On 11/15/2019 4:26 PM, Will Martin wrote:
So, why not {SeqatlenDe’}? That would certainly be a more recognizable transliteration.
In your dialect of English, perhaps, but what about in Scottish English (and I don't mean Scots)? I'm actually more surprised it's not *SIqo'lan,* since terminal /t/'s tend to be turned into glottal stops in Scottish English. I'm pretty sure the first vowel of /Scotland/ when spoken by Scots does not sound like the /a/ in American English /father. /It's not all the way to Klingon *o,* though. Here's a video fo Craig Fergusson saying it with what I assume is a Glaswegian accent: https://youtu.be/iTOvKGUdXNc?t=39 There are different Scottish accents, though, and I'm not familiar with the differences. Here's a cool video about that (she says /Scotland/ at the beginning): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXpQna8WRB8 As for the *-lan,* as nIqolay points out, he's always transliterated /-land/ as *-lan.* I expect that's to avoid piling on too many extra syllables. The final /d/ just isn't all that important. But the initial /S/ and /c/ are equally important.
Okrand’s looks more like its based on English spelling than pronunciation, which he has avoided doing when naming other countries.
In the end, it’s arbitrary.
Throw a word through different languages and change happens. {Seqotlan} it is.
*SIqotlan* -- SuStel http://trimboli.name