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For several months I've been a regular participant in this site's chatroom, Mos Eisley. But I've never seen Star Wars, so I don't know how to pronounce the name! Is it "moz ice-lee" or "moss eyes-lay" or something else?

PS. If it makes a difference, I speak British English.

PPS. Anyone who DVs me for not having seen Star Wars will get a revenge-DV if they haven't read Wheel of Time ;-)

Rand al'Thor
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3 Answers3

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Just listen to Obi-Wan:

Let's say it together now: "moss ice-zlee".

Praxis
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  • Hmm, it's more complicated than I'd expected! You and @N_Soong disagree on the pronunciation (and you keep editing) - I'll hide while you fight it out :-P – Rand al'Thor Sep 05 '15 at 00:05
  • @randal'thor : Hehe, just trying to perfectly capture the nuances of Obi-Wan's pronunciation. ;-) – Praxis Sep 05 '15 at 00:07
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    I can't say "ice-zlee". That "szl" cluster seems impossible to me. Anyway, do we want to imitate Obi-Wan's British accent? How do the native Tatooinians pronounce it? – user14111 Sep 05 '15 at 00:24
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    @user14111 : Geographically, Alec Guiness and I were born only a few miles apart, and so it's fairly natural for me... – Praxis Sep 05 '15 at 00:26
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    For my money, Sir Alec's best sci-fi movie was The Man in the White Suit. – user14111 Sep 05 '15 at 00:35
  • @user14111 : I completely agree. – Praxis Sep 05 '15 at 00:35
  • I can't properly hear the 'z' on the sound clip - if it's there, it's very small and almost swallowed. I think I like N_Soong's transcription better :-) – Rand al'Thor Sep 05 '15 at 10:16
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    There is no z - he says "moss ice-lee". – Pepijn Schmitz Sep 05 '15 at 14:14
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    @randal'thor: There's definitely a "z" there. N_Soong hears it too and his description includes a z... – Praxis Sep 05 '15 at 15:13
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    @randal'thor - I hear the 'z'. –  Sep 05 '15 at 15:21
  • I don't hear the "z". Does whether we hear the "z" or not depend on where we're from? – Mr Lister Sep 05 '15 at 16:58
  • @MrLister We could conduct a survey in the real Mos Eisley perhaps? – Rand al'Thor Sep 05 '15 at 23:04
  • @randal'thor : You and I illustrate that the phenomenon is not necessarily tied to region, since we are both from the UK. Although I was born near St. John's Wood in London (Alec was born at Maida Vale, close by) and I was raised mostly in the South of England... – Praxis Sep 05 '15 at 23:12
  • @Praxis Are you sure Canada hasn't influenced your accent? :-) I've moved around a lot in Britain, but I think my accent is pretty south-of-England too. Maybe a bit less posh than Alec's though! – Rand al'Thor Sep 05 '15 at 23:24
  • @randal'thor : Sometimes I fear so. ;-) – Praxis Sep 05 '15 at 23:33
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moss i-sszlee

Visit Wookieepedia:

Mos Eisley (pronounced /mɑs aɪzliː/, moss izelee,

And here's a sound clip of the pronunciation, also from Wookieepedia.

To me it sounds more like 'moss i-sszlee'

As for how a native Tatooian pronounces it, listen to Watto which confirms it is 'moss i-sszleee'.

Just for some background, the same Wookieepedia site describes it as being:

located in a valley somewhere to the southeast of the Jundland Wastes[5] and roughly 80 kilometers north of Anchorhead, near the desert palace of Jabba the Hutt.

and Lando Calrissian is supposed to have said:

"Mos Eisley is known as the galaxy's armpit. I guess there are worse parts of the anatomy where we could be stuck."

It was mentioned in Episode II: Attack of the Clones and seen in A New Hope.

Nothing can compare with the real Mos Eisley though ;-)

Stormblessed
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Often Right
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  • Wookieepedia spells it "moss izelee" but I can't hear the "z" on the sound clip, it sounds like "moss icelee" to me. So which is it, "ize" or "ice"? – user14111 Sep 05 '15 at 00:00
  • @randal'thor those android reflexes come in handy ;) – Often Right Sep 05 '15 at 00:03
  • @user14111: There's definitely a "z" sound, but there's a softer "s" sound that precedes it, which is why I'm going with "moss ice-zlee". – Praxis Sep 05 '15 at 00:09
  • @user14111 I've added a link to how Watto pronounces Mos Eisley, the only other instance of it in the canon movies – Often Right Sep 05 '15 at 00:46
  • @user14111, it's /moss ice lee/, but because the L is voiced, there's a transitional /z/ sound in there that some people hear while others don't. – Martha Sep 05 '15 at 03:25
  • So every sl word--slip, slap, slop, slope, sloop, and all the rest--has a z sound in it? Soup has a z sound because the ou is voiced, making it szoup? – user14111 Sep 05 '15 at 03:49
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    @user14111: no, vowels don't affect the voicing of consonants, and initial consonant clusters are a different phonetic environment than cross-syllable concatenations. – JPmiaou Sep 05 '15 at 06:02
  • Although I prefer your way of 'spelling the pronunciation' (which sounds like an oxymoron, doesn't it), I should probably accept @Praxis's answer as being more canonical :-) – Rand al'Thor Sep 05 '15 at 16:08
  • @randal'thor at the end of the day it's up to you - no hard feelings either way! – Often Right Sep 05 '15 at 23:33
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This is hilarious... have to try my hand.

It is somewhere between

Moss eyes, Lee.

and

Mouse eyes, Lee.

Remove any pause at the comma and you're there.

zxq9
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  • "We've captured a freighter entering the remains of the Alderaan system. Its markings match those of a ship that blasted its way out of [Moss Eyes Lee]." No Z's. – Mazura Sep 05 '15 at 23:30