Tafel.] 4Q [May. 



is that of regarding the vowels c in end and fell as two distinct 

 sounds ; the former as the corresponding short sound of a in a<je, and 

 the latter of a in fare. In § 6, I was inclined to regard them as 

 identical, or almost so, because in some individuals whose pronuncia- 

 tion I then studied, I could not detect any difference between them ; 

 they gave to both vowels a sort of middle sound between a in a(jc 

 and fai-e. Upon reconsidering this subject lately, and examining 

 the pronunciation of other careful speakers of the English language, 

 I came to the conclusion that there does exist a difference in the 

 pronunciation of these two sounds in the English as well as in the 

 German, French, and other languages. In order to prove that the 

 same distinction of sound which exists between the long sounds of a 

 in fate and fare, continues among the short sounds, compare the 

 sounds of e in end and let, and this is best done by starting with the 

 words hane and late (where the vowel a is pronounced alike), and 

 winding up with the words end and let, thus hd-cnd, Id-it. By doing 

 so, it will be found that the sound of e in end is but a continuation 

 of a in lja7ie, while that of e in let, is broader than a in late.'} 



In the above table I have not endeavored to express the various 

 vowel-sounds by peculiar signs, but I have limited myself to collect- 

 ing such words in which these sounds are exhibited; but henceforth 

 it will be necessary to represent these sounds abstractly from the 

 words in which they occur, and for this purpose I propose the signs 

 introduced in the next table. — These are not arbitrary signs, but each 

 I'epresents the shape of the mouth, and the position of the tongue in 

 the pronunciation of the several vowel-sounds. 



In taking an external view of the shape of the mouth in the pronun- 

 ciation of the several vowel-sounds, we see that in the pronunciation of 



the vowels from i to 9, the mouth is extended, viz., r ^, but in the 



pronunciation of the vowels from 10 to 14 it is contracted, viz., ( \ 



Also, in the diagram of § 6, which delineates the position of the 

 tongue in the pronunciation of each of these sounds, we see that in 

 the pronunciation of a in father, the tongue lies flat in the mouth; 



therefore, the sign C^y, in which the mark ( O j denotes the posi- 

 tion of the tongue, will be used for the representation of this 

 sound. In the pronunciation of a in fast the tongue is slightly 



raised ; this sound, therefore, is represented by L^J) ; and so forth. 



