Arrgh, that sounds deeply frustrating - I do hope you haven't given up on the story! (as opposed to giving up on getting critique from unhelpful people).
I put a story through an sf/f critique group once with a contemporary New Zealand setting with fantasy elements, and a main character called Ngaire (fairly standard NZ Pakeha - New Zealand European - name, although it's a Maori word), and got similar bafflement on the pronounciation issue. This was a group who were perfectly happy to critique fantasy worlds with fantasy names, and it was kind of frustrating to be told to change the name, that it was off-putting if readers (i.e., them) couldn't pronounce it. It made me aware that there are expected conventions in even fantasy languages as well, and they all tend to skew Western. I think it's the "nga" sound that got them - it's a soft, barely audible "g", so "nigh-ree" is pretty close. (I think Nhaire, although not a name I've ever heard of, would have got away as sounding vaguely Celtic and all right, but maybe I'm being overly cynical). It's a story with other problems, and I haven't finished the rewrite, but I haven't changed the name either. Yet.
[and I like your writing! Although your characters are far too likeable for genre fiction - in terms of (semi) OCs, I'm very fond of Jade...]
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Date: 3 Jul 2011 09:33 am (UTC)I put a story through an sf/f critique group once with a contemporary New Zealand setting with fantasy elements, and a main character called Ngaire (fairly standard NZ Pakeha - New Zealand European - name, although it's a Maori word), and got similar bafflement on the pronounciation issue. This was a group who were perfectly happy to critique fantasy worlds with fantasy names, and it was kind of frustrating to be told to change the name, that it was off-putting if readers (i.e., them) couldn't pronounce it. It made me aware that there are expected conventions in even fantasy languages as well, and they all tend to skew Western. I think it's the "nga" sound that got them - it's a soft, barely audible "g", so "nigh-ree" is pretty close. (I think Nhaire, although not a name I've ever heard of, would have got away as sounding vaguely Celtic and all right, but maybe I'm being overly cynical). It's a story with other problems, and I haven't finished the rewrite, but I haven't changed the name either. Yet.
[and I like your writing! Although your characters are far too likeable for genre fiction - in terms of (semi) OCs, I'm very fond of Jade...]