tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Aug 09 10:43:07 2000

Back to archive top level

To this year's listing



[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]

RE: Klingon WOTD: ghIqtal (excl)



Holtej DaHjaj mu':
> >
> > This is the Klingon Word Of The Day for Wednesday, August 9, 2000.
> >
> > Klingon word:   ghIqtal
> > Part of Speech: exclamation
> > Definition:     to the death
> >
> > Additional Notes:
> > KGT.  (archaic).
> > KGT p. 49.  The archaic Klingon phrase {ghIqtal} also means "to 
> > the death," though it is generally used as a sentence in its own 
> > right, a type of exclamation.  For example, just before striking 
> > the first blow or firing the first shot in battle, warriors may 
> > shout {ghIqtal}!

Freya:
> How would this be pronounced?

The writing system we use for Klingon (which is *not* the real Klingon
writing system) is completely phonetic - each "letter" corresponds to
exactly one sound in Klingon. Some of the "letters", though, are actually
two or even three actual letters. The combinations are: <ch>, <gh>, <ng>,
and <tlh>. The apostropher <'> is also a "letter". So it sounds just like
it's spelled {{:-) The Klingon Dictionary has a pretty good punctuation
section you can look at.

<ghIqtal> is two syllables: <ghIq> and <tal>. The second syllable is easy -
it sounds almost the same as the English word "tall". The first one is the
hard one. The <gh> at the beginning doesn't really sound like a regular
English "g"; it's a bit like a "g" while gargling. The <I> is like the
English "i" in "hit" or "pin". The <q> at the end (don't confuse it with the
other <Q>) sounds a lot like the English "k", but it's made at the back of
the throat rather than the middle of the mouth. As Okrand says on
Conversational Klingon, it sounds a little like you're choking.


pagh
Beginners' Grammarain


Back to archive top level