258 Dr. Marshall Hall on Stammering. 



termed liquids, as flowing without obstacle. And it is by this 

 circumstance, principally, extraordinary as it may appear, that 

 the letter M differs from the letters B and P, for they are all 

 equally labial ; and that the letter N differs from T and D, for 

 they are all equally formed by placing the point of the tongue 

 near the roots of the upper teeth. 



Of the fourth and last class, are 



H; the Greek X; Y; and W. 



In the enunciation of these consonants, the air appears to 

 be scarcely compressed or impeded in its exit at all. This 

 fact may, I think, account for the circumstance, that it has 

 even been doubted, whether the two last letters be really con- 

 sonants or not; and for the remarkable fact, that they cannot, 

 as consonants, form the termination of any word. Their me- 

 chanism is guttural, double dental, and labial, respectively. 



These letters, preceded as they are in this arrangement, by 

 the liquids, lead us almost insensibly to the class of letters to 

 be next noticed, namely, the vowels. 



These are so called, from having been supposed to relate to 

 the voice alone *. This, however, is obviously an error. The 

 different parts forming the mouth, or organ of speech, are not 

 less necessary to the enunciation of the vowels, than to that of 

 the consonants, or their function less appreciable, on carefully 

 making the experiment. Thus, the French U is entirely 

 labial; the letter E is dental; O, palatal; whilst the diph- 

 thong AW, and the vowels marked in the French language by 

 the circumflex (A), are guttural. 



Now let any one carefully examine the effort made by the 

 stammerer in his attempts at the enunciation of these various 

 letters. It will be obvious that the malady is but an exagger- 

 ation of the natural effort. In attempting to pronounce the 

 letters of the first class, violent efforts are made, yet expiration 

 articulation is not effected ; but there is frequently, nay 

 generally, a peculiar noise heard in the larynx, although its full 

 enunciation is prevented by the action of the muscles of the 

 mouth. But if the letters of the second class are pronounced 

 with stammering, there is a perpetual hissing from the escape 



* Blumenbachii Iiistitutiones Physiologiae, Ed. MDCCCX, Sectio IX. 



