tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Dec 14 16:29:55 1995

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Re: KLBC: Pronouncing "tlhIngan"



At 3:22 PM 12/14/95, Ben Warren wrote:
>I was just curious as how "tlhIngan" is pronounced.


The "tlh" is a single consonant that has no English counter part -- it does
not sound particularly like a "K".

The other interesting thing is that in English there is a syllable break
between the "n" and "g" (Klin-gon)-- this is not possible in tlhIngan Hol
as "ng" is a single consonant.  So the syllable break would have to be
tlhI-ngan.  This fits with the other "-ngan" words.  (Some English speakers
might pronunciation it more like "Kling-on" but this doesn't work in
tlhIngon Hol either since a syllable cannot start with a vowel.)


>In Federation, it is pronounced as "Klingon" with a "K," however it begins
>with "tlh."
>
>Is the "K" pronunciation just a poorly pronounced "tlh," or am I just
>spinning my wheels here?


In a way, Yes.  It is often the case when a work transfers from own
language to another that sounds that do not occure in the target language
transform into something that is only suggestive of the original.


>Qapla'
>
>HoS'etlh


-- Qeygh




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