tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat May 11 18:00:09 1996

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double consonants & homophones was: Re: KLBC: naDev jIH tu'lu'


"Mark E. Shoulson" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Date: Sat, 27 Apr 1996 10:00:07 -0700
>From: "Robyn Stewart" <[email protected]>

>>2. How do I pronounce doubled stop consonants in Klingon?  When I say
>><juppu'> do I spit twice, spit once with added force, or pronounce as
>>if it were spelled <*jupu'>?  And worse, how do I tackle the double
>>glottal stop?  There are minimal pairs: <Duy'a'> ambassador and
>><Duy''a'> major defect. I have been "bouncing" on the vowel sound,
>>echoing it after each stop, so that <ro''e'> sounds like
>><*ro'o'e'> to distinguish it from <ro'e'>.
>
>Hmm.  I recently posted that I don't pronounce doubled consonants as
>doubled (like in English, we generally don't doubnle our consonants in
>speech), but I've been listening to myself and it's not quite true.  I *do*
>tend to pronounce double consonants as long consonants.  Sort of like the
>"k" in "bookkeeper" is longer than the one in "bookie" or the "n" in
>"penknife" is longer than the one in "penny."  Stranger still, I even
>occasionally pronounce the affricates with two onsets, so "ghajjaj" sounds
>like "ghaj jaj" with ALL the j's pronounced.  I'll have to listen to the
>tapes some more to see if this makes sense.

That's a kind of description of how *geminated* consonants are pronounced in
laguages that have them. You don't pronounce two FULL stops/affricates
or whatever, you pronounce as if *first half* of the consonant, then
there is no release of the vocal organs for a while but as if a pause
and then the release with the *second half* of the same consonant (this makes
them sound longer, or *geminated*). The *first half* of an affricate
sounds like a corresponding stop's *first half*.  If you release your
vocal organs voicelessly (without puffing out the air) after having
shut your lips on a *p* you'll understand what I mean by *the frst half*.
*the second half* is more easy to understand, because it sounds exactly
like the initial *p* (we usually don't *sound* before closing our lips
to start speaking *put*). Try this with other stops and affricates
and you'll have the full idea what a geminated consonant is.

With glides and fricatives, *n*, *s*, *h*, *r*, *l* etc. it's a bit
different, the are really longer, as they are pronounced even within
that pause between the two halves.

If you however pronounce the full two consonants, you have to fully
release your organs with a puff of air between and start for the second
time the same consonant.

That's why I have asked once about {''} in Klingon: do you pronounce
them as two consonants or as a geminated one?

>And ambiguity was never
>something Klingon really tried to avoid.  We have plenty of homophones
>already, even things like "Daba'" for "he definitely behaves" and "you
>watch it."

You forget the rules of stress. TKD p. 17.
"Daba'" for "he definitely behaves" is stressed "Daba'"
                                                 ��
"Daba'" for "you watch it" is stressed "Daba'"
                                          ��

>~mark

Qapla'

macheq



macheq noychoH jembatoQ

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