RONOUNCING AUTHORS' NAMES

I can speak a little bad French, so I felt pretty confident pronouncing Brian Jacques' name when looking up his books or biographical information for patrons in the library. However, to my shock and humiliation, in volume 95 of Something About the Author, Mr. Jacques says that his last name is pronounced like "Jakes." It seemed to me then a good thing to have some of these difficult authors' names gathered together so that the gentle reader and researcher might be not only well-informed but sound that way as well. When it comes to names, one cannot assume much in the way of pronunciations. This is an ongoing project; some of the author's names I have not found yet in a reputable source, and I will list others as I run across them.

Note that the preferred pronunciation is usually listed first in dictionaries, but in Pronouncing Dictionary of Proper Names, the pronunciation in the language of the writer's native country is listed first, and the U.S. pronunciation listed next, if there is more than one pronunciation. Sometimes there is a British pronunciation as well. I list the author's own pronunciation first if there is one.

The part of the pronunciation in smaller capital letters gets stress also, just not as much as the captital letter parts of a name.

I have tried to make the pronunciations as simple as possible; if you need a more complicated pronunciation with diacritics and international pronunciation symbols, try Pronouncing Dictionary of Proper Names. You can usually find this and other pronouncing books in your public library, just ask at the Reference Desk if you need help.

CLICK ON THE LETTER THE AUTHOR'S LAST NAME STARTS WITH