[lojban-beginners] Re: "x" sound

[Michael van der Gulik <mikevdg@gulik.co.nz>]

Betsemes wrote:

> I've still doubts about how this letter sounds. The online reference grammar
> says "x   [x]        an unvoiced velar fricative".
> I can also find:
> [x]
> The preferred pronunciation of Lojban ``x''. Not normally an English sound,
> but used in some pronunciations of ``loch'' and ``Bach''; ``gh'' in Scots
> ``might'' and ``night''. The German ``Ach-Laut''. To pronounce [x], force
> air through your throat without vibrating your vocal chords; there should be
> lots of scrape.
>
> I'm still unsure on which sound it might be, but I've guessed it's the same
> "H" sound used in Klingon (as in /baH/ or /'oH/). Could someone who knows
> both languages (if any) clarify?
>
>  
You could find some lojban recordings on the Internet and listen to 
them. This is a good starting point:

http://www.lojban.org/tiki/tiki-index.php?page=Multimedia
http://www.users.qwest.net/~rrapplean/loj400.html

The "x" sound is made by putting the middle bulge of your tongue against 
the back end of your hard pallate and gargling while forcing air through 
your mouth. It sounds quite disgusting. I think that it's entirely 
possible a native English speaker may never have heard this sound in 
his/her entire life.

AFAIK, Lojban isn't actually spoken aloud that often, so I wouldn't 
loose sleep over it.

Mikevdg.