CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



in the English alphabet by c, k, and q. When 

 the stoppage is made by the fore-part of the tongue 

 against the front of the palate, the effect of separ- 

 ation is the sound /. Similarly, the separation of 

 the closed lips gives rise to p. Intimately con- 

 nected with k t /, p, are the series g (gun), d, b. 

 The same contact that produces p produces b; 

 but the latter is attended with a kind of muffled 

 sound, which cannot, however, be prolonged. 

 Similar is the relation of the other pairs t-d, k-g. 

 The nature of the difference seems to be this : It 

 is ascertained that in pronouncing A, /, p, the 

 vocal chords are wide apart ; but for g, d, o, they 

 approach so as to moderate the rush of air, and 

 also to be able to yield a tone during the brief 

 time that air continues to escape from the larynx 

 into the mouth after the latter is closed. That 

 there is such an escape, any one may satisfy him- 

 self by trying to prolong the sound of b, when 

 he will find his mouth become distended. The 

 difference between the two series is marked by 

 contrasting them, as surd and sonant, or, better, 

 perhaps, as sharp andyfa/. 



The six consonants now described completely 

 arrest the issue of breath from the mouth, and are 

 therefore called checks. The term mutes, often 

 applied to them, is hardly appropriate in the case 

 of the flat series, seeing there is a momentary 

 tone In all the other consonants, the breath is 

 not stopped, but only constrained or squeezed 

 more or less, so that the sound can be prolonged. 

 On this account, these consonants are called con- 

 tinuous. The distinction of flat and sharp per- 

 vades the continuous consonants as well as the 

 percussive. In the sharps, the glottis is wide open, 

 and the prolonged sound is that of a stream of 

 breath roughened by narrowing of the passages in 

 the mouth (i/); in the flats, the continuous mouth- 

 sounds are accompanied by a muffled sound from 

 the narrowed glottis (iz/). The chief continuous 

 consonants are thus formed : 



If, while the organs are in the several positions 

 that produce the checks g, d, d, the vocalised 

 breath is allowed to pass through the nose, the 

 sounds ng, n, and m, respectively will be heard. 



The elevation of the base of the tongue so as to 

 leave a narrow aperture between its centre and 

 the back-part of the palate forms, with vocalised 

 breath, the sound of initial y heard in ye. The 

 same position, with voiceless breath, forms the 

 German ch heard in ich, which is the same as 

 h before u in English for example, hue. The 

 Scotch guttural in loch and the German ach differ 

 from this only in the more retracted position of 

 the tongue. 



The elevation of the middle of the tongue 

 towards the front of the palatal arch, with a 

 narrow central passage for the breath, produces 

 the element which, for lack of an alphabetic 

 character, is represented by the digraph sh; 

 and the same position forms, with vocalised 

 breath, the common element heard in pleasure, 

 seizure, &c. but which has no appropriate literal 

 symbol in English. 



The approximation of the flattened point of the 

 tongue to the front of the mouth, so as to leave a 

 narrow central passage between the tongue and 

 the upper gum, forms the sound represented by s; 

 and by z when the breath is vocalised. 



The elevation of the tip of the tongue towards 

 the rim of the palatal arch causes a degree of 

 20 



vibration of the edge of the tongue, and conse- 

 quent asperation of the breath, proportioned to 

 the degree of elevation, which is the English 

 sound of the letter r. 



The approximation of the lower to the upper 

 lip, so as to leave a central aperture for the breath, 

 produces, with vocalised breath, the sound of iv 

 initial, as in woo. The sound of TV resembles that 

 of the vowel oo, but with a more contracted aper- 

 ture. The same position, with voiceless breath, 

 forms the element represented, for lack of an 

 alphabetic character, by the digraph wh. 



The remaining varieties of English articulate 

 sounds are formed by forcing the breath through 

 lateral apertures, instead of one central aperture. 



When the fore-part of the tongue is spread 

 against the front of the palate, and vocalised 

 breath passes laterally over the middle of the 

 tongue, the sound of / is heard. 



When the tip of the tongue is applied to the 

 upper teeth (or the gum), and the breath is emitted 

 laterally over the point of the tongue, the sound of 

 the digraph th as in thin is heard ; and, with 

 vocalised breath, the sound of th in then. neither 

 of which is now represented in our alphabet. 



When the middle of the lower lip is applied to 

 the edge of the upper teeth, and the breath is 

 emitted laterally between the teeth and the lip, 

 the sound represented by f is produced ; and, 

 with vocalised breath, the sound of v. 



Liquids. The voice is so little intercepted in 

 passing through the nostrils in forming in, n, or ng, 

 and through the wide apertures of /, and also of 

 r when not initial in a syllable, that the sound 

 has almost the pure sonorousness of a vowel ; 

 and these elements have received the name of 

 Liquids, to designate their property of syllabically 

 combining with voiceless consonants seeming to 

 flow into and to be absorbed by them, and losing 

 much of their natural quality as vocal sounds. 



Consonants form, as it were, the bare and bony 

 skeleton of speech ; vowels give definite shape 

 and individuality to words. Thus the consonants 

 sprt constitute the common skeleton of such 

 diverse words as sport spirt, sprat sprite, spirit, 

 support, separate, aspirate asperate, which receive 

 their distinct configuration and filling up from 

 the vowel-sounds, which cover the consonant 

 skeleton with moulded elegance and variety. 

 Consonants are thus the more stable elements of 

 words, and their interchanges in the correspond- 

 ing words of allied tongues are found to follow 

 certain general laws dependent on the relations 

 and affinities of letters. These relations are ex- 

 hibited in the following table : 



2. Linguals....? 



3. Gutturals., .k 



g 



* The 'sharp' or voiceless r is of frequent but unrecognised 

 occurrence. It is heard in French, as the sound of r final after a 

 consonant, as in theatre; and in Scotch, as a substitute for thr, as 

 in three, pronounced hree. 



t The 'sharp' forms of the nasals are in constant use as inter- 

 jectional sounds, as in humph I (pronounced 'hm I), 'An ! (expressive 

 of sneering), and 'mhm I (used as an affirmative in Scotland). 



