tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Nov 10 20:02:04 1993

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Re: Power Klingon

     Before anything else, I wish to acknowledge (before it is pointed out to
me) that in my earlier post, I was speaking of two PHRASES, not SENTENCES.
Oops. Also, "ghr" is not an acceptable consonant cluster in a syllable. The
acceptable one is "rgh". I'm ALMOST awake this morning. Sorry.

Now...
On Nov 10,  9:48am, Mark E. Shoulson wrote:
> Subject: Power Klingon
> >#There's also "Don't lick my forehead" which
> >#sounds a lot like "QuchwIj DroSQo'", which represents, if I hear aright,
> >an innovation in Klingon words, as "?DroSQo'" starts with a consonant
> >cluster.
> 
> >I suspected when I read this, and wasn't disconfirmed on listening, that
> >the word is probably DeroSQo' (cf. tera'ngan, pronounced tra'ngan)
> 
> Maybe.  Then again, the way he pronounces the sounds, he'd have put in that
> obscure vowel even if it really *were* {?DroSQo'}.  We also have never seen
> a Klingon *verb* root that was polysyllabic before.  But given a choice
> between a polysyllabic verb plus faulty pronunciation by Okrand and a
> consonant-cluster initial, I think I'd rather believe the former.

     ghIDIj, HeSo' and HoSghaj are polysyllabic verb roots. Yes, they are
rare, but they do exist, like open vowels at syllable end without glottal
stops (as in HaSta). Still, DeroSQo' suffers from the "r" not clearly
belonging to the first or second syllable. I would have expected "De'roSQo'"
or "DerroSQo'". Otherwise, either the first or second syllable involves an
open vowel. My suspicion is that the first syllable would need that, since as
rare as occurances may be of vowels without following consonants, I have
never seen a vowel without a PRECEEDING consonant.

     Methinks SOMEBODY has to go TALK TO OKRAND AND FIGURE OUT WHAT THIS VERB
REALLY WAS INSTEAD OF ARGUING WITH EACH OTHER ABOUT IT. There is, after all,
no other authoritive way to settle this. As much as he may choose to remain
silent about other things, the man could at LEAST share the proper spelling
of new words he introduces into his audio tapes.

--   charghwI'

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