THE PSYCHOLOGY OF LANGUAGE. — 815 
‘stimulus conveyed by the ears or the eyes. Now. if: that 
boy answers to the call in words, could he say anything but 
“T am glad,” or words of similar import, with that expres- 
sion on his face? If he did, his words would contradict 
his face; and we should believe his face rather than his 
words, 
We see, from this and similar examples, that a strong 
impulse proceeding from the soul affects a whole group of 
nerves and muscles. A weak impulse does so.also, but in a 
minor degree. We all have seen series of pictures repre- 
senting a child passing through the stages of pleasure or 
displeasure to the climax of laughing or weeping. Thus, the 
nerves of the vocal organs belong to certain groups of nerves 
that are affected by certain thoughts, and the effects on the 
nerves vary in quantity and quality with the intensity and 
the character of those thoughts. 
Let us now consider-a single sound, ¢.g., ah. What 
thought does it express? Or, rather, of what feelimg is it 
the audible effect? We have now to do with the primitive 
products of the soul, and these are sentimental, not intel- 
lectual. In proportion as reason becomes stronger, feeling 
becomes less evident, if not less strong. In a very young 
child, feeling is more energetic than reason. It is the first 
and simplest expression of the state of the soul, and its 
manifestation can be restrained only after habitual effort. 
Now, what do we feel when we say ah? For the same 
thought that found its partial expression in the vocal effect 
ah can be partially reproduced by pronouncing ah first. 
Partially only. because the thought that prompted the ah 
affected other nerves besides those that caused the sound 
ah; and, unless all those nerves are again affected simul- 
taneously, the reproduced effect on the soul differs in 
quantity or quality from the impulse that first produced the 
sound ah. 
A very young child usually spends a considerable portion 
of its time in pronouncing af with varying emphasis. It 
expresses by that sound a feeling of displeasure. When it 
is not Wispleased, it says nothing. 
As we grow older, we no longer say ah when we feel pain ; 
we learn to repress a portion of the manifestation of our 
feelings. But pain affects other nerves besides those that 
produce ah; for instance, we feel a distinct contraction 
about the heart, and we recognise this feeling when we 
speak of being overwhelmed or crushed with sorrow, and 
when we press our hand upon the region of the heart, as the 
seat of physical pain. We say ah when we feel surprise, 
