Re: Vulcan Word Generator (VWG) trials and tribulations
Rob Zook 
Thu, 25 Mar 1999 16:14:54 -0600

At 03:20 PM 3/25/99 -0600, Steven Boozer wrote:
>Rob Z. wrote:
>
>: I also noted that a couple of words in the dictionary used a: and e:, and I
>: was noting that our new list of vowels  we agreed on (during the great 
>: phonetic reformation :) only has these: 
>: 	i      bIt-bEAt
>: 	u      pOOl
>: 	e      bEt-bAit
>: 	o      bOtch-bOUGHt
>: 	a      bUtter
>: 	aa/ah  bArter
>: 	y      bUY, trY, sAI
>: So what should we convert those a:'s and e:'s into?
>
>Although all this was discussed to death a few months ago, I think we
>should avoid diacritics and punctuation-looking signs like /:/ if possible.

Right, that's what I'm asking. The dictionary has a few words which don't
use the new transcription method, so I'm wondering what should we convert
those e:'s and a:'s in the existing words to.


>Refresh my memory, I've forgotten where we left the approved transcription.
> (Marketa did approve it, yes?)  

Marketa approved this list of consonants (the vowels she approved are above):

p       pat
b       bat
f       fat
v       vat
wh      See ZC Lexicon
w       wet
m       mat
t       tap
d       dash
th      aspirated t
dh      aspirated d
n       net
c       tsunami
s       suit
z       zoo
sh      shoe
zh      a_z_ure
k       kit
g       get
x       See ZC Lexicon
h       hat
ng      ra_ng_
ks      a_x_e
q       See ZC Lexicon
j       yet
rr      See ZC Lexicon
l       let
whl     See ZC Lexicon
r       rat?
ch      chat
dj      jet
n~      See ZC Lexicon

>What's the difference between e/e:/ei/ey and aa/ah/a:/ae in Marketa's 
>pronunciation?  

e: and a: are transliterations for a couple of sounds which appear in the
ZC Lexicon, but which I think we all agreed to dispense with because the ZC 
Lexicon does not adequately define how they sound.


>: a:
>: kah-ru
>: kah-hir
>: kahr-y-tan
>: kahs'-khio-ri
>: kahs'-wan
>
>ah, kahru, kah'hir (kahhir), kahrytan (is it kahr-AI-tan, kahr-I-tan or
>kahr-EE-tan?), kahs'khiori (kahs'khiyori?), kahs'wan

Using the y in the approved transcription vowels listed at the beginning of
this method. By your spelling I'd guess kahr-AI-tan.


>: kae
>: kae'-at
>: kae'-k'-ak-ka-yam
>
>What is /ae/?  "cAt"?  Or is this two separate vowels: /a-e/ or /ah-eh/?

It's a dipthong look at the sounds of a and e in the above vowel list, start
saying the a, finish saying the e, and blend them into one flowing sound.

>: kre-nath
>
>krenath
>
>As for /e/, bEt and bAIt are quite different, at least by me.  If it works
>the way I think, I like /e/ for bEt and /eh/ for bAIt.  

You know that bothered me too, since in my list, I don't have an explaination
as to why we had those both listed for /e/.


>: ur-sev-eh
>: va'-ne:
>
>ur-seveh, va'neh
>
>/eh/ and /e:/ are the same vowel?  

Possibly, that's what I'm asking about.


>: krey-la
>: se-heik
>
>kreila, seheik -or- kreyla, seheyk

Hmmm..,I missed the signifigance of that /y/ the first time around. Maybe
that should go kre-y-la. se-heik I think should stand as it is. ei looks
like another dipthong - the ZC Lexicon says Vulcan has lots of diphthongs so 
we should probably keep anything that looks like one.

>/ey/ and /ei/ are the same diphthong?

In those two words, the probably mean different things. If /kreyla/ is from a 
trek novel, /ey/ probably represents an English dipthong which in the 
approved transliteration would probably go /ei/.


>: ka-li-fee
>: qo-mee
>: shi-ka'-ree
>
>/ee/ as in thIEf & bEAt, right?  We're using /i/ for both bIt and bEAt?
>How about /ih/ for bIt and /i/ for bEAt?

I left those untouched, but those can probably get converted from /ee/ to /i/.


>kalihfi, qomi, shihka'ri
>
>Hmm... perhaps a positional variant: final, stressed /i/ is pronounced long? 
>kalifi, qomi, shika'ri

If Saavik's pronounciation of qomi in ST:II is any judge, that seems very
likely. Except she did not pronounce it with a final stress.

>
>: kai-idth
>: lai-la-ra
>: nai-la-ra
>: rel-dai
>
>kyidth (ky'idth), lylara, nylara, reldy (yech! reldai looks better)
>
>Can we retain /ai/ or /ay/, at least for word finals?

Personally, I think we should make the use of the /y/ or /ai/ completely
optional. I prefer the /ai/, after all, why make a special fuss over one
dipthong?


Rob Z.