[ 279 ] 



X'LII. Facts and Observations relative to the Science of 

 Phonetics. By Professor Latham. 



IN a previous paper (February 1841, Phil. Mag. S. S. vol. 

 * xviii. p. 124) an attempt was made to investigate the num- 

 ber and relations of the consonants called mutes, and to indi- 

 cate under the term phonetics the particular department of sci- 

 entific inquiry that employed itself upon the nature, affinities, 

 and arrangements of the elementary articulate sounds in lan- 

 guage. Upon these points both grammarians and physiologists 

 have left much to be done, whilst all that has been firmly es- 

 tablished, viz. the nature and affinity of the vowels, has been 

 the work of the natural philosopher. Similar certainty of ar- 

 rangement may be introduced amongst the consonants. 



It has been shown already that the number of the mutes is 

 neither more nor less than sixteen. These fall into four di- 

 visions, each division consisting of four sounds, allied to each 

 other and forming a series, e. g. 



p b f v 



t d\% 



k g x' y* 



+ * 9* £ 



For these series of four sounds the term quaternion is con- 

 sidered a convenient name. Hence we may speak of the qua- 

 ternion represented by /?, the quaternion represented by t, the 

 quaternion represented by k, and the quaternion represented 

 by s. Such, up to a certain point, is the classification of the 

 mute consonants. 



Beyond this, however, lies the question as to the order and 

 arrangements of the quaternions themselves. Undoubtedly 

 we might speak of the sound of/? as belonging to the first, of 

 the sound of s as belonging to the last quaternion, and of the 

 sounds of/ and k as belonging to the intermediate ones. In 

 other words, we could give a fixed order of sequence to the 

 quaternions, to which, if convenience required, and the lan- 

 guage of scholars was uniform, we might rigidly adhere. Such 

 an order, however, would only be arbitrary and artificial, or, 

 if it were natural, would be so only by accident. The ques- 

 tion to which the present notice is devoted, is the natural ar- 

 rangements for the quaternions founded upon the affinities of 

 the sounds themselves. To establish this would be to give so 

 much precision to the department of phonetics. 



Now by bringing into play a new series of affinities we can 

 ascertain the affinities of the quaternions with each other, and 

 exhibit the natural arrangement of them. 



Over and above the affinities of the mutes with each other 



