tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed May 24 19:12:09 1995

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Re: The `Ring Rhyme' in Klingon



According to Mark J. Reed:
> 
> Someone just recently posted the phonology rules, but here's a summary,
> as I understand them. A Klingon syllable consists of a consonant,
> followed by a vowel, followed by a consonant.  The final consonant is
> optional.  The first consonant is optional in non-initial syllables,
> such as the suffix {-oy}, although syllables without the first
> consonant are rare. 

So far as I know, {-oy} is the ONLY syllable we have which
begins without a consonant of its own.

> Consonant clusters are not allowed to serve in the place of a consonant.
> The only place you end up with two consonants together with no intervening
> vowel is between syllables, where the final consonant of one syllable is
> immediately followed by the initial consonant of the next syllable.
> There are three exceptions to this rule:  syllable-final {-rgh}, {-w'}, and
> {-y'} are allowed.  That's it.  Note that *{-lv} isn't in the list, which is
> why *{jelv} wasn't allowed.  Also note that no consonant cluster is ever allowed
> at the beginning of a syllable, so neither the *{Dw-} nor the *{-rv} in
> *{Dworv} is legal.  (With *{-rv} not allowed, there has been much debate over
> the Klingon form of Worf's name).

The only other point is the ban on combining {ow} and {uw},
mentioned in TKD on page 17.

> DaH bIyaj'a'?  
> 
> -marqoS

charghwI'
-- 

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