A Case of Conscience

to LARRY SHAW

For any reader who cares, the Lithian words and names he will encounter here and there in this story are to be pronounced as follows:

Xoredeshch: “X” as English “K” or Greek chi, hard; “shch” contains two separate sounds, as in Russian, or in English “fish-church.”

Sfath: As in English, with a broad “a.”

Gton: Guttural “G,” against the hard palate, like hawking.

Chtexa: Like German “Stuka,” but with the flat “e.”

gchteht: Guttural “g” followed by the soft “sh” sound, a flat “e,” and the “h” serving as equivalent of the Old Russian mute sign; thus, a four-syllable word, with a palatal tick at the end, but sounded as one syllable.

Gleshchtehk: As indicated, with the guttural “G,” the “fish-church” middle consonants, and the mute “h” throwing the “k” back against the soft palate.

THE RULE is that “ch” is always English “sh” in the initial position, always English “ch” as in “chip” elsewhere in the word; and “h” in isolation is an accented rest which always precedes, never follows, a consonant. As Agronski somewhere remarks, anybody who can spit can speak Lithian.