tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Apr 18 04:32:14 1994

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Re: "j" (was: Doch Sar)

charghwI'vo':
     *    *    *

     I'm quite content with {j} in {jIjatlh}. I am quite discontent with the
{j} in {wej}. It spits so much weaker than *{wech}*. It does not growl like
{wegh}. It does not move the phlem so much as {weQ}. It dwells upon a voiced,
closed-jawed sound controlled by the tip of the tongue at the teeth, unlike
any other Klingon phoneme. As a closing vowel, it is weak, and as a Klingon,
                                        ^^^^^
                                      consonant, of course
I am not disposed to being drawn to it as a positive entity. I tolerate it.

     When I try to toughen this weak sound of {wej}, it comes out like
{weja'} or {wejI'} with the vowel cut short and pushed toward the shwa sound
absent from Klingon phonemes. What other consonant needs this kind of crutch?
Others are strong on their own. They are effortless to pronounce with a
Klingon mindset.

     *    *    *
I've noticed in CK a tonal effect that I find helpful: syllables
ending in voiced obstruents (b v D j gh -- noticed most with j)
tend to be lengthened and falling tone, i.e., the pitch of the
voice drops noticeably during the vowel, which is also drawn out.
Listen to "wej" with this in mind.  (I'm going from memory now.)
Conversely, syllables ending in voiceless obstruents (p t ch q
'), especially ', tend to have shorter vowels and rise toward the
end.  These are natural articulatory tendencies of the human(oid
;-) vocal apparatus, and in many (at least Tibeto-Burman)
languages they have given rise to tone systems [Matisoff,
_Tonogenesis_, I think].

But to return to the point at hand:  If you pronounce "wej" and
other "j"-final words with a drawled-out pitch drop in that last
syllable you can get a very satisfactory growl, and the length
also makes it easier to get a hard "d" into your /j/.  (You can
run the /dzh/ out to almost as long as a syllable in itself,
practically spitting it out with contempt.)
     *    *    *

     But I am spitting in the wind.

     And I wish Klingon had a word for spit. This has to be the single most
gaping omission from the vocabulary.

     *    *    *
qaQochbe'qu'!

- marqem, tlhIngan veQbeq la'Hom

                         Mark A. Mandel
    Dragon Systems, Inc. : speech recognition : +1 617 965-5200
  320 Nevada St. :  Newton, Mass. 02160, USA : [email protected]





charghwI'

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