[192] in tlhIngan-Hol
Re: tlh at end of word
dcctdw@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (dcctdw@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Sun Feb 16 19:19:49 1992
Errors-To: tlhIngan-Hol-request@village.boston.ma.us
Reply-To: "Klingon Language List" <tlhIngan-Hol@village.boston.ma.us>
From: Michael Everson <MEVERC95@IRLEARN.UCD.IE>
To: "Klingon Language List" <tlhIngan-Hol@village.boston.ma.us>
Date: Mon, 03 Feb 92 10:02:44 GMT
In-Reply-To: Message of Fri, 31 Jan 92 12:00:52 EST from
On Fri, 31 Jan 92 12:00:52 EST Mark E. Shoulson said:
>Basically, a "stop" (or "plosive") is a sound like "b" or "t". It results
>from the stoppage of the flow of air through the vocal tract (and usually
>its subsequent total release). A "fricative" is a sound like "f" or "z",
>it results from allowing air to pass, but restricting it somewhat. An
>"affricate" is something that starts like a stop and ends like a fricative,
>like "ts" or "ch" (starts like "t" ends like "sh") or "x". As I see it,
>"tlh" is an affricate: It starts with the airflow stopped, then the sides
>of the tongue drop down, causing that "t" or "k" -like sound, then followed
>by a brielf voiceless "lh". Without that initial stop, we'd probably
>transcribe "tlhIngan" as "Lingon"!
This last bit is untrue. Without that initial stop, we'd probably transcribe
"tlhIngan" as "Flingon". Compare Welsh Llwyd /Luid/ (where L is the
voiceless l), which was borrowed by observant Anglo-Saxons as "Floyd",
unlike the learned spelling-influenced modern "Lloyd" in greater
currency today.
The nicest description I ever heard for learning to pronounce the voiceless
lateral fricative was: Put your tongue to say "L" and hiss like a goose
on either side! Add a "T" to the beginning of that and you're on the way
to spitting like a real Klingon.
Michael Everson
School of Architecture, UCD, Richview, Clonskeagh, Dublin 14, E/ire
Phone: +353-1-706-2745
