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From: markrose@spss.com (Mark Rosenfelder)
Subject: Re: Bajoran language
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References: <3be0se$o71@mother.usf.edu> <librikD02q63.Hyx@netcom.com> <199412040105.AA01854@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> <Pine.SUN.3.91.941204162603.17615C-100000@grad>
Date: Mon, 5 Dec 1994 20:25:33 GMT
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In article <Pine.SUN.3.91.941204162603.17615C-100000@grad>,
Timothy Miller  <millert@csee.usf.edu> wrote:
>On Sat, 3 Dec 1994, Christopher Bradford Stone wrote:
>> Who says that the alien languages all have sounds that are pronouncable 
>> by humans, for that matter?  Maybe the structure of our mouths might not be
>> suitable for some languages?  (Look at the Gorn in TOS, for instance.)
>
>Well, actually, even minor changes in the shape of the human vocal tract 
>would render it inoperable.  For an alien race to be able to pronounce 
>words in a human language, or perhaps to even speak at all in a way that 
>could get a point across in some language, the vocal tract would have to 
>be very much like the human's.  

True enough; but why not introduce some simple, interesting variants?
For instance, change the internal anatomy of the mouth so that there's
more or fewer points of articulation.  Or, have no vocal cords, so that
all sounds are unvoiced; or no nasal cavity, so there's no nasals-- or
take the opposite tack-- say that they can route air through the gizzard,
or whatever, producing a whole series of gizzardized vowels.  Or make
the mouth deeper, so there's a set of vowels lower than A.  
