tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Nov 16 18:23:15 1996
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Re: q and Q (was: help with this.)
- From: [email protected] (Denny Shortliffe)
- Subject: Re: q and Q (was: help with this.)
- Date: Sat, 16 Nov 1996 21:23:09 -0500
>jatlh SuStel
>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).
Depends on what you mean by a linguist, I guess. I have no formal
training in linguistics but I speak three languages (other than thlIngan
Hol). By some definitions, that makes me a linguist.
However, I never before heard of an "affricative" (a sound from Africa,
maybe? like the "click" in Bushman, Xosa, and Zulu?) {{;)}
>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.
Right. But he could also have taken the time to describe and demonstrate
the sounds in ways that were free of jargon. That's not intended as
criticism of Okrand. However, since his remarks are taken as "canon", in
the absence of any other input, I have (according to the officials on this
list) to take him at his word. And his word appears, to me, to differ
from what you just said. He did say that the sounds {q} and {Q} were made
at the very back of the throat, behind where {H} is made. He did not
indicate that there was any other difference between the sounds other than
the force with which they were uttered; in fact, it seemed to me that he
said there was no other difference. How else could one interpret "with an
attitude"?
Qapla'
qrlIH veStaySortlhIH Sogh la' Lt. Commander K'rlikh Vestai-Shor-Klikh
tlhIngan wo' Duj qIj leng ra'wI' Commanding Officer, IKV Black Odyssey
Qanpu' pogh DuQ cha'DIch ra'wI' Deputy C.O., Mailed Glove Squadron
a.k.a.
--
Denny Shortliffe