How would you pronounce Richese?
- RI-CHESS (this is how they pronounce it in the abysmal Lynch movie)
- RI-CHEESE
- RICHES
- RI-KEESE
- RI-KESS
This has actually bothered me a long time, ever since I read the prequel novels.
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I have always used no.1, even from before I saw the first Dune film.
Thinking about having been asked the question I still go with that pronunciation, though I would accept that no 5 also sound right.
My mind rebels against the extended āeā in 2 & 4 and my instinctive desire to separate the Ri from the chese breaks no 3 for me.
Iām British, though have a very generic regional accent due to my family never settling in one place for any length of time.
RÄ-chesā
The 10 character minimum precipitated this line of drivel.
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A French friend of mine pronounces it with three syllables: Re-chez-ee.
I tend to go with Re-Shess but I suspect this may be like Clan Tzimisce where everyone has their own way of pronouncing it. 
Iāve always thought it pronounced as option 1, but Iām not married to it.
I love the Lynch movie. Itās the reason I read the Dune books and fell in love with the stories. It isnāt without its lumps and warts, but you canāt fault the effort, casting, or visual design. It brought something completely rich and new to the cinematic world. Or maybe you can, which I respect and is fine - but I still love it.
@Andy-Modiphius
There is a handwritten image with TzimiÅ”Äe (note the diacritics) in one of the books. Which implies Czech, Slovak, or Slavonic-latinskiā¦ which makes it both iās short , and the Å”Ä kind of like an sh, but more air and the tongue further backā¦ In Russian Cyrillic, ŃŠ·Š¹Š¼Š¹ŃŃ. Which works out to be Ukrainian for winterā¦
ā¦ how throroughly appropriate.
As for Richese, the i can be hard or sodt, the ch can be anywhere from a firm hard-ch to an sh. My dyslexia results in doubling the s half the time, so by rules of english, as taught in elementary school, it should be short i ārich-eesāā¦ but I prefer it to sound sneeringly french and nasallyā¦ hence my above.
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As a native Slav, so far I know, this letter combination is only in Russian Ukrainian, & Bulgarian alphabets, as you excellently show and describe; the Tz at the beginning is liable to trip up English speakers as well, but sometimes gets glossed over in media. Separately, they show up in Western and Southern Slavic alphabets. Which sometimes provide for some hilarious English-language sounds. Like NikÅ”iÄ; a city that produces some damn fine beer, but sounds a bit vulgar in English.
You could go Ri-ghees using ch as in Loch. It is especially dramatic if you roll that leading R hard.
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In my head when Iām reading it I say ārighteousā.
but my daughter that takes french says āree chezā 
@DevouringMessiah
the Å”Ä is used in some medieval Czech and Slovak. And thanks for the complimentā¦
Iām an SCA Submissions Herald, and Iāve seen it in period Czech from 1200 or so; my language in College was Russian, not any of the south slavic. And Iām Ruthenian Greek Catholic, so Ukrainian Church Slavonic mostly in Latinski.
Which brings up something - each house seems to have a different mix of fairly ethnic names. Atreides is Greek, of course, but the personal names seem more Romance language, coupled with the bullfighting, Iād say Spanish.
Harkonnen seems derived from Norwegian ā¹har konnenāŗ (āhas the abilityā per google). Vladimir is pan-European, Abelard is English, Rabban is Urdu (master)ā¦ āVlad has the abilityā is a great joke, and Frank Herbert played a lot with namesā¦
Most of the fremen names are Middle-Eastern - a variety of semitic origins, which is quite suitableā¦ but some have shifted pronunciations. On purpose, I suspect.
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@fremen-naib your daughter is right
It would be written : RichĆØse in french
The husband grew up in the Middle AgesāKingdom of Meridies, page to a squire-then-knight in the House of Duke Sir John the Bearkiller, circa 1980-85.
Herbertās use of language has been a reference point for me back when I taught Lit at university (fictional languages derived from non-English sources).
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