Tafel.] 34Q [October. 



we are enabled to see that the operation of closing may be performed 

 in the guttural station, while that of opening, by suddenly closing 

 the dental station, may be performed there. Thus, that the same 

 amount of breath which is ordinarily used for the pronunciation of a 

 single guttural or dental consonant, may also be used for uttering a 

 guttural and a dental consonant in succession. Hence, both ct and 

 gd in act and hugged, are consonantal diphthongs. The case is dif- 

 ferent in pronouncing a labial after a dental hard or soft consonant. 

 For, between the dental and labial stations, as has been noticed above, 

 there is a sort of a chasm or of a break, preventing our sliding from 

 a dental to a labial hard consonant with the same facility. Thus, 

 these two consonants cannot be pronounced as closely together as a 

 guttural and a dental. In fact, we have to perform both operations 

 of closing and opening the dental station, before we can do the same 

 in the labial. Hence the combinations tp and dh do not occur in 

 single syllables, but are only found in compound words, as in foot- 

 pathj lyostponej postpaid, &c., and in loordhooh, cudbear, goodly, &c. 

 Quite the reverse we notice on passing from a labial to a dental, and 

 from a dental to a guttural hard or soft consonant ; for we may easily 

 pass from a labial to a dental, but with difficulty from a dental to a 

 guttural consonant. The reason is, because after performing the first 

 operation of closing the labial station, we can instantly close the 

 dental, and thus, when the time of performing the second operation 

 has arrived, instead of opening the former we can open the latter 

 station. By this means we obtain the consonantal diphthongs j^i and 

 hd in apt and daubed. On the other hand, the very circumstance 

 of the dental and guttural stations being closed by the same member, 

 viz., the tongue, prevents the exterior consonants t and d from com- 

 posing consonantal diphthongs with the interior consonants c and g. 

 These consonants, therefore, are never found consecutively in the 

 same syllables, but occur only in compound words, e. g., in footdoth, 

 greatcoat, Jdtcat, nightcap, and also headgear. As regards the com- 

 bination of labial and guttural, or of guttural and labial hard or soft 

 consonants, it is impossible for them to constitute consonantal diph- 

 thongs, for their respective articulating stations are too far apart to 

 allow any sliding from one station to another. Hence, these com- 

 binations, also, never occur in single syllables, but only in compound 

 words, viz., ph in pumpkin, sheepcot, &c., bg in sub-governor, &c. ; 

 kp in barkpit, milkpan, rock-plant, stockpurse, ka.', and gb in bug- 

 bear, dogbane, &c. With respect to the use of the consonantal diph- 

 thongs ct, gd, pt, and bd, in the English language, they are never 



