tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Mar 21 12:53:02 2003

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Re: Klingon sounds and IPA (was Re: {oy}, diphthong or V+C)

ghItlh ghunchu'wI':
 
>ja' qeyS:
> >...I'm quite sure by now that everybody has
> >their own realisation of the Klingon sounds of which the
> >PHONEMES (and not the realisations, since the phonemes are
> >purely theoretical base values) are represented by the
> >Klingon roman orthography.
> 
> chatlhHeyvam vIlaDlaH, 'ach vIyajlaHbe'.
> 
> Huh?  I can't parse that.
> 
> But I do see that you've parenthetically equated "phonemes" and "purely
> theoretical base values".  I guess you really aren't making a distinction
> between them.  So what *are* you trying to say you 
> disapprove of on the
> klingonska page?
> 
> -- ghunchu'wI'

I'm no linguist, but I think qeyS is saying that the klingonska page
uses non-standard markings to denote the sounds of the Klingon words,
a distinction which is likely lost on 99% of us, but which probably
grates on someone trained in linguistics like a mis-cataloged library
book would to me.

As I understand it, you can think of the representation of sounds on
three levels: orthography, for example, the English digraph "th", its
ideal phonetic representation, and then how it is actually pronounced
in real words (eg. as in think or breathe).  I don't recall the
names of each realization, or the proper symbols to mark them, but
I think qeyS is saying that he suspects that the klingonska page
is using them wrongly, leading him (a person who actually understands
these markings) to come to some wrong conclusions. He is asking, were
these markings deliberately chosen (in which case he must re-evaluate
his conclusions about klingon prononciation) or not (in which case,
his original conclusions may still be valid).

Sorry, qeyS, if I'm putting words in your mouth. This is a typical
example of the kind of heat that can be generated on this list
over relatively minor misunderstandings.

-- ter'eS

http://www.geocities.com/teresh_2000
http://www.geocities.com/weseb_2000

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