Tafel.] 286 [October. 



pronunciation of the English language at all, we require a minute 

 insight into the formation of the vowels and consonants, and into 

 their mutual relations. In support of my own theories I shall mainly 

 adduce the work of Dr. E. Briicke of A^ienna, member of the Impe- 

 rial Academy of Sciences, on the principles of phonology, which was 

 first printed in the Journal of the Austrian Colleges for 1856, and 

 afterwards published separately, with the addition of a valuable plate, 

 exhibiting the various positions of the tongue, and of the mouth in 

 general, in the pronunciation of some of the vowels and consonants. 

 The researches of Dr. Briicke are carried on in the most systematic 

 and thorough manner, and the style in which he treats his subject 

 betokens at once the finished scholar and the man of clear under- 

 standing. Moreover, as he gives us in a nutshell, as it were, all that 

 has previously been done in this department, I regard him as the first 

 authority in all matters connected with the physiology of language. 



Dr. Briicke opens his subject in the following manner : " In in- 

 vestigating the sounds of language we can proceed in a twofold way. 

 We can examine the manner in which cognate sounds become af- 

 fected by each other, and by tracing the changes which the various 

 sounds undergo, in the course of time, and in passing from one lan- 

 guage into another, we are enabled to draw conclusions as to their 

 nature and their several attributes. Such is the mode of the linguist. 

 On the other hand, we can institute direct observations and experi- 

 ments, with a view of ascertaining the way in which and the condi- 

 tions under which they are produced by the organs of speech ; and 

 in this manner, also, we can acquire knowledge concerning their re- 

 spective nature and properties. Such is the mode of the physiolo- 

 gist. Neither method, when properly applied, can ever lead to con- 

 tradictory results, but they may produce different results which are 

 mutually supplementary to each other; thus the linguist in the course 

 of his examinations may evolve a series of laws which are to be ex- 

 plained on physiological grounds. Unless the linguist take a physio- 

 logical view, he can never have a full idea of language ; for, in case 

 he neglects this, he only knows that much concerning language which 

 is heard by the ears and written with the hands ; he knows as little 

 about the wonderful mechanism which gives birth to language, as 

 about the hidden wheel-work directing the motions of an automaton. 

 Those laws which were formerly derived from euphony, are not so 

 much owing to this cause as to the mechanical arrangement of the 

 organs producing the sounds of language, which can only produce 

 them with volubility and precision in certain combinations. It is 



