orthoepy
[awr-thoh-uh-pee, awr-thoh-ep-ee]
noun
the study of correct pronunciation.
customary pronunciation (cacoepy ).
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“Hey, we just got the latest transmission. This one’s all text.” Dr. Keller said.
“Great. So instead of incomprehensible words, we get incomprehensible text.” Dr. Opal replied. “Please tell me it won’t be in their alphabet.”
Dr. Keller opened the file. It was using English letters, but the contents were pure gibberish. The linguist skimmed the data before he said anything. “Looks like we got a transliterated version.”
“Great. So we have a complete guide to the unpronounceable. That’ll help.” Dr. Opal said. He slumped deeper into his seat as his colleague transferred the file.
Both of them examined the document, pouring over the provided guides. They did not seem to match up with the letters, and many of the sounds seemed impossible to make with the human tongue.
“How in the world are we supposed to talk with them?” Dr. Keller asked. “I don’t think we can even make half of these sounds.”
“Hopefully that means they’re having just as much trouble with our language as they are with ours. That way we’re not the only ones sounding like idiots by trying to speak the other’s language.”
“Yeah, right. Maybe they’ll have some kind of universal translator and they’re only gathering data to make it work for our language.”
“That would be nice. Although given the amount of effort being put into translation, I doubt that. And even if they did, the odds of them giving us such a valuable technology is pretty slim.”
“We can hope. I mean, they came who knows how many light years to get to Earth. I would think a translator would not only be necessary, it would be easy to make. It’d be like us giving a dictionary to an uncontacted tribe. Easy for us, invaluable for them.”
“We can hope. But for now, let’s assume they don’t have that kind of translation tech, and if they do, they won’t share it with us. We still need to find a way for the human mouth to pronounce words consisting of sounds that it was never meant to make. And that’s on top of trying to translate those words into something that actually makes sense for us.”
“Yeah. I know.” Dr. Keller said with a heavy sigh. “A guy can dream though, can’t he?”
“And a fine dream it is.” Dr. Opal agreed. “Just not a realistic one.”
The two linguists grumbled at their workload. Neither man thought that trying to uncover an alien language would be so much impossible work. Both had thought it would be a deep, exiting thing to attempt to bridge a gap that spanned star systems. One that would involve interacting with alien beings and their wondrous technologies. Instead, they were shut in a room with a few computers. The process of making both the translations and the pronunciation guide was a dull, tedious affair. But it was one that would, hopefully, get them recognized for their contribution and lead to many wonderful things for humanity as a whole. That was one of the few things that got them through their frustration and boredom. *******************************
Not my best work, I admit. I wasn't sure how to end this one, so it just kinda...does. Maybe next week will be better.
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