Problem: The Tlingit language (English: , ; Tlingit: Lingit [linkit]) is spoken by the Tlingit people of Southeast Alaska and Western Canada. It is a branch of the Na-Dene language family. Extensive effort is being put into revitalization programs in Southeast Alaska to revive and preserve the Tlingit language and culture. Missionaries of the Russian Orthodox Church were the first to develop a written version of Tlingit, using the Cyrillic script to record and translate it, when the Russian Empire had contact with Alaska and the coast of North America down to Sonoma County, California.

Tlingit has eight vowels, four vowels further distinguished formally by length. However, the length distinction is often in terms of tenseness rather than length, particularly in rapid speech. For the Northern dialect, the dominant spoken dialect of Tlingit and the standard for written Tlingit, every vowel may take either high or low tone; in the orthography high tone is indicated by an acute accent, e.g. aa, and low tone is unmarked, e.g. aa. The Southern and Transitional dialects have a mid tone which is unmarked and additional low tone which is marked by a grave accent, e.g. aa.  As noted in the vowel chart above, there is an allophone of /a:/ (orthographic aa) which is realized as [a:] under the influence of uvular consonants, however this is not consistent for all speakers. The backness influence arises from articulation with uvular consonants, thus the word khaa "person" is often spoken as [qha:], whereas the word (a) kaa "on (its) surface" is said as [(?^) kha:] by the same speakers.  Word onset is always consonantal in Tlingit, i.e. no word may begin with a vowel. Where one would occur theoretically by e.g. prefixing or compounding, the vowel is obligatorily preceded by either [?] or [j]. The former is universal in single words, and the latter is found varying with [?] in word-medial position in compounds. The orthography does not reflect the [?] in word-initial position, but either . or y may be seen in medial position. For example, the word khoowat'aa "the weather is hot" (khu-yu-ya-t'aa, INDH.OBJ-PERF-(0, -D, +I)-hot) is phonetically [qhu:w^t'a:], but when the perfective prefix yu- is word initial in uwat'aa "it is hot" (0-yu-ya-t'aa, 3NEU.OBJ-PERF-(0, -D, +I)-hot) the phonetic form is [?Uw^t'a:] where the glottal stop appears to ensure that the word begins with a consonant.

what are uvular consonants?

Answer with quotes: thus the word khaa "person" is often spoken as [qha:], whereas the word (a) kaa "on (its) surface" is said as [(?^) kha:] by the same speakers.


Problem: Clemens was born in Dayton, Ohio, the fifth child of Bill and Bess (Lee) Clemens. He is of German descent, his great-grandfather Joseph Clemens having immigrated in the 1880s. Clemens's parents separated when he was an infant. His mother soon married Woody Booher, whom Clemens considers his father.

Clemens has appeared as himself in several movies and television episodes and has also occasionally acted in films. Perhaps best known was his appearance in the season three episode of The Simpsons ("Homer at the Bat") where he is hypnotized into thinking he is a chicken (he did his own clucking). Clemens has also made guest appearances as himself on the TV shows Hope & Faith, Spin City, Arli$$, and Saturday Night Live as well as the movie Anger Management, and makes a brief appearance in the movie Kingpin as the character Skidmark. He also is shown playing an actual game with the Houston Astros in the film Boyhood.  He appeared in the 1994 movie Cobb as an unidentified pitcher for the Philadelphia A's. In 2003, he was part of an advertising campaign for Armour hot dogs with MLB players Ken Griffey Jr., Derek Jeter, and Sammy Sosa. Since 2005, Clemens has also appeared in many commercials for Texas-based supermarket chain H-E-B. In 2007, he appeared on a baseball-themed episode of MythBusters ("Baseball Myths"). He has also starred in a commercial for Cingular parodying his return from retirement. He was calling his wife, Debra Godfrey, and a dropped call resulted in his return to the Yankees.  He released an early autobiography, Rocket Man: The Roger Clemens Story written with Peter Gammons, in 1987. Clemens is also the spokesperson for Champion car dealerships in South Texas. In April 2009, Clemens was the subject of an unauthorized biography by Jeff Pearlman, titled The Rocket that Fell to Earth-Roger Clemens and the Rage for Baseball Immortality, that focused on his childhood and early career and accused Mike Piazza of using steroids. On May 12, Clemens broke a long silence to denounce a heavily researched expose by four investigative reporters from the New York Daily News, called American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America's Pastime. Clemens went on ESPN's Mike and Mike show to call the book "garbage", but a review by Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times called the book "gripping" and compared it to the work of Bob Woodward.

was the book successful?

Answer with quotes: