trills and thrills WAS Re: For words ending in "-ity" is it ~t or ~d

[Mark Mandel]

Heh. "Kkkkkkk" is used by the kif, whose names and words often include "kk",
as in "hakkikt" 'pirate prince'. They are described as reptilian in
appearance except for a thin sagittal line of hair along the top of the
skull. There's one (hooded) in the background of the cover illo here:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/ypdj88

The kif have two sets of teeth: the big long jaw you can see there for
tearing hunks out of their (preferably living) prey, such as enemies, and an
inner set for chopping it up fine to get through their narrow gullets.
"Kkkkkkkk" is the chattering of the inner teeth. Not having such, I've had
to make to.

As if that weren't enough challenge, I use the word several times in a song
(http://filk.cracksandshards.com/NewDays.html).

-- Mark A. Mandel, The Filker With No Nickname
   http://filk.cracksandshards.com/

On 6/17/07, James Harbeck <jharbeck at sympatico.ca> wrote:
>
> >I have sworn off arguing with Mr. Zurinskas, but somewhat aslant of this
> >topic I'll say that a velar *trill* is possible though difficult. I doubt
> >that any real language uses it, but I took the alien interjection
> >"Kkkkkkkk!" (in C.J. Cherryh's Chanur books) as a challenge, purely for
> >fannish linguistic fun. By tightening the tongue muscle just posterior to
> >the place of articulation and using more pulmonic force than is normal,
> it
> >is possible to trill the body of the tongue at the velum or the hard
> palate.
>
> What fun! I'll add that to the dental trill (eth or thorn, trilled)
> I've managed to pretty much master and my favourite, the ingressive
> palatal trill (put your tongue flat against the roof of your mouth
> and inhale; ease the tongue only slightly away from the palate and
> you will make a somewhat reptilian sound). I'm pretty sure this
> latter is not used in any known human language (though I'd be tickled
> to be wrong); I'm unaware of the usage status of the dental trill.
>
> James Harbeck.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org