Alphabet&Pronunciation

Pronunciation

QumwI' yIchu'! ("Activate communicator!")

We're excited to bring the language of the future to your primitive technical devices!

Much as the English letter "H" is "aitch" or "haitch", or "Y" is "wye" & "W" is "double-you", Klingon letters also have names.

The vowels are called 'at 'et 'It 'ot 'ut. The consonants add -ay to the consonant sound, e.g. m is called may (sounds like English my) & tlh is tlhay. Translate those as "the letter a", "the letter m", "the letter tlh", etc.

Alphabet

The Klingon alphabet is: a b ch D e gh H I j l m n ng o p q Q r S t tlh u v w y '

Note that case matters: many letters are always lowercase (even at the beginning of a sentence) & some are always uppercase.

Note I (capital i) versus l (small L) - the second has a small curl at the bottom in Duolingo's website font. The vowel I never has an adjacent vowel. The consonant l will always have at least one adjacent vowel. Q & q are two separate letters. ch gh ng & tlh count as single consonants in Klingon. The ' (apostrophe) also counts as a letter.

Pronunciation:

Letters b l m n p t & v are said as in English, but b, p & t should always have a puff of air, even at the end of a word.

Vowels each have one pronunciation.

'at: a as in father 'et: e as in ten 'lt: I as in it 'ot: o as in bowl 'ut: u as the oo in pool

I is uppercase to remind us that it is different from the pattern of 5 vowels we often see in foreign languages.

w & y are as in English at the beginnings of syllables. At the ends they form a combined sound called a diphthong. At the end of a syllable w sounds like oo & y sounds like "ee". So paw sounds like "pow" & pay sounds like "pie".

ch is said as in "church". Never like an English "k" or "sh", & never like a German, Scottish, or Hebrew "ch". Please note that ch is a single Klingon consonant.

j should be said hard like the beginning & end of the English word "judge". Never with the softer sound from French.

r is not usually said at the roof of the mouth like an American English "r", but with the tip of the tongue behind the teeth like a Spanish "r".

q sounds much like an English "k", but from the back of the throat. The q does not include the "w" sound as in English words that begin with "qu". Even when q is followed by u, the two sounds do not blend. The Klingon word qul ("fire") sounds like the English word "cool", but with a stronger "c" sound. This is a different letter than Q explained below.

D in Klingon sounds similar to the English "d", but said with the tip of the tongue further back in the high roof of the mouth & is capitalized to help us remember the difference.

S is similarly said with the tip of the tongue further back in the high roof of the mouth. It winds up sounding a bit like an English "sh", but should never be said like an "sh". The S is also capitalized to help us remember the difference.

ng is said exactly as in English, but English speakers are not used to it at the beginning of a word. Put the rear of your tongue to the roof of your mouth to make this sound. Please note that ng is a single Klingon consonant.

gh is produced at the top of the throat with a raspy gargle or purr & a voiced vibration in the throat. Please note that gh is a single Klingon consonant.

H is said in the same position as gh but without the voiced vibration. It is similar to the "ch" heard in Scottish "loch", Hebrew "l'chaim", & German "Bach", though it is usually said a little further back & a little stronger than those sounds. It is capitalized to remind us not to say it like the weak English "h". When you see a lower-case "h" it will always be part of one of the consonants ch, gh, or tlh.

Q combines the q sound & the H sound. It should start with the throat closed like you are going to make a q, but then explode into a raspy H-type sound.

tlh is another sound not made in English. It explodes like a "t", but out the sides of the tongue like an "l". Note that this is one consonant in Klingon & is the only time you will see a l (lower-case L) without at least one vowel next to it.

' marks a sound we do make in English. We don't usually mark it in English. In Klingon it is a full letter & leaving it out is like missing any other letter from a word. We call this qaghwI'. It is made by closing the throat & is called a glottal stop. It's the stop between syllables in the word "uh-oh". You may notice that you also close the throat at the beginning of "uh-oh" and all English words that start with a vowel. Klingon 'ej sounds exactly like English "edge".