tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Feb 24 08:25:15 2001
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RE: Pronunciation
- From: "Neal Schermerhorn" <[email protected]>
- Subject: RE: Pronunciation
- Date: Sat, 24 Feb 2001 11:23:10 -0500
qe'San jatlh:
>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."
If <w> and <y> were vowels, <oy> and <Iw> would certainly be dipthings.
However, they are consonants and therefore are incapable of forming
dipthongs. In Klingon we never find two vowels next to each other. Ever. <w>
and <y> are not sometimes vowels, they are never vowels. The fact that they
have a resemblance to vowels is immaterial. So do <r> and <l> in a way. If I
said "pll the rope" or "the cat prrs" you'd understand me. But this does not
make these consonants vowels in English.
I think the clearest answer here is that <ew> sounds a little like the
apocryphal dipthing *<eu>, and <Iw> the apocryphal *<Iw>.
Qermaq