Physiology of Speech, 13 



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 consonants or no ; 

 and for the remarkable fact, that they cannot, as comanantSf 

 form the termination of any word. 



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 mak- 

 ing the experiment. Thus, the French U is entirely labial; the 

 letter E is dental ; O, palatial ; whilst the diphthong AW, and 

 the vowels marked in the French language by the circumflex 

 (A) are guttural. 



The mechanism of the vowels is not, indeed, so obvious as that 

 of the consonants. It is, however, sufficiently so to afford an illus- 

 tration and explanation of several remarkable facts, ei 



First, it may be observed, that any peculiarity of articulation 

 in a language, imparts a peculiar expression or physigonomy to 

 those who speak it. This is particularly observable in the enun- 

 ciation of the French U, of which we have already spoken, 

 which would not be the case if this letter were merely vocaL 



Secondly, this fact is so certain, that a child may be taught to 

 form such a letter at once, if his attention be taken from the 

 book and directed to the countenance of the teacher, when it 

 would be quite a task to effect this object in any other manner. 



It may be observed, that when any given voivel sound exists 

 in a foreign language, and not in our own, it is learnt with far 

 greater difficulty than a new but distinct consonant would pro- 

 bably be ; and the same observation would appear to apply to 



* Blumenbach. 



