QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS. 43 



of the preceding sound and into the following one. In speech there is 

 a flow of sound which can not truthfully be represented by any spelling; 

 there are no well-defined limits between neighboring sounds — not only 

 because the limits are vague, but also because there are no independent 

 sounds to be limited. 



The [t] of "without" and the [j] of "regard" are contained mainly 

 in the 205mm. of straight line omitted. A characteristic phenomenon is 

 shown by the curve at the beginning of hne 97. The vowel vibrations 

 diminish rapidly in the amplitude till they cease altogether, because the 

 tongue is moving in the mouth to the [t] position. This may be consid- 

 ered as the glide from the vowel to the closure of the [t], or as the 

 "implosion" of the [t]. We note here again that the change from one 

 sound to another is gradual, that speech is a fusion and not an agglom- 

 eration. 



In line 97 the vibrations for [i] clearly fall into groups of two ; the 

 groups are of the same general form as those of [i], line 94. This form 

 occurs frequently for the vowel [i] in the Depew speech. 



In the middle of line 98 the [i] vibrations weaken into [g] vibrations. 

 For the latter part of [g] they are lacking or else they are too small to 

 show with the degree of magnification used. This part of the [g] thus 

 becomes (if the former is true) or approaches (if the latter) a surd [g], 

 which differs little from [k]. This is a familiar phenomenon for final [g] 

 with many Americans who pronounce "dog" as [dogk] rather than [dog]. 



Line 99 shows vibrations as the tongue changes from the [g]-closure to 

 the open position of [a]. The vibrations of [a] show a steady change from 

 beginning to end. The change is especially marked at the two ends, 

 though not so great as in [au], Unes 96-97. A comparison of the two cases 

 shows how Uttle difference there may be in actual speech between what we 

 have been taught to consider a diphthong — or triphthong — and what we 

 believe to be a steady long vowel. A diphthong, in fact, is in many cases 

 simply a long vowel in which the change is considerable. Here the change 

 is not very great. 



The 315mm. omitted include most of the [d] and [t]. As the [t]- 

 closure is opened, the vibrations appear in line 102. Are these weak 

 vibrations to be reckoned to the vowel vibrations that occupy the rest of 

 the line? or are they to be treated as a "gUde" from [t] to the vowel? 

 I have placed the beginning of the vowel at the point where the vibra- 

 tions reach half a millimeter amplitude. For the vowel the speaker uses 

 here a distinct, short [u]. The [u]-vibrations fall into groups of three; the 

 main cavity vibration for the [u] is thus about a duodecime alcove the 

 tone of the voice. The form of the group begins to change early in line 



