Pronouncing Klingon ... That's The Easy Part! - Consonants, Part 2

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So far, we've covered the vowels and the consonants b, ch, D, gh and H. Now, it's time to cover the consonants j, l, m, n, ng and p.

On the way, we'll ask an interesting question about tlhIngan Hol - about the absence of the letters c and k. Klingon doesn't have these letters. Why would you think that is so? I'll leave this with you to ponder.

Tongue Against Palate

The normal habit of English is to place the tongue against the tip of the incisors, the front teeth, when pronouncing most consonants. With Klingon, the trick to better pronunciation is to learn to train your tongue to curl up to touch the palate behind your teeth, closer to the roof of your mouth - particularly with the more forceful consonants such as D, S and t.

j

Klingon j is always pronounced as in the name George, and the words jerk and jail; it is never pronounced with a zh as in the French jour.

l

Klingon l is pronounced more or less the way it is in English lick and litter; but positioning the tongue against the palate adds that authentic Klingon accent to your speech.

m

Klingon m is pronounced with as much force as b, but in ta' Hol Emperor's language, the current standard dialect of Klingon, it is more or less pronounced as in minefield and mystery. In some dialects of Klingon, m sometimes comes out as b. You'll have to listen carefully, because serious misunderstandings could occur if you are unsure which dialect of Klingon is being spoken. You yourself should stick to pronouncing it in accordance with the guideline for ta' Hol.

n

Klingon n is pronounced with the tongue tip in the same place as for D, and it is pronounced in Standard Klingon, or ta' Hol, as in naughty and never. As with m above, some Klingons pronounce n as a D. It could lead to misunderstandings and some bloodshed - but you should stick to pronouncing it in accordance with the guideline for ta' Hol.

ng

Klingon ng is similar to English ng; however, unlike English where ng only occurs at the end of a syllable, Klingon ng also occurs at the beginning of some syllables and words. Pronounce ng as in the ng at the end of long, thing, sing or singer - never as in finger or danger.

p

Klingon p is pronounced with the same force as b. Always pronounce it with a little explosive sound, like English pick, peck, pickle, peppercorn only punctuated with power.

Now try pronouncing the following Klingon words from the lists of nouns and verbs presented in earlier posts:-

jagh	(n)	enemy
jIH	(n)	viewing screen
juH	(n)	home
jup	(n)	friend
loD	(n)	man, male
loDHom	(n)	boy
loDnal	(n)	husband
mIn	(n)	eye
nob	(n)	gift
poH	(n)	period of time
porgh	(n)	body
ghaj	(v)	have, possess
jach	(v)	scream, cry out, shout, yell
jaH	(v)	go, travel
jang	(v)	answer, reply

Next lesson covers the toughest consonants of them all: q, Q, r, S, t and especially the deal breaker, tlh.

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