tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Oct 19 11:05:39 1995
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Re: Reopening CVC
According to [email protected]:
>
> In a message dated 95-10-18 17:02:21 EDT, you write:
>
> >In Klingon, {w} and {y} are considered consonants.
>
> True.
>
> But, let's go a step further. Let's look at TKD pp 16-17.
>
> {aw}, {ey}, {Iw}, {oy}, etc. are dipthongs, new sounds altogether. In this
> sense, as in languages here on Earth, including English, in which {w} and {y}
> are vowels--actually semivowels--these two so-called consonants are virtual
> vowels.
Well, the point is that Okrand lists all the vowels and {y} and
{w} are not on the list. When they are at the BEGINNING of a
syllable, I have not heard anyone claim that either is a vowel.
On 16-17, Okrand is speaking to the layperson, warning them
that when [the consonants] {w} and {y} follow these vowels,
the resulting sound is not necessarily the same as they would
be in English. If he didn't give this warning, people would
read {law'} like the English "law", which is not even CLOSE.
The reason is that in ENGLISH, the "w" creates a dipthong with
the "a" and the pronunciation of the "a" changes. In Klingon,
the {a} in {law'} is pronounced exactly like any OTHER {a}
because it does NOT form a dipthong with the {w}.
> Remember the saying we learned in English class as children: A, e, i, o, and
> u are the vowels; and sometimes w and y.
But not in Klingon. That's the whole point of pages 16-17.
> This is not Hawaiian, in which {w} remains a consonant at all times and
> vowels are individually pronounced, forming no dipthongs.
Well, we are agreed that this is not Hawaiian, but in this
case, Klingon has more in common with Hawaiian than it does
with English. The {a} in {aw} rhymes with "cow", and the "o" in
"cow" (before your lips purse for the "w") sounds pretty much
the same as the "a" in "father", hence, no dipthong.
> batlh thlIngan Hol wIghojtaHjaj
>
> peHruS
charghwI'
--
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