The pronunciation of Aslan

Son of Aslan

Son of Aslan

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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?
 
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.)
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
PrinceOfTheWest said:
Yeah, no matter how hard you try, you can never shake that Charn lilt! :D
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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.
 
waterhogboy said:
Well I asked my Farsi-speaking friend, and the Farsi for lion is..... meimon - so a bit like Aslan!??! :D
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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"?
 
PrinceOfTheWest said:
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"?
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Ahhhh... It is but one of the great mysteries of life! If I told you...... I would have to kill you.
 
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...}
 
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