tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Feb 23 18:56:56 2001
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RE: Pronunciation [was RE: K'Zhen Zu-Merz]
ja' qe'San:
>Snap! However I would be happy to agree with you if I can why you believe
>that what is writeen in TKD is incorrect. Please tell me why {ew} is not
>pronounced by running Klinngon {e} and {u} together...
>
>TKD: "Klingon ew resembles nothing in English, but can be approximated by
>running Klingon e and u together. Likewise, Klingon Iw is I and u run
>together."
Klingon {u} and Klingon {w} are not the same sound. Please stop ignoring
the word "approximated" -- it's there for a reason. The sounds represented
by {u} and [trailing] {w} are quite similar, and are often pronounced
similarly enough by sloppy speakers to be considered identical, but they
ARE NOT INTENDED TO BE THE SAME SOUND. Klingon {y} is not the same sound
as English "ee", though to an untrained ear they are indistinguishably
close, and in careless speech they can be indistinguishable to even a
trained ear.
The entire discussion of what you think are diphthongs on pages 16 and 17
of The Klingon Dictionary is there to warn people NOT to pronounce {ay} and
the like as diphthongs the way "ay" and the like are pronounced in English.
Recognize that TKD was written for non-linguists, and is intentionally a
little loose in its treatment of certain concepts. The bit about how to
pronounce {ew} and {Iw} is *very* loose -- because those combinations of
sounds are foreign to the majority of TKD's intended audience, the
description of how to pronounce them draws on combinations of sounds that
are less foreign.
One of the best descriptions of how to pronounce them comes from Seqram,
who suggests that you imagine Elmer Fudd saying "terrible" and "miracle".
If you have any significant experience with Fudd's idiosyncratic speech,
you'll get it immediately: "tewwible" has the Klingon {ew} combination in
its first syllable, and "miwacle" has Klingon {Iw}.
-- ghunchu'wI' 'utlh