858 OF THE VOICE AND SPEECH. 



these; the number 5 expressing the largest size, and the others in like pro- 

 portion : 



Vowel. Sound. Size of oral opening. Size of huccal cavity. 



a as in ah 5 5 



a as in nnme 4 2 



e as in theme 3 1 



o as in cold 2 4 



oo as in cool 1 5 



These are the sounds of the five vowels, a, e, i, o, u, in most Continental 

 languages; and it cannot but be admitted that the arrangement is a much 

 more natural one than that of our own vowel series. The English a has 

 three distinct sounds capable of prolongation j 1 the true broad a of ah, slightly 

 modified in far; the a of fate, corresponding to the e of French ; and the a 

 of fall, which should be really represented by cm. This last is a simple sound, 

 though commonly reckoned as a diphthong. In Kempelen's scale, the oral 

 orifice required to produce it would be about 3, and the size of the buccal 

 cavity 4. 2 On the other hand, the sound of the English i cannot, like that 

 of a true vowel, be prolonged ad libitum; it is in fact a sort of diphthong, re- 

 sulting from the transition from a peculiar indefinite murmur to the sound 

 of e, which takes its place Avhen we attempt to continue it. The sound oy 

 or oi, as in oil, is a good example of the true diphthong; being produced by 

 the transition from cm to e. In the same manner, the diphthong on which 

 is the same with ow in owl, is produced in the rapid transition from the broad 

 a of ah, to the oo of cool. Much discussion has taken place as to the true 

 character of y, when it commences a word, as in yet, yawl, etc., some hav- 

 ing maintained that it is a consonant (for the very unsatisfactory reason 

 that we are in the habit of employing a rather than an, when we desire to 

 prefix the indefinite article to such words), whilst others regard it as a pecu- 

 liar vowel. A slight attention to the position of the vocal organs during its 

 pronunciation, makes it very clear that its sound in such words really corre- 

 sponds with that of the long (English) e; the pronunciation of the word 

 yawl being the same as that of eaul, when the first sound is not prolonged, 

 but rapidly transformed into the second. The sound of the letter ', more- 

 over, is really of the vowel character, being formed in the rapid transition 

 from oo to the succeeding vowel ; thus ivall might be spelt ooal. Many simi- 

 lar difficulties might be removed, and the conformity between spoken and 

 written language might be greatly increased (so as to render far more easy 

 the acquirement of the former from the latter), by due attention to the state 

 of the vocal organs in the production of the simple sounds. 



705. It is not very difficult to produce a tolerably good artificial imita- 

 tion of the Vowel sounds. The method adopted by Helmholtz of combining 

 the fundamental note with various harmonics for each vowel has been already 

 referred to ( 640). By Kempelen it was accomplished by means of an In- 

 dia-rubber ball, with an orifice at each end, of which the lower one was 

 attached to a reed : by modifying the form of the ball, the different vowels 

 could be sounded during the action of the reed. He also employed a short 



1 The short vowel sounds, as a in fat, e in met, o in pot, etc., are not capable of 

 prolongation. 



2 The mode of making a determination of this kind may here be given, for the 

 sake of example. If the broad n be sounded, the mouth and fauces being opened , 

 wide, and we contract the oral orifice by drives, at the same time slightly elevating 

 the point of the tongue, we gradually come to the sound of au; by still turther con- 

 tracting the orifice, and again depressing the tongue, we form oo. On the other 

 hand, in sounding e, the tongue is raised nearly to the roof of the mouth; if it be 

 depressed, without the position of the lips being altered, au is given. 



