[Tlhingan-hol] -qH- vs. -Q-

[David Trimboli]

On 11/27/2011 5:09 AM, Philip Newton wrote:
> As I was practising flashcards, I came across {voqHa'} "distrust", and
> I noticed that I pronounced it almost like *{voQa'}.
>
> That made me wonder (a) whether the sequences -qH- and -Q- are
> pronounced differently, and (b) whether there are any cases where a
> word could be confused by swapping -qH- for -Q- or vice versa.

Properly pronounced, {voqHa'} and *{voQa'} don't sound alike at all.

I say "properly pronounced," because very often {q} and especially {Q} 
are not properly pronounced. I was browsing Klingon speech on YouTube 
last night. I came across someone reciting Hamlet's {taH pagh taHbe'} 
soliloquy. He pronounced all his {Q}s like {q}s. It was very frustrating.

And aside from the pronunciation of {Q}, the sequence {qH} should also 
be double the length. It simply takes longer to say it.

-- 
SuStel
http://www.trimboli.name/