[394] in tlhIngan-Hol
Re: Federation Science: An Intelligence Report
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Fri Oct 9 10:24:44 1992
Errors-To: tlhIngan-Hol-request@village.boston.ma.us
Reply-To: "Klingon Language List" <tlhIngan-Hol@village.boston.ma.us>
From: mark <mark@dragonsys.COM>
To: "Klingon Language List" <tlhIngan-Hol@village.boston.ma.us>
Date: Fri, 09 Oct 92 09:49:08 EST
Ken Beesley writes (concerning my interpretation of Klingon /S/
as retroflex):
I would respectfully offer an alternative interpretation.
TKD, p 15, states that "this sound [S] is halfway between
English s and sh"
With English s being alveolar and the sh being alveopalatal, a
retroflex pronunciation for the Klingon S would not be
appropriate (a retroflex point of articulation is further back
than the English sh--the Klingon S is articulated behind the
English s and in front of the English sh).
The sentence just after the one Ken quotes on p. 15 reads: "It
[i.e., /S/] is made with the tip of the tongue reaching toward
that part of the roof of the mouth which it touches to produce
Klingon /D/." (I'm using phoneme-slashes in lieu of Okrand's
boldface type.) Now, if you look at the top of the previous
page, at the description of /D/, you will find the following:
Klingon /D/ can best be approximated by English-speakers by
touching the tip of the tongue to the roof of the mouth at a
point about halfway between the teeth and the velum (or soft
palate), that part of the roof of the mouth that is rather
gooshy. [I love his technical terminology!]
That is a description of a retroflex stop articulation. If /S/
the tongue "reaching toward that part of the roof of the mouth"
-- it doesn't actually touch it, because it has to constrict the
passage of air without quite stopping it -- then /S/ is also
retroflex. I'm not sure what Okrand was referring to when he
called /S/ "halfway between English s and sh", but he didn't mean
splitting the difference. Maybe he means that /S/'s point of
closest approximation to the palate falls between those of s and
sh. But the tongue gesture, as he describes it, is clearly
retroflex.
Mark A. Mandel
Dragon Systems, Inc. : speech recognition : +1 617 965-5200
320 Nevada St. : Newton, Mass. 02160, USA
Tlhingan khol daghojbe'chugh vaj bikhegh.
