[tlhIngan Hol] Klingon Word of the Day: 'opuHwI'

[Alan Anderson]

On Sat, Jan 13, 2024 at 10:43 PM Will Martin via tlhIngan-Hol <
tlhingan-hol at lists.kli.org> wrote:

> For that matter, {‘opuH} is somewhat uncommon in terms of phonemes, in
> that the {-opu-} would more commonly be {‘o’pu-} or {‘op’u}. The syllable
> division in Klingon is usually between two consonants. So, is this
> {‘op-uH}, or is it {‘o-puH}? Where do you divide the syllables? It’s like
> the {p} is the syllable boundary, making it somehow not quite belong to
> either syllable.
>

It's "somewhat uncommon" but it's not bizarre. Consider nouns like {pIqaD}
and {toDuj}, and even the verb {nughI'}.


> I’m don't feel sure I really know how to pronounce this simple word.
>

It is clearly {'o - puH - wI'}. Syllables begin with a consonant. (The
single exception of the vowel-initial morpheme {-oy} might in practice
"borrow" the preceding syllable's ending consonant, or end up with an
inserted {'} if there isn't a consonant to be borrowed.)

-- ghunchu'wI'
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