186].] i^j^-^ [Consonantal Diphthong.-. 



found in the beginning of syllables or stems, but always at their end ; 

 and in case they do occur as initials, as in the foreign words IdeUium, 

 ctenoid, pfimn, their first consonants are always mute. 



A very intimate conjunction is established between the hard and 

 soft consonants of one station and the fluid consonants of another j 

 indeed, in several languages separate characters have been invented 

 for the combinations ending in s. With the labial fluid as its last 

 letter we obtain the consonantal diphthongs //, dv, kf, and (jv. 

 These conibinations although they are closely conjoined and are 

 regular consonantal diphthongs, only occur in compositions, e. [/. in 

 ca/Jish, hand-vice, fhotik/id, dog-vane, &c. With the dental fluid 

 are produced ks and p.<?; the former is spelt ^ in Greek, and x in 

 English, and the latter v'' in Greek; i^; and (jz we find in tribes 

 and Ac'^.s-, and also in example; j»th in depth and kdi in buckthorn.; 

 psh and ksh are found in eruption, action, &c. Ks=:x is only 

 found in the middle and at the end of words, as in exile, fix; 

 in the beginning of words h is dropped, as in xanthie, which 

 is pronounced zanthic; <jz is a medial in example and a final in 

 hitjs ; pth is always a final, as in depth, and p^h and kah are rae- 

 dials, as in ruptioa, action. Combinations of the hard consonants 

 with the guttural fluid are only found in German diminutives, e y. 

 PX or pch in Llippchen, ty or teli in GiUchen. As regards the com- 

 binations beginning with a fluid and ending in a hard or soft conso- 

 nant, I have to repeat a statement, viz , that these combinations are 

 by no means as intimate as when the fluid follow the hard or soft 

 consonants; for in the former case the fluid consonants combine with 

 the initial, and in the latter with the final element of the hard or soft 

 consonants, infrequently combines in simple words with t, as in afty 

 oft, t being its nearest neighbor; before k it is only found in com- 

 pound words, as in half-cock, &c. ; v, also, only occurs in compound 

 words before d or <j, as in <jrave-dii/i/cr, aha ve grains, &c. As the 

 dental hard consonant very readily combines with /> and k as in apt 

 and act, because the dental station is intermediate between the labia) 

 and guttural, so also the dental fluid .s ex,periences no diflficulty in 

 preceding these sounds; thus we find qj in spell and haap, and »k in 

 skill and brisk; shp and shk only occur in compound words, e. g. 

 in icash-pot, fiesh-eolor ; and thp in toothpick, and thk in heathcock. 

 Fluid consonants of diff'erent stations only very seldom precede each 

 other in simple words; the only instances of the kind in the English 

 language are .<»/in sphere, fth in fifth, and when /and v are followed 

 by s in inflectional forms, e. g., chiefs, halves, gives, &c. In com- 

 voL. vm. — 2u 



