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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/25428
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/25428
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

In novels which contain a constructed language (conlang), there are areas where the rules of pronunciation can be specified. These areas have the disadvantage of either being before the story and rapidly boring the reader (preface/prologue), or being after the story and likely being overlooked until the story has been read (epilogue/glossary).

The other option is of course to infodump the rules of pronunciation somewhere within the story itself. I have discovered that there are those who believe infodumping is not a bad thing, so I will simply suggest that the majority of writers and readers will wish to avoid it. I am one of those writers.

The only other option is to somehow include it in the story in a natural way, so that it doesn't feel forced, and the reader learns the pronunciation without even realizing he is learning grammatical rules of a language that does not exist.

**How can I do this?** Obviously methods will change from story to story, but is there perhaps a general method that can be used? (Assume that we do not have access to the familiar non-native-speaker-who-needs-to-be-educated scenario.)

* * *

In my current work, I have a language where the letter 'h' is silent. I am using it to separate vowel sounds, rather than an apostrophe. So something like `Ga'ino'i` becomes `Gahinohi`. It looks far better. The reader will of course pronounce it `Ga-HEE-no-hee`, or something similar. How can I inform him, within the body of the novel itself, that all 'h's are silent?

Original score: 7