For those of you who hear the words spoken in your heads, here’s a pronunciation guide for the less familiar words and names in MONKEY AROUND. Syllables in ALL CAPS are emphasized. Syllables in lower case are de-emphasized. Vietnamese, Chinese, and Japanese words tend not to emphasize one syllable over another.
Aahil: AAH-hill (Indian/Pakistani personal name)
Aquino: uh-KEE-no (Filipino surname of Spanish origin)
Aswang: ahss-WAHNG (Filipino vampiric shapeshifter)
Ayo: AYE-oh (Yoruba personal name)
Bajang: BAH-jahng (Indonesian civet shapeshifter)
Bánh Xèo: BAHN-SAY-OH (Vietnamese rice turmeric pancake)
Budi Budiman: boo-DEE boo-dee-MAHN (Indonesian personal name)
Chả Giò: TCHA-YAW (Vietnamese “imperial rolls”)
China: CHEE-nah (Spanish for “Chinese,” in Mexican, often an epithet used for East Asians)
Churel: CHUR-el (Indian witch)
Dalisay: dah-LEE-say (Filipino personal name)
Emi: EY-mee (spirit in Yoruba)
Harimau Jadian: hah-REE-mao JAH-dee-yan (Malaysian weretiger)
Huexotl: hway-SHOT-tul (Nahuatl for “branch”)
Huli Jing: HOO-LEE-JING (Chinese fox spirit)
Hung For Tong: HOONG-FOORH-TONG The “oo” is the same as in “book” or “look.” “Foorh” sounds like how Brits pronounce “four” without fully pronouncing the hard r sound. (Cantonese name of a tong)
Iyalawo: EE-yah-LAH-whoa (female priest of the Yoruba Ifa religion)
Jesus: HAY-soos (Spanish pronunciation of a personal name for any gender)
Kali: KAH-lee (Hindu goddess who destroys evil forces)
Kitsune: KITS-OO-NEH (Japanese fox spirit)
Kitsunebi: KITS-OO-NEH-BEE (Japanese fox spirit magical fire)
Kumiho: GOO-mee-ho (Korean fox spirit)
Manga: MAHNG-GAH (Japanese comic books)
Maral: mah-RAHL (Armenian personal name)
Naga: NAH-gah (half-human/half serpent creatures in South and Southeast Asian cultures)
Nagual: nah-HWAL (Indigenous Mexican magic user/shapeshifter/animal spirit)
Nahua: NOW-wah (Indigenous Meso-American people)
Nahuatl: NOW-wat-tul (Indigenous Meso-American language)
Nhang: nn-HUNG (Armenian crocodile shapeshifter)
Ocelotl: awe-SEH-lot (Jaguar in Nahuatl)
Onigiri: OWN-EE-GEED-EE (Japanese rice balls)
Ori: OR-ee (inner head in Yoruba)
Qi: TCHEE (living essence that runs through all things, in Chinese)
Ranma (½): RAHN-MAH (Name of Japanese manga/anime series.)
Sanc-Ahh: SANK-uh (my own invention and the name of the cafe/supernatural sanctuary in Oakland; it’s named after the brand of decaf coffee called “Sanka” and is a play on the word “sanctuary.”)
Sun Wukong: … (yeah, I tried, but there’s no way I can get across in English how to pronounce this in Chinese. Just say it the English way: SUN-WOO-KONG; the sur- and personal name of the Monkey King.)
Tahrir (Square): TAH-REERH (the final “r” is aspirated; a public square in Cairo, Egypt)
Tenochtitlan: teh-NOSH-teet-LAHN
Tonal: Toe-NALL (Nahuatl for animal spirit)
Tule (Lake): TOO-lee (Spanish-origin name for a marshy sedge plant; the name “Tule Lake” of a Japanese American internment camp.)
Uke: OO-kay (short for Ukulele)
Ukulele: OO-koo-LEH-leh (Hawai’ian miniature guitar) American pronunciation: YOU-kuh-LEY-lee, but let’s avoid this and respect indigenous Hawai’ians and pronounce it the correct way.
Vanara: VAH-ner-ah (Indian monkey shifter)
Xochitl: SOH-cheel (Nahuatl personal name)
Xolotl: SOH-lot (Nahuatl word for dog)
Accent Guide
American accented: If you don’t know the accents mentioned, just imagine them all speaking Standard American English!
- Maya: Standard American with a touch of Californian
- Tez: Code switches: Standard American/Northern Californian with a touch of urban drawl or a touch of Chicano (Here’s the slam poet who inspired Tez)
- Chucha: Code switches: Standard American/Northern Californian with stronger urban drawl and Chicano
- Todd: Standard American/Northern Californian (specifically Central Coast)
- Ayo: Code switches: Standard American/Northern Californian; AAVE; Afro-Latinx-Caribbean/American
- Baby: Code switches: Standard American/Northern California with a touch Pilipinx
- Inscrutable magazine folks: Standard American
- Salli Wu: Code switches: Standard American/Northern California with a touch of SF Chinatown (not the same as a Chinese accent. Example here: Leland Wong, the artist, has a classic SF C-town accent)
- Amoxtli, Jaime, and Mike: Code switches Standard American/Northern California; Chicano
- Gang members: Standard American/Northern California, heavily Chicano/urban drawl
Non-American accented:
- Werecats: light East and SE Asian accents in English (mostly Cantonese, Malaysian, Indonesian)
- Michelle Yeoh is your friend here; she’s Malaysian Chinese and straddles the accents)
- You can also hear my Malaysian Chinese friend, writer Jaymee Goh, who moved to the U.S. as an adult, here and here)
- Here’s a young Malaysian man
- Indonesian accents, a bit stronger
- Gareth: Scots English