Pronouncing Klingon ... That's The Easy Part! - Consonants, Part 4

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And here, we come to the final four sounds of Klingon: the consonants v, w, y and the glottal stop '.

Where Is The Letter F?

Where is the letter F in tlhIngan Hol? The answer is: there isn't one. tlhIngan Hol was written without a letter f; in loan words with an f, use the Klingon v sound instead.

v

Klingon v is pronounced like the English vixen, venom and virulent -only with the customary extra force you must be getting used to by now. Think of the words voiced with added venom, and you get the drift.

Klingon v is also used as a substitute for the letter f in numerous loan words, such as verengan Ferengi and wo'rIv Worf.

w

Klingon w is fairly straightforward; pronounce it as in the English whisper and watch.

y

Klingon y is also fairly straightforward; pronounce it as in the English yodel and yell.

'

The ' character does not, in itself, represent a sound, but rather a cessation of sound. ' represents an interruption of sound; an sbruptness to the pattern of speech.

As with all Klingon characters, the presence of a ' is significant: paw and paw' are completely different words (they read as arrive (v) and collide (v) respectively). paw is also pronounced as in the Vulcan name T'Pau, by the way.

Let's Put It All Together

Let's try out the sounds you have learned now, beginning with Klingon Teachings, the title of this blog:-

tlhIngan paQDI'norgh

And now, try out your new-found knowledge on these challenging words:-

be'	(n)	woman, female
be'Hom	(n)	girl
be'nal	(n)	wife
be'nI'	(n)	sister
ghu'	(n)	situation
loDnI'	(n)	brother
nuv	(n)	person (humanoid)
roghvaH	(n)	population
vay'	(n)	somebody, someone, something, anybody, anyone, anything
voDleH	(n)	emperor
wIy	(n)	tactical display (on monitor)
wo'	(n)	empire
'ay'	(n)	section, part, component, piece
'Iw	(n)	blood
'u'	(n)	universe
ba’	(v)	sit
chaw’	(v)	allow, permit
chu’	(v)	engage, activate (a device)
ghov	(v)	recognize
HIv	(v)	attack
jaw	(v)	chat
ja'	(v)	tell, report
Qoy	(v)	hear
ra'	(v)	command, order
ta’	(v)	accomplish
tIv	(v)	enjoy
van	(v)	salute
wIv	(v)	choose, select
woD	(v)	throw away
woH	(v)	pick up
’ur	(v)	treason, commit treason

Closing Notes

These are all the sounds of Klingon you are ever going to have to learn. Once you have learned, them, you will be able to speak tlhIngan Hol with great power - which is, in the end, the most authentic Klingon accent you can have, regardless of whether your uttered words have a Welsh lilt or a Texas twang.

As for what words you would like to say, the structures of sentences and the meaning - that is the subject of the rest of this blog.

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Pronouncing Klingon ... That's The Easy Part! - Consonants, Part 3

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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

If you've got this far, and your throat hasn't been mangled by Q and tlh, majQa' Excellent! Well done!

The last few consonants, namely v, w, y and ', are covered in the next lesson.

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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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Pronouncing Klingon ... That's The Easy Part! - Consonants, Part 1

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Last time, we focused on the vowels. Now, the first batch of the consonants, and the first of your real challenges.

Here's a fun fact about tlhIngan Hol: there are no silent letters. You pronounce every letter, every vowel, every consonant and every glottal stop. In fact, you will be required to voice them with considerable force.

Never murmur or mutter in Klingon. Make your every utterance clear and strong. It is a dishonour to mutter the Warrior's Tongue. At the very least, it is disrespectful to the listener.

And now, the first five consonants.

The first five consonants of Klingon are:- b, ch, D, gh, H.

b

Klingon b is pronounced like the b in back and battle, but with more force and even a slight puff of air.

ch

Klingon ch is pronounced as in the words batch and chop; never as in Johann Sebastian Bach.

D

Klingon D is a strongly pronounced d sound, as in door and Death. Try to pronounce it with the tip of your tongue placed against the roof of your mouth, rather than the usual placement at the tip of the teeth.

gh

The closest consonant approximation to Klingon gh is the French trilled r from such French words as règle and droit.

rgh

This is a little out of order, since this should be placed after r in the appropriate section: but it is placed here since the combination rgh turns up in a lot of Klingon words such as chargh, chorgh, largh, norgh, Sargh, targh and so on. It is pronounced by rolling the r and the gh sounds together.

H

Klingon H is pronounced similar to the ch in Bach. Though again, some effort to pronounce it with force is expected.

Further Consonants

We will be looking at another batch of consonants in the next chapter. Meanwhile, practice your pronunciation of the following words from the lists listed previously.

Dargh	(n)	tea
Doch	(n)	thing
ghogh	(n)	voice
Hegh	(n)	death
Hoch	(n)	everyone, all, everything, each, every
HoH	(n)	killing
baH	(v)	fire (weapon)
bach	(v)	shoot
chagh	(v)	drop
choH	(v)	alter, change
Da	(v)	behave as, act in the manner of
DoH	(v)	back off, back away from
ghob	(v)	fight, battle, do battle, wage war
Hech	(v)	intend, mean to
Hegh	(v)	die
HoH	(v)	kill

Note that Hegh, the noun for Death and the verb for die are the same, as is HoH, the noun for killing and the verb for kill. There are a number of similar Klingon words which are both nouns and verbs - Klingon has ways of distinguishing between such words. We will explore verb prefixes and suffixes, and noun suffixes, and their meaninga and uses, in later lessons.

Next: pronunciation of the consonants j, l, m, n, ng and p.

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