tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Jul 27 19:43:19 2009

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News from Maltz

ghunchu'wI' ([email protected]) 

As qep'a' wa'maH javDIch drew to a close on Sunday morning, Marc  
Okrand approached a group of Klingonists eating breakfast to relay  
the following information from Maltz.

1) The noun {vIlle'} means something close to "minion".  [The word in  
English is often used to refer to a loyal or even fawning servant of  
someone who is typically considered powerful.  Compare with  
"henchman", who has the same general job but is usually a mercenary.]

2) The noun {vIl} is hard to define.  Maltz had given a description  
of something which was immediately recognized as a speed bump by  
everyone present, but it was apparently intended not as an actual  
definition but as an example of something which is "just there".   
There is obviously an etymological relationship with and {vIlle'},  
which is currently the best clue we have to its true meaning.   
["Groupie" and "entourage" were suggested by those present at the  
time, but Marc didn't think they fit.]

3) There are names for the individual sounds of spoken Klingon.   
These are not really the letters of an alphabet [though with the  
phonetic transcription we use, the distinction is very fine].  They  
follow a very simple pattern:  consonants' names consist of the sound  
followed by {ay}, and vowels' names consist of the sound preceded by  
{'} and followed by {t}.  The glottal stop sound is an exception,  
being called {qaghwI'}, though this longish name is often eschewed in  
favor of a simple grunt of the sound itself.

   a : 'at
   b : bay
   ch: chay
   D : Day
   e : 'et
   gh: ghay
     :
   u : 'ut
   v : vay
   w : way
   y : yay
   ' : qaghwI' (or) '

-- ghunchu'wI'

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