The pronunciation of Aslan

[Son of Aslan]

I was wondering what the proper pronunciation of Aslan is. I read somewhere in Lewis' writing where it is pronounced Ass-LAN. But every time I hear it pronounced, it is pronounced Az-LAN or Az-lan.

Does anyone know?

[she-elfwarrior19]

Well iv'e always said it like "Az lan". But i could be wrong im not to sure if there is a Proper way to say his name:)

[PrinceOfTheWest]

Anyone know Farsi? That's the source of the name - aslan is Persian (Farsi) for "lion". I've always thought it as "Az-lan", but I "speak under correction" (as CSL would say.)

[Son of Aslan]

Well, when I first read the books, I didn't know if it was As-lan, Az-lan, Ass-lan, As-lahn, Az-lahn, or Ass-lahn.

If the only pronunciation I knew of was the FOTF-RT series, I'd say Az-lan. But, again, like I noted before, Lewis himself claimed Ass-lan was the proper pronunciation. But no one says it like that.

[Starkist]

In the BBC tv movies they pronounce it "ass-lan".

[LadyEm]

LOL
Well I have to admit, after growing up with the BBC version I say it the way they do - London British accent.
Can't help it.

[waterhogboy]

No they pronounce it Az-lan in the BBC versions...

[Gibby]

In the second trailer, the witch pronounces is something like, "Auzlaun"

[she-elfwarrior19]

Reall thats interesting, maybe its b/c of her accent???? :confused:
just a guess lol :)

[PrinceOfTheWest]

Yeah, no matter how hard you try, you can never shake that Charn lilt! :D

[Saruman]

I thought I read somewhere that the appropriate pronunciation (since Lewis got his inspiration for the name from reading Arabian Nights - if I am not mistaken) is A'ss-lahn. Though many people pronounce it as A'z-lan, which is probably just as acceptable.

[Gondor Knight of Narnia]

I was thinking it could be pronounced elvish-like w/ short A's like in father? :D

[waterhogboy]

Yeah, no matter how hard you try, you can never shake that Charn lilt! :D

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Too true!! :D

Tell you what - there's loads of Farsi speaking people at my church. I'll ask my mate from youth group tonight how she would say 'lion' in Farsi.

[Jewel of Narnia]

I know I'm wrong, but I pronounce Aslan, Az-lan. The second sylable sounding kinda like the land part in Newfoundland and Iceland.

[waterhogboy]

Well I asked my Farsi-speaking friend, and the Farsi for lion is..... meimon - so a bit like Aslan!??! :D

[PrinceOfTheWest]

Well I asked my Farsi-speaking friend, and the Farsi for lion is..... meimon - so a bit like Aslan!??! :D

Wow! That's really interesting - I remember reading it from some serious authority (possibly Kathryn Lindskoog, author of The Lion of Judah in Never-Never Land) that aslan was "Persian" for lion, and since Persia=Iran and Iranians speak Farsi, I thought that would be it. Furthermore, I'm reading the adventures of an Englishman in central Asia in the early 1800s, and he relates how a warlord in that area called himself "Aslan {something}" - clearly "The Lion". But meimon isn't a bit like aslan, so I guess that isn't much help.

btw, I've been meaning to ask - what's a "water hog"?

[waterhogboy]

Wow! That's really interesting - I remember reading it from some serious authority (possibly Kathryn Lindskoog, author of The Lion of Judah in Never-Never Land) that aslan was "Persian" for lion, and since Persia=Iran and Iranians speak Farsi, I thought that would be it. Furthermore, I'm reading the adventures of an Englishman in central Asia in the early 1800s, and he relates how a warlord in that area called himself "Aslan {something}" - clearly "The Lion". But meimon isn't a bit like aslan, so I guess that isn't much help.

btw, I've been meaning to ask - what's a "water hog"?

Ahhhh... It is but one of the great mysteries of life! If I told you...... I would have to kill you.

[waterhogboy]

Hey hey!!! You can save your comments of adoration and adulation for a moment - until you check out this site:

http://www.ic.arizona.edu/ic/babur/animal.htm

Keep pressing the arrow, and be on the look out!!!

[lieke]

on www.narnia.com you see something that says discover narnia. there it says:
"ASLAN, the Great Lion, is the founder of Narnia. The name (pronounced Ass-lan).........................

[PrinceOfTheWest]

That may be, but that just brings up the question of where the website designers found out.

I think someone on this site mentioned that Lewis said it should be "Ass-lan", which would be the definitive source.

{Lordamercy, how did I get to be a "senior member"? Close to "senior citizen", I know, but...}

[Gibby]

{Lordamercy, how did I get to be a "senior member"? Close to "senior citizen", I know, but...}

I think once you hit 100 posts, you become a senior member.

[jasonc65]

Ask a Turk. LOL!

[Orangegoldandgreen]

Hm.
I say "Az-lawn".
But I was watching Ebert & Ropers show (they had CON review on it!) and he said something weird, I can't remember. You can probably find it online. It was like, "Ehs-len" or something...

[Orangegoldandgreen]

I found that mp3 of Ebert & Roper.

Here.
(http://tvplex.go.com/buenavista/ebertandroeper/popmp3_2.html?clip=051205-chronicles_narnia_l-w-w&title=THE%20CHRONICLES%20OF%20NARNIA%3A%3CBR%3ETHE %20LION%2C%20THE%20WITCH%20AND%20THE%20WARDROBE)
It's about in the middle when he says it, so yeah.

[Kitty17794]

I've always said 'Az-lan' myself..

[Aslan[TLD]]

Don't know for sure how C.S. Lewis intended it to be pronounced, but if he really did choose "aslan" becuase it is the Turkish word for "lion", then I doubt one could go too far wrong prounouncing it like the Turks do. :)

In that case, it would be "ahs-lahn". I studied in Turkey when I was in high school and "aslan" was a nickname my Turkish friends gave me (because I was perhaps a bit overly agressive at soccer at lunchtime).

I went to an online turkish-english dictionary that has audio pronunciation, and was able to save the wav file of them pronouncing the Turkish word "aslan". I saved it and you can hear it by clicking here:

http://home.comcast.net/~s.sendlein/aslan.wav

[Dr.Cornelius]

Lord, I feel like such a dunce, I'd said it "A-slan" for the first four or five years...long A and everything.

Then again, I wasn't the *best* reader, and for a long time Narnia was Narainia.

Well, you know, cut me a little slack, I was only seven. *laughs sheepishly*

[Janet]

Hi there,

I'm a new member and just returned from visiting a friend and Narnia came up as a topic, as I was using a little pamphlet with an artist's rendering of Aslan on the front for a bookmark. I mentioned to my friend that "aslan" is Turkish for "lion." (I took a term of Turkish in 2001.) And I see someone else wrote and said it is also Persian!

For some obscure reason, my Turkish dictionaries don't have pronunciation guides (??), but I found a website that pronounces the words for you (http://www.seslisozluk.com). Here's how they say it: The stress is on the first syllable and it's something like "AHSS-lun." That's as close as I can describe it - the "s" is hard and the "lan" is not exactly like a short "u," but it is definitely not a short "a." It's more like the "dark" or undotted "i" in Turkish.

Well, I hope that helps. I am happy to have found this website. I am only just starting the Narnia series and I am an adult mom! But my son finished all the books and has me absolutely excited about reading them all! We saw the movie "Narnia" last Christmas and I bought him some Turkish delight at our Turkish store here in Seattle, oddly enough called "Turkish Delight." :)

Ciao!
Janet

[EveningStar]

Just like it's spelled. eye-SLANE. :D

[Son of Adam]

Hi and welcome, Janet, to TDL!!!:D

[Daughter-of-Aslan]

I absolutely adore how long this discussion has gone on (and I am not being sarcastic either)! My mom's eyes cannot handle light and contrast very well, thus she can't read more than half a page at a time, if that. I started reading the Chronicles aloud to her on tapes so she could enjoy the books. I'm a stage actress and my anunciation classes automatically have trained me to over-emphasize words so that they can be clearly understood, thus, upon listening to myself on tape, I sound like Ahs-lan or sometimes Ahs-lon. I've always taken dialect courses, so of course, based on where you're from, the word will automatically sound different. Cockney will be one way, Irish will sound another, Tennessee another. :) There, my two cents... well... maybe half a cent.

[Skulblaka_Shur'tugal]

It's pronounced AZ-lan, or AZLAN, all one sylable. But, if you're in a hurry in saying it, it sometimes comes out AZ-lin.

[Wunderkind]

Well...I say "Az-lan"...:D

[Copperfox]

Some of you must be aware that Mr. Lewis derived the name Aslan from the Turkish word for "lion." A few may be aware that "Aslan" is also a human given name among some Turk-related peoples. An important leader in Chechnya (now deceased) was named Aslan Maskhadov. Because of this ethnic association, the Russian translation of the CON that I read some years ago changed the pronunciation of Aslan's name to ESS-lan.

[Skulblaka_Shur'tugal]

Really, C.S. Lewis pronounced it AZ-lan.

[Into the Wardrobe]

I've heard it pronounces Az-lan, As-lan, and Ahz-lan. Don't think it matters per se...we all know who we're talking about. There's lots of names in the Chronicles that are pronounced different ways.