tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Apr 12 19:43:06 1997
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Re: pronunciation of tlh-H
- From: Bill Willmerdinger <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: pronunciation of tlh-H
- Date: Sat, 12 Apr 1997 21:59:58 -0400
- Organization: IKV Crystal Dagger, Klingon Assault Group Rochester NY
- References: <[email protected]>
Marian Schwartz wrote:
>
> qoror here. I just got "Power Klingon" and have been going over it. The
> main thing I noticed was that the way it's pronounced. It seems a lot fruitier
> than the way I speak it, which seems flat in comparison. A sidebar is that the
> "tlh" there sounds like just a "tl." Mine is a lot meatier, with them really
> running together and my cheeks puffing out. (I also don't have a microphone for
> my computer, although I'm considering one, so I can't go on the Talker just
> yet.) Can someone tell me if tlhIngan Hol sounds the way it does in PK with
> you?
This is really hard to say. I have no other Klingon speakers locally
either, so I have to go by what I hear myself say. I can offer a bit of
anecdote, though.
I can pronounce the sounds of {tlhIngan Hol} well individually,
according to Marc Okrand. Even simple words are not too much of a
problem. I have trouble when I start running them together into
sentences. This is just lack of practise, I realize.
> By the way, a tidbit about pronunciation I found that might interest you.
> I quote from TKD 1.2: "tlh- This sound is like nothing in English, but it is
> rather like the last sound in "tetl," the Aztec word for "egg," if properly
> pronounced." (I think that's what it says, at least.) I discovered from
> another person involved in languages that that's a misnomer. Aztec actually
> *has* that sound!
Well, it's close enough to what Marc says the Klingon sound is,
apparently. The Aztec word seems to be Okrand's favorite example of the
sound occuring in a real language, as he used that at his seminar at
BabelCon.
When I was trying to learn this sound, I kept thinking about how
"Klingon" became {tlhIngan}. Michael Dorn tends to sort of "spit" out
"Klingon"; his "kl" is rather juicy, for lack of a "proper" term. I
tried doing the same thing with "tl". It's not 100% right, but it got
me a lot closer.
--
Qob la' (tlh.w.D. quttaj ra'wI')
tlhIngan Hol yejHaD qhojwI'
[email protected]
http://www.frontiernet.net/~qob/