tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Jun 07 10:06:27 1995
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
"be'taH" v. "petaQ"
I think all the talk of computer analysis misses the point (and, quite
frankly, is a bit obsessive, but that, itself, is also beside the point).
First, look at what you're trying to distinguish here. There are three
differences between the two words:
/b/ vs. /p/
the glottal stop in "be'taH"
/H/ vs. /Q/
now, even in someone with very clear enunciation, the distinction between
the /b/ and /p/ is very small. Take into account that its *not* a native
speaker of tlhIngan hol, and an unaccented syllable, and it could go
either way.
The glottal stop is hard to distinguish in general too.
the /Q/ and /H/ are not only very similar, but very unnatural for native
english speakers.
Furthermore, even advanced computer pattern-recognition and analysis
programs are most accurate (because of individual variation) if "trained"
on the voice being used. You say potato...
Anyway, I think the deciding factor is this: the closed captioning. I
mean, if IT said PETAQ then my guess is it really was petaQ. While I've
seen some errors in closed captioning (not that I watch with CC often) of
live events, and can easily see typos slipping through in other areas, it
is NOT as easy to "accidentally" write be'taH as petaQ as it would be to
say one in a way which might be mistaken by the other.
Chris