tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Oct 19 08:12:44 1995
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Re: Reopening CVC
>Date: Tue, 17 Oct 1995 23:48:47 -0700
>From: [email protected]
>A couple of weeks ago there was a lot of discussion regarding the
>possibilities in constructing Klingon syllables. Here, I wish to point out
>that Klingon, too, has dipthongs. CVy and CVw are the two examples. {lIy},
>which means "comet" is not pronounced with the usual short "i" but with a
>long "iy" dipthong. Dipthongs are, by definition, the compound of two vowels
>producing a new vowel sound. Thus, {qaw} is not pronounced {qa:u} but rather
>"cow."
>Next, the glottal stop in Klingon is also a consonant.
>This gives the chart:
>CV
>CVC
>CVrgh
>CD (D = dipthong)
>CDC (the only final C possible is the glottal stop)
True enough, if you look at it that way. The other writers tended to view
y and w as consonants in Klingon, or perhaps as glides, and not as elements
of diphthongs. Thus, the table from that perspective looks like:
CV
CVC
CVrgh
CVG' (G = glide [y or w])
It's all in how you choose to name things.
~mark