slowed me down.

1. Obersharfuhrer Houstek

This first name comes from the book 'The Tattooist of Auschwitz' by Heather Morris. This is somewhat a foreign book as it is obviously about the Holocaust during the second world war. This book takes place at Auschwitz-Birkenau so it, therefore, has lots of Jewish and German names but this was the most complicated one I could find. I do not even know where to start when it comes to this name and so I will not even try. 

2. Rai

This second name is the first of two on this list from the book 'Phoenix' by Ellie Simms. This book is mainly set in Brazil and so I will use that as my excuse of not knowing how to pronounce this name. During my reading of this book, I think I used two or three different pronunciations of this name. I do not know what the correct pronunciation is or if there are multiple but this was one of those names which seemed so easy yet were so hard. One of my pronunciations were "Ray" as I did not know how the 'i' was pronounced and then the second pronunciation I remember is "Rie" or "Rye". From a quick google search, this name is apparently Italian and is indeed pronounced "Rie" or "Rye".  

3. Ciacco

This third name is from not only the oldest book on this post but most likely the oldest book on my blog at the time of writing. This name is from Dante's 'Divine Comedy'. This was one of the characters in the inferno and the name is most likely Italian. I have been pronouncing this name 'See-a-co" which I am sure must be wrong. From a quick google translate search, it sounds like the pronunciation of this name is actually 'Choco'. So the 'a' in this name is obviously a silent one which makes it harder for me!

4. Esteban

This is the second name on the list from the book 'Phoenix' by Ellie Simms. Again, from first thought, I would say this was a Brazil name due to the book and this character being set in Brazil. This name as you can imagine as again flummoxed me! I have been pronouncing this name 'Es-te-bun' which I feel is incorrect but any other pronunciation I try really annoys me as it does not sound right. Again, using my good friend google translate who I did not use at all when reading any of these books, pronounces this name as 'Es-te-barn' and so I was not a long way away from the 'proper' pronunciation which I find quite shocking.

5. Eddie Jacubois

Finally, this name is from a book I have started but not yet finishes, that is 'From a Buick 8' by Steven King. This name I would say is most likely American due to the book being set in America by an American Author. Obviously, the first name is very easy but the second name, the surname slightly confuses me. I would most likely pronounce it as 'Ja-cu-boy-s'. Google translate, however, pronounces it as 'Jak-u-bra' and says it is a french word which is very interesting and not something that ever came across my mind. To be honest, this is probably the easiest name on the list and one often overlooked, however, as we can see it is still a very interesting surname.

Above are some of the characters names from books I have read. Have you ever read a book where you have been unable to say or pronounce the name? If so please tell me what book and what the names were in the comment section below. Please share this post with your friends to get the word out there and please do subscribe to the blog and follow Book Portal on the social channels.

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