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The Deseret Alphabet as an Aid in Pronouncing Book of Mormon Names

TitleThe Deseret Alphabet as an Aid in Pronouncing Book of Mormon Names
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2000
AuthorsHuchel, Frederick M.
JournalJournal of Book of Mormon Studies
Volume9
Issue1
Pagination58-59, 79
KeywordsDeseret Alphabet; Early Church History; Language; Name; Pronunciation; Smith, Joseph, Jr.
Abstract

One approach to reconstructing the Prophet Joseph Smith’s pronunciation of the proper names in the Book of Mormon is to determine how his close associates in the early days of the church later pronounced the names. In the Deseret Alphabet we have a record of the pronunciation in vogue in 1869. It is plausible that pronunciation of the names did not change much between 1830, when the scripture first appeared in English, and the publication of the Deseret Alphabet Book of Mormon in 1869. This article includes a table of pronunciation of eighteen names from the Book of Mormon according to the phonetic Deseret Alphabet characters compared with the sounds recommended in the “Pronouncing Guide,” which appears in all English-language editions today.

URLhttps://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jbms/vol9/iss1/13