1825.] . 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
MR. THELWALUS | LECTURE ON, THE 
ENUNCIATIVE ORGANS AND FORMA- 
TION OF THE LITERAL ELEMENTS, 
joil41a¢ ), {Continued from. p. 6.] 
Ip Dus iGoms, particularly at the 
rough, part just above the upper teeth 
(not-absolutely, the roof of the mouth, 
as hasbeen generally, but inaccurately 
stated) are).very important auxiliaries 
in the formation of several elements. 
D.D.; A contact and pressure, more or 
less forcible, of the point of the tongue 
with the.upper gums, just at the place 
where they lerminate upon the teeth, pro- 
duces the semi-liquid sound belonging to 
the letter D, and the relative mute conso- 
nant, or stop, designated by the letter T.* 
® “Tf the point of the tongue be applied 
to the fore-part of the palate, at the roots 
of the upper teeth, and some air condensed 
in the mouth behind, on withdrawing the 
tongue downwards, the mute consonant T 
is formed; which may begin ‘or terminate 
a syllable. If the tongue be placed as 
above described, and a sound be previously 
[at the same time] produced in the mouth, 
the semisonant. consonant D is formed, 
which may begin or terminate a syllable.” 
Darwin's Temp. Nat. Add. Note XV. 
It should be observed, that in some of 
my anatomical descriptions of the forma- 
tions of the elements, I shall be found to 
differ from Dr. Darwin and other earlier 
and contemporary writers, as they have also 
differed from each other. ~The reader is, 
therefore, advised to compare my descrip- 
tions with those of Wallis, Holder, &c., 
and to try them all by the test of experi- 
ment. Some of these differences, I be- 
lieye, will be found chargeable upon the 
want of sufficient minuteness and accu- 
racy in the selection and discriminations of 
terms made use of by certajn of my prede- 
cessors; others, in all probability, from 
somé of those predecessors (as Dr. Dar- 
win, in particular) being disposed to coun- 
tenance a more effeminate and less discri- 
mibative promunciation than I can bring 
myself to tolerate, at least in solemn speak- 
ing. In some few particulars it is possible 
that either they or I may have been posi- 
tively mistaken ; for it is certain that Dr. 
Da nepeats, sometimes to dictate a position 
and eleyation of the tongue, which if I were 
to assuine, I should stammer as badly as he 
did himself. “But it is particularly ‘impor- 
tant to remember, that the interior form 
and cavity of the mouth differ very’ con- 
siderably in different subjects; and that 
some of these varieties actually impose the 
necessity of a different mode of action for 
the production of the same effects. The 
Vil hasbeen in this, a3 in many other re- 
spects, that students, in their closets, have 
frequently been disposed to theorize with- 
Monvrusy Maa. No. 414. 
The Anatomy of Speech. 
113 
The mere circumstance of compres- 
sion does not, however, constitute the 
only difference in the formation of these, 
or, perhaps, of any two distinet sounds 
of our alphabet; the positions “and ac- 
tions of the tongue’ will also. be found 
to be something different. In the for- 
mation of the T, the tongue glides: 
down a little way upon the teeth, more 
than in the formation of D; and the 
aerial percussion for the former will 
be found to take place just at the point 
of lingual motion, where the tuning of 
the latter ends. In other words, ‘Tis 
the stop, or termination of D. It is 
one of the three absolute mutes, hav- 
ing no perceptible sound of its’ own 
without combination with some sue- 
cessive vowel (open or whispered), or 
some liquid or sibilant. 
From these circumstances of anato- 
mical formation, it happens that T can 
be sounded after D, without pause ; 
that is to say, that the element D may 
slide into the element T; but D cannot 
be sounded without some little pause 
after T; and, consequently, wherever 
the ‘signs of these two elements thus 
succeed, and no pause or hiatus can 
properly be admitted, only one of. them 
is actually enunciated. 
J=G 
out sufficient range and opportunity of 
practical observation ; have drawn general 
conclusions from individual instances, and, 
mistaking their own practice for the law of 
universal necessity, have dogmatized upon 
laws and principles which,though they might 
be applicable to themselves, would be found 
highly inconvenient to others. Nor is this 
all; there are some elements which, even 
in the same-mouth, may be produced by 
more than one position of the organs. _ It 
is to be remembered, therefore, that'a spe- 
cific character of vibration, or of impulse 
being all that is required (by whatever ac- 
tion or position these may be produced) is 
a good action and position for the indivi- 
dual; and that, for the tuition of others, the 
form, and the facilities of action, in the 
mouth and organs of the pupil, are always 
to be well considered before the tutor, too 
dogmatically, insists upon the minutiae of 
specific rules, 
After the best and most accurate de- 
scriptions haye been given of the anatomi- 
cal formation of the respective elements, 
much will yet remain to be done by the 
student who has any imperfections of ut- 
terance, through the medium of personal 
analysis and effort. If he have no such dif- 
ficulties, it is best to leave him to his own 
habitual mode, and not to trouble him with 
these details. There. will be sure to be 
enough to do in the higher ‘branches of 
the art. 
Q 
