[Tlhingan-hol] qaghwI' between consonants

[Felix Malmenbeck]

> is there a list somewhere of consonant clusters

> allowed/disallowed in tlhingan phonology?


 Not to the best of my knowledge; it's not based on any explicitly stated rule, but rather on a number of observations:


1) There are no canonical examples of Klingon words/names beginning with a consonant cluster.


2) The consonant clusters rgh, y' and w' are frequently used at the end of syllables. Examples include {Dargh} ("tea"), {may'morgh} ("battle array") and Qaw' ("destroy").


3) The word {paq'batlh} is the only known example of a three-consonant cluster (q'b) which does not begin with one of the above cases (rgh, y' or w'). Marc Okrand has stated that this is an exception, due to the fact that the name of this book was coined in an ancestral form of tlhIngan Hol.


4) Non-Klingon names have been known to break the above rules. These include {jemS} ("James"), {qIrq} ("Kirk") and {pIqarD} ("Picard").


> how do I reply to threads in this mailing list? Hit "reply all"?


It might depend on your e-mail client, but that's usually how it works, yes.


________________________________
From: Karen Alessio <karenalessio at gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, October 24, 2015 16:34
To: tlhingan-hol at kli.org
Subject: Re: [Tlhingan-hol] qaghwI' between consonants


I'm sort of new to this, is there a list somewhere of consonant clusters allowed/disallowed in tlhingan phonology?

also, how do I reply to threads in this mailing list? Hit "reply all"? I'm feeling kind of newbie-ish right now. sorry.
thanks!

> and the apostrophe between most consonants just cannot be pronounced

that is exactly what i wanted to clarify ! i wondered whether the cluster consonant-qaghwI'-consonant can be pronounced ; thank you all for answering.

On Sat, Oct 24, 2015 at 3:53 PM, Lieven <levinius at gmx.de<mailto:levinius at gmx.de>> wrote:
Am 24.10.2015 um 08:11 schrieb Robyn Stewart:
> 3.Names can take any form the user wants them to, including letters and letter combinations that aren't in tlhIngan Hol.

First to make clear: Qov is one of the most experienced Klingon speakers I have ever met, so I have my greatest respect to her knowledge and grammatical opinion. That's why it's not easy for me to contradict.

This is important for true beginners to understand this correctly:

Yes, names can be whatever they are. Of course there is no rule for names, and they may look what they look like.

But, on the other hand, it depends on the question asked: if you want to make a name which follows correct tlhIngan Hol syllables, then you can NOT do what you want. The Klingon letters we use are some kind of pronunciation system, and the apostrophe between most consonants just cannot be pronounced. I definitely DISCOMMEND any beginners to write words like {qun'noQ} or {QIt'vur} because they simply can NOT be pronounced. It's like writing english names like "Kpnolstkr" and "Apprlk" - it just makes no sense.

What you can do is what most authors do, writing "english" Klingon names as we know "K'mtor" or "K'Tinga", but that'sno tlhIngan Hol.

{paq'batlh} is really one of very few exceptions [please name any others], which is based on the incorrect spelling of the autors, and that's why okrand has explained it as archaic klingon.

--
Lieven L. Litaer
aka Quvar valer 'utlh
Grammarian of the KLI
http://www.facebook.com/Klingonteacher
http://www.klingonwiki.net


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