The Word for World is Trees: Two Syllable Words

In part of The Word for World is Forest, Lyubov is commenting on how much he enjoys the names the Athshean’s give to the land and people, how they are all “sonorous two-syllabled words” (105). At first I was not sure what “sonorous” meant but according to Merriam Webster it means a “full or loud sound; imposing or impressive in effect or style” examples are the sound of a waterfall. At first I thought this didn’t really suite the two syllable names but thinking about it, the names such as Endtor, Abtan, and Tuntar, to name a few, are indeed sonorous.

These names, as well as others present in the book, have two syllables but the start of both those syllables seem to have accents on them, they’re emphasized, they’re bold. The beginnings of the syllables are strong and then get softer until the next syllable comes around. This emphasis on syllables and the fading away in between made me think of the similarities between how these words are pronounced and how one speaks when talking in your sleep. Typically if someone is talking in their sleep they’re not focused on using support from their diaphragm to project what they’re trying to say, they’re just moving they’re jaw and vocal cords over their deep steady breath, such that in the beginning it is easy to hear them, when they first start to exhale, but by the end of the exhalation their voice has died out, unable to support the sleepers words until the next inhale that will allow them to exhale, and speak, once again. Considering the value Athshean’s place on dreams, I don’t think it’s wholly unreasonable to think that they would model their naming system based on how people would speak if having a dream.

I could possibly be over analyzing the Athshean’s use of two syllable words, but since it was pointed out to readers by Lyubov’s third person narration, I felt like it was an important part of the language worth looking into.