Tafel.] 324 [October. 



soften it into the German ch. The English soft consonant being 

 formed of sonant breath, is heard at the end of words, as well as at 

 the beginning and in the middle. It hence appears that the Eng- 

 lish soft consonant is a completer articulated sound than the 

 German, because it preserves its character as a soft consonant 

 throughout, while the German, at the end of words, passes into the 

 hard consonant. The Germans, moreover, make no distinction be- 

 tween p in midshipman and h in almahnen. Falkmann (De- 

 clamatorik, Hannover, 1836, vol. i, page 192), says concerning 

 this subject: '^It is almost against the nature with us Germans to 

 pronounce a soft consonant at the end of a word, and with great 

 difficulty we imitate the final h, d, g, and even the soft final s of 



the English (juh, bed, fog, was) We think that it would 



be an advantage for the Germans if, in the pronunciation of their 

 own tongue, they would imitate the sound of the soft consonants of 

 their English cousins.^' 



A peculiarity of the English soft consonants consists in the indis- 

 tinct sound which is heard before them, either in the beginning or 

 at the end of words ; at the end of words, as in tub, bed, fog, kc, 

 it is even heard more distinctly, because it is not absorbed there by 

 a following vowel. This indistinct sound is produced by the air 

 from the lungs being rendered sonant by rushing through the con- 

 tracted orifice of the glottis, and collecting in the back part of the 

 mouth. By opening the station and discharging through it the air 

 collected in the back part of the mouth, when it is on the point of 

 becoming mute, the sound of the English soft consonant is produced. 

 There are accordingly three elements conspiring in the production of 

 the English soft consonant : 1, the glottis vibrating so as to make the 

 air rushing through it sonant; 2, the collection of the sonant breath 

 in the back part of the mouth; 3, the closing and opening of the 

 station. The manner of closing and opening the station does not differ 

 much in the pronunciation of the hard and soft consonants, but we 

 must investigate the influence which the other two elements exercise 

 upon the formation of the latter sounds. As the distinction between 

 the hard and soft consonants is as much observed in the whispering 

 language Qvox dandestina') as in the loud language, we see at once that 

 the sonant element is not essential ; neither does Dr. Briicke exactly 

 hold this, he only insists that in the pronunciation of the soft consonant 

 the glottis is contracted, so as to be ready to vibrate. As regards the 

 second element, viz., the retention of the breath in the back part of 

 the mouth, it is produced by the pressure of the root of the tongue 



