tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Nov 16 15:52:30 1996

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q and Q (was: help with this.)



jatlh qrlIH:

>  and that {Q} was the
>  same sound as {q} "but with an attitude" [his words].  This would seem to
>  be at variance with your description of "two" vs. "chew".  Perhaps this
>  might be taken as further evidence that many {tlhInganpu'} speak with
>  different accents?

Okrand usually describes things for non-linguists.  The similarity between {q} 
and {Q}, and "t" and "ch" is that the first of each pair is a stop and the 
second is an affricate, and each takes place together in one part of the mouth 
(although each *pair* is produced in different parts of the mouth).

ghunchu'wI' was making this analogy, I believe, and Okrand was describing the 
best way to get a non-linguist to understand how to make the {Q} sound.  Take 
a look at HolQeD 1:1 for a good phonetic article about the sounds of Klingon.  
If Okrand had said "Klingon {q} is a dorso-uvular unvoiced stop, and Klingon 
{Q} is a dorso-uvular unvoiced affricate," he would have been exact in his 
terminology, but nobody would have understood him.

SuStel
Beginners' Grammarian
Stardate 96878.3


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