ELOCUTIONARY DRILL. 189 



Upon this basis our vowels would stand thus : 



Some persons distinguish an intermediate li between U and O ; 

 " not on thy sole but on thy soul, hai-sh Jew ; " but I do not find 

 that it has established itself in our pronunciation. We have four 

 compounds, that is, vowels formed by a quick transition from one 

 vowel position to another. 



(ow) by combination of A and U, as in how, house • 



i (eye) " " A " I, " pine, Cairo (Kiro); 



oi " " O " i, " oil, join; 



u (you) " "I " U " tune. 



A glide from TJ to T (oo-ee) gives we, a sound which has been the 

 subject of much controversy, is found in composition with g, at least 

 in foreign names (g-oo-ee-ze), is often converted into i, and is gener- 



ally represented by a consonant. It would seem that all compounds 

 are more or less consonantal. I doubt not but the manometer would 

 show this very clearly. The change from one position to the other 

 would seem sufficient to produce a consonant. Compounds are, as it 

 were, connecting links in word-systems, wherein the stepping stones, 

 counting from the vowel side, are vowels proper, compounds, liquids, 

 sibilants, mute consonants. The transition from a low to a high 

 vowel gives a more or less distinct w, from a high to a low vowel a 

 more or less distinct y sound. 



