1863.] 273 [Chase. 



change, that it requires a strong effort to sustain them without corrup- 

 tion by a leaning either to a closer or to a more open sound. And 

 when they are combined with consonants of a different contact from 

 their own, it is often absolutely impossible to avoid giving them 

 a diphthongal character, except by the trick of an intervening nasal, 

 or by an abrupt staccato like the Chinese ji or yap shing. The 

 reasons for this impossibility may be easily shown. 



U is a labial vowel, — A, a palatal, — and I, a guttural. [Halde- 

 man, § 159.] As long as there is suflScient opening between the 

 lips to allow of the formation of the u sound, or of any nasal sound, 

 the consonants of any contact, labial, dental, palatal, or guttural, 

 can be formed without difficulty. U and English vg ca.n therefore be 

 combined with any consonant whatever, without losing their distinctive 

 character. 



But if we attempt to combine any other vowel with any except 

 its cognate consonants, just before the consonantal interruption is 

 made, either the corresponding vowel, or a nasal, or a «, must be 

 produced. Ape thus becomes aup, ache aek, or auk, ode oud, eat 

 eut, eve euv, &c. It is often difficult to discover the precise com- 

 bination of sounds, but I think it will always be found that such a 

 combination exists. 



The number of possible secondary or intermediate vowels between 

 the broad open a, and the close i and li, is infinite ; but by making a 

 limited number of divisions, the vowel sounds of different languages 

 can be compared with sufficient accuracy. Professor Haldeman 

 makes fourteen such divisions on each side of li, indicating twenty- 

 nine distinct pure vowel sounds, thirteen of which are foreign to 

 the English language, and, perhaps, four out of the thirteen are not 

 represented in any language. [§ 369, sqq] These thirteen foreign 

 vowels are : 



1. The Italian ^' o aperto,^' between bald and bold, as in poco. 



2. French o between owe and the o aperto, as in poste, note. 

 8-4. Two unrepresented sounds between obey and 5. 



5. Italian " o chiuso," as in conca. [o approaching u.] 



6. Ossetiscb V, between 5 and Ger. ii or ii. 



7. Ostjak and Iroquoi lo, somewhat like o in moi. 



8. Suabian a, perhaps corresponding to Sanscrit a, between urn 

 and add. 



9-10. Two unrepresented sounds between add and No. 11. 



11. Suabian €,a little more open than th<:>re. 



12. Gudjrat'hi £", between ebb and eight. 



VOL. IX. — 2l 



