As you know, Stevland is a character in the novel Semiosis, specifically a bamboo tree. The bamboo was named after a colonist who died on the way to the planet Pax, and that colonist was named after the musician and singer known as Stevie Wonder. Stevie Wonder’s real name is Stevland Hardaway Morris. But how do you pronounce “Stevland”?
Now we know for sure. In this clip from a television special in about 1970, Diana Ross introduces him with a breathy “Hello, Stevland.” She says “STEEV-land.”
You can see the greeting in the opening minute at https://youtu.be/mxs2nRekH2w. But listen to the whole thing as Stevie Wonder and Diana Ross sing “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me.” Stevland (the namesake on Pax) loves music, too.
Semiosis 
2 replies on “How to say “Stevland” – according to Diana Ross”
How you pronounce names when reading a book is an interesting one, especially if the name is a alien or fantasy name constructed just for the story. How many people don’t actually sound out a tricky name? I know I might not worry about thinking it through enough to conclude exactly how to say it.
Re Stevland, I had it in my head with the short e, like the phoneme in the middle of ‘yes’, so I am now glad to be corrected.
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Know we both know for sure how to say Stevland. Naming characters is an art. Here’s a blog post by one of my favorite authors on some of the ways to do it:
Six Ways to Name Your Characters – by Rebecca Makkai
https://rebeccamakkai.substack.com/p/six-ways-to-name-your-characters
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