Tafel.] 334 [October. 



species of sounds in common. These are vocality and continuity. 

 They also have no corresponding mutes ; wherein they have a marked 

 difference from the sonant fluid consonants, z^ v, &c.; which, other- 

 wise, are very much like them. 



The first class of the semi-vowels consists of the nasal sounds m, 

 n, and ng ; and the second of I and the several kinds of r. 



In the pronunciation of the first class of the semi-vowels, the soft 

 palate is lowered, and the sonant breath, being checked in some one 

 of the closed articulating stations, is discharged through the nose. 

 Ill the pronunciation of m, the labial station is thus closed ; in that 

 of n, the dental; and in that of ng in thing or young^ the guttural. 

 J/, therefore, is related to the labial station; n, to the dental; and 

 ng to the guttural. This affinity is manifested in the composition of 

 words. The nasal semi- vowels are called resonants by Dr. Briicke, 

 because, in their production, the voice simply resounds in the cavi- 

 ties of the mouth and the nose. 



In the pronunciation of I, the tip of the tongue closes the dental 

 station, but its posterior portion is depressed, so as to allow the sonant 

 breath to pass out between the jaw-teeth, and along the cheeks. Of 

 the semi-vowel r there are three kinds. The first we may call the 

 dental r. It is produced by causing the tongue to vibrate against 

 the gums of the upper incisory teeth, while the sonant breath is pro- 

 pelled through the mouth. The second is the palatal r. It is 

 formed by drawing the tongue further into the mouth, and so dis- 

 posing it there against the hard palate that it can scarcely vibrate. By 

 propelling the sonant breath against it with the view of causing it to 

 vibrate, we obtain the English r in arrow. The orthoepists call the 

 former the trilled Ry and the latter the smooth ; and they recom- 

 mend that the r be trilled when it precedes a vowel, as in roll, crush, 

 kc. ; but that it be made smooth when it follows a vowel, as in air, 

 orb, &c. In addition to these, there is the guttural r, which is made 

 by causing the uvula to vibrate. This r, Dr. Briicke says, is the 

 Provencal r of the French, which even now is frequently heard in 

 Paris. 



CHAPTER VII. 



ON THE COMBINATION OF THE CONSONANTS AND SEMI-VOWELS 

 WITH THE VOWELS. 



§ l(j. The combination of the semi-vowels and those consonants 

 which are formed of sonorous breath, viz., h, d, g, v, and z, with the 



