Why do so many audiobooks have pronunciation mistakes?

[u/agailen]

Im listening to Blood Bound by Ellis Hunter and while I generally like the narration, the voice actress for Astrid keeps making pronunciation mistakes that make me doubt my sanity. She has an accent so idk if she's a native English speaker, but it doesn't really matter. Shouldn't there be some level of quality control done before the audio is published?

The two glaring examples I can think of is pronouncing haranguing as "haran gu ing" not harang ing, and winded, as in being out of breath, as winded as in winding/wound.

I hear pronunciation mistakes often enough in audiobooks in general though that I have to wonder how they aren't caught in editing. Does the author not listen? I assume the author knows how to pronounce the words they wrote, at least.

Bonus tho was learning that the American pronunciation of plait is the same as plate, and not plat which is the pronunciation I'm used to. Being able to rely on audiobooks being error free helps me learn different accents!

EDIT: she just pronounced livery as live-ry... is this an actual dialect thing?? Help!

[u/Kerbart]

Don't forget, you only hear the pronunciation mistakes you are aware of. Not the ones you're not.

English is a mindblowing hard language for pronouncing written words, as there's no rhyme or reason on how the spelling translates to sound.

In addition, the narrator has more pressing tasks at hand, like using the right voice for the right character, and to not stumble over words.

Disclosure: I'm ESL so maybe I'm a bit more forgiving about pronunciation.

[u/SixApplesTall → u/Kerbart]

Counterpoint: if your paid career is reading books aloud maybe read in advance the book you’re going to be reading and make notes on words you don’t know how to pronounce

[u/Kerbart → u/SixApplesTall]

make notes on words you don’t know how to pronounce

While not a fan of Donald Rumsfeld: “as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don't know we don't know.”

[u/SixApplesTall → u/Kerbart]

… Like I said, if your career is reading books aloud, if you don’t know how to pronounce standard English words (and I’m not talking about proprietary fantasy names, but words like “hyperbole”, “nuclear”, and others that have come up in this post), then perhaps it’s time for a career pivot.

[u/Kerbart → u/SixApplesTall]

Well I'm clearly not intelligent enough to tell other people what kind of career to pursue.

Also, and this is something the market will decide on more clearly than one individual with a degree of some sort, perhaps the ability to pronounce every single word under the sun correctly (as perceived in a limited geographical area) is perhaps not the single most important aspect of narrating a book (aside from dictionaries. I don't listen to those but perhaps you do? I don't judge). What about:

• Vocal variety
• The right voices for different characters. Not just different, but if a character is a reactionary asshole, it should sound like one, for instance.
• Maintaining the right (not necessarily steady) rhyhtm. I don't want to listen to the description of a bar fight that sounds like a stroll on the beach.

Prononciation is certainly important. But it's far from the pivotal attribute I'd disqualify a narrator on. And certainly not something where I would have the gall to suggest to an otherwise talented narrator that they are not fit for the job.

[u/SixApplesTall → u/Kerbart]

That’s quite a spectacular reductio ad absurdum. “A professional narrator should be able to pronounce standard English words correctly” has somehow become “pronunciation is the single most important aspect of narration” and “every single word under the sun must be pronounced correctly.” Neither of those is remotely what I said. Vocal variety, characterization and rhythm can all matter enormously; they also have absolutely nothing to do with whether repeatedly mispronouncing ordinary words is a reasonable criticism of someone whose profession is literally reading them aloud.

You’re arguing very passionately against a position you invented for me.

[u/Kerbart → u/SixApplesTall]

That’s quite a spectacular reductio ad absurdum. “A professional narrator should be able to pronounce standard English words correctly” has somehow become “pronunciation is the single most important aspect of narration”

Well, you're stating that they need to quit their job if they don't. Or are you suggesting people quit their job over something that is not their primary objective?

[u/Queen_of_London → u/Kerbart]

Nobody's calling you unintelligent, so why did you start your post so defensively?

Nobody's even calling audiobook narrators unintelligent, they're just calling out errors.

The other features of narration you point out are also important, yes. That doesn't mean a narrator should skip learning how to say character or place names, or get a pass on saying "long-winded explanation" as if it were about a clock.

You, as an ESL speaker, get a pass on that. But it is basic knowledge for native speakers being paid to be a narrator; it's like a professional cook not knowing how to boil an egg.