[Tlhingan-hol] Pronouncing Klingon correctly

[Anthony Appleyard]

This subject is handled in the book "Klingon for the Galactic Traveller", which I have. But it omits one source of trouble.

I am British and I pronounce {t} and {d} correctly everywhere, naturally from babyhood. But most Americans seem to mishandle {t}, pronouncing it as {d} except at starts of words, e.g. "latter" as "ladder".  And many seem to mishandle {d} also, inside words or at the ends of words, slurring it or dropping it. And this may carry across into their pronunciation of Klingon. (I wonder if this is why Marc Okrand chose the opposition {t} (not retroflex) versus {D} (retroflex). to distinnguish.)

(OK, OK, 'ej jiQagh, with the {r} sound, dropping it at the ends of syllables as in standard British English, e.g. pronouncing "Thor" the same as "thaw", and "horse" as "hawss".)