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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/41740
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I have a character in my book named Jiolluav (with the correct accent, Zholl-you-of or /[ʒ](https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/12262/zh-vs-j-are-these-pronounced-in-the-same-way)ōl-'yoo-äv/), and I've written my entire "novel" (it's a work in progress) using this name. When I asked a friend to read it, he gave me a couple pointers with the addition that the name was hard for him to pronounce in his head, and he had to read it multiple times before giving up and using a bastardized version of the name (he said Jollav).

When I asked why he didn't use the actual name, he told me it's because it ruined his immersion in the book multiple times, and that using a more easily pronounced name helped to reimmerse himself. I have a very distinct culture in the book where all names follow an unusual pronunciation pattern, so I want to try to keep the names following an unusual pronunciation, but I don't want to ruin my reader's immersion just because of the name. I can't use too many pronouns because of the POV, so I can't just use "he" a lot as a result of a very dynamic story in terms of characterization. Since there's not an omniscient narrator, I'd like to avoid adding a pronunciation (prəˌnənsēˈāSH(ə)n) guide.

**Does having a difficult name in a book really ruin immersion, and what are some ways I can convey to the reader how it is pronounced in my mind?**

Original score: 40