MECHAOTSM OF SPEECH. 515 



themselves, approaching in character the true vowel-sounds. 

 Some of these, 1, m, n, and r, from the facility with which 

 they flow into other sounds, are called liquids. Orthoepists 

 have further divided the consonants with reference to the 

 mechanism of their pronunciation : d, j, s, t, z, and g soft, 

 being pronounced with the tongue against the teeth, are 

 called dentals ; d, g, j, k, 1, n, and q are called palatals ; b, 

 p, f, v, and m are called labials ; m, n, and ng are called 

 nasals ; and k, q, and c and g hard are called gutturals. 1 

 After the full description we have given of the voice, it is 

 not necessary to discuss further the mechanism of these sim- 

 ple acts of articulation. 



For the easy and proper production of articulate sounds, 

 absolute integrity of the mouth, teeth, lips, tongue, and 

 palate is required. We are all acquainted with the modifi- 

 cations in articulation, in persons in whom the nasal cavities 

 resound unnaturally, from imperfection of the palate ; and 

 the slight peculiarities observed after loss of the teeth and 

 in hare-lip are sufficiently familiar. The tongue is gen- 

 erally regarded, also, as an important organ of speech, and 

 this is the fact in the great majority of cases ; but instances 

 are on record in which distinct articulation has been pre- 

 served after complete destruction of this organ. 8 These 

 cases, however, are unusual, and do not invalidate the great 

 importance of the tongue in ordinary speech. 



It is thus seen that speech consists essentially in a modi- 

 fication of the vocal sounds by the accessory organs, or parts 

 situated above the larynx ; the latter being the true vocal in- 

 strument. "While the peculiarities of pronunciation in differ- 

 ent persons and the difficulty of acquiring foreign languages 

 after the habits of speech have been formed show that the 



1 WORCESTER, Dictionary of the English Language, Boston, 1864, p. xvii. 



2 Numerous instances of preservation, more or less complete, of the faculty 

 of speech after loss of the tongue, are quoted in works on physiology, among 

 the most remarkable of which are those referred to by Dr. Elliotson (Human 

 Physiology, London, 1840, p. 507). 



