<< First Page
Now here come the most difficult consonants to pronounce: q, Q, r, S, t and particularly tlh.
In tlhIngan Hol, each character is distinct, and has a distinct sound. q and Q are completely different characters - ngoq and ngoQ are two completely different words with entirely unrelated meanings (code (n) and goal (n), respectively). In the Klingon vocabulary, words with an initial q are listed separately, and before, words beginning with an initial Q - thus syllables beginning with qo- come before syllables beginning with Qa-.
Likewise t and tlh are entirely separate consonants, and words beginning with t are placed ahead of words beginning with tlh in the alphabetical order listed in The Klingon Dictionary.
q
Klingon q is the tlhIngan Hol version of the c and k sounds. It is pronounced a lot more forcefully than a k, at the back of the throat. Along with H and Q, q is one of the three Klingon Hairball Consonants - in that when you are pronouncing them correctly, you sound as if you are attempting to cough up a stubborn bezoar stuck halfway down your oesophagus.Q
Klingon Q is the loudest tlhIngan Hol consonant. You get it by rolling q and H together. As if either of them on their own was bad enough.r
Klingon r is always rolled, with a strong burr. It is never pronounced like a French r as in rouge, and it is always pronounced - unlike the English r sound in words such as answer and dancer. Think of Klingons as all speaking with a Scottish accent. It helps.S
Klingon S should always be pronounced like a sh as in sugar, brush and passion. However, there is more to it than that. For starters, the tip of your tongue should be placed up against the palate behind your teeth, ideally up towards the roof of your mouth where you put your tongue to pronounce D.t
Klingon t is another forceful one - pronounced as in terror and territory, but with the same puff of air as when you are pronouncing b or p.tlh
And now we come to Klingon tlh, arguably the most difficult consonant even to attempt to pronounce. Here goes.First, the tip of your tongue rests in the place where you normally say D or S. Up there, against the palate.
Now, while saying t, follow it by closing off the passage of air through the tip of your tongue. The air of your breath will pass through one sidd of your tongue; not only does is ptoduce the lh sound, if you do it right you will feel the passage of your breath vibrating against the inside of your cheek. that is what tlh sounds like.
Now you can try your hand at pronouncing these words.
| baS | (n) | metal |
| Dargh | (n) | tea |
| HaSta | (n) | visual display (on monitor) |
| HIq | (n) | wine, ale, alcoholic beverage |
| latlh | (n) | additional one, other one |
| parmaq | (n) | love, romance |
| parmaqqay | (n) | romantic companion, romantic partner |
| porgh | (n) | body |
| qab | (n) | face |
| Quch | (n) | forehead |
| Soj | (n) | food |
| Sub | (n) | hero |
| Sut | (n) | clothing |
| tIq | (n) | heart |
| tlhIngan | (n) | Klingon |
| buS | (v) | concentrate on, focus on, think only about |
| DuQ | (v) | stab |
| ghoS | (v) | go onward, approach, go away from, proceed on a course, come, follow (a course) |
| ghoS | (v) | thrust |
| Har | (v) | believe |
| jatlh | (v) | say, tell, speak |
| largh | (v) | smell (detect odour) |
| loS | (v) | wait (for) |
| maS | (v) | prefer |
| nargh | (v) | appear |
| nargh | (v) | escape |
| qaS | (v) | occur, happen |
| qel | (v) | consider, take into account |
| qem | (v) | bring |
| qeng | (v) | carry, bear, convey |
| qIm | (v) | pay attention, concentrate |
| qIp | (v) | hit (with hand, fist, weapon) |
| Qap | (v) | work, function, succeed, operate, be in operation |
| Qorgh | (v) | care for |
| Qum | (v) | communicate |
| reH | (v) | play |
| rur | (v) | resemble |
| SaH | (v) | care about |
| SaQ | (v) | cry (weep, not scream) |
| SIgh | (v) | influence |
| SuD | (v) | gamble, take a chance, take a risk |
| tuQ | (v) | wear (clothes) |
| tlhup | (v) | whisper |
Now try it with the words for Klingon Language themselves:-
tlhIngan Hol
The last few consonants, namely v, w, y and ', are covered in the next lesson.
<< First Page
No comments:
Post a Comment
DaH yIjatlh! Speak now!