554 THE HUMAN BODY 



This is the case with the series a (man), e (there), and i (machine), 

 the tones reinforced by resonance in the mouth being 



The usual i of English, as in spire, is not a true simple vowel 

 but a diphthong, consisting of & (pad) followed by e (feet), as 

 may be observed by trying to sing a sustained note to the sound i; 

 it will then be seen that it begins as a" and ends as ee. A simple 

 vowel can be maintained pure as long as the breath holds out. 



In uttering true vowel sounds the soft palate is raised so as to 

 cut off the air in the nose, which, thus, does not take part in the 

 sympathetic resonance. For some other sounds (the semi-vowels 

 or resonants) the initial step is, as in the case of the true vowels, 

 the production of a laryngeal tone; but the soft palate is not 

 raised, and the mouth exit is more or less closed by the lips or the 

 tongue; hence the blast partly issues through the nose, and the 

 air there takes part in the vibrations and gives them a special 

 character; this is the case with m, n, and ng. 



Consonants are sounds produced not mainly by the vocal cords, 

 but by modifications of the expiratory blast on its way through 

 the mouth. The current may be interrupted and the sound 

 changed by the lips (labials) ; or, at or near the teeth, by the tip 

 of the tongue (dentals) ; or, in the throat, by the root of the tongue 

 and the soft palate (gutturals) . Consonants are also characterized 

 by the kind of movement which gives rise to them. In explosives 

 an interruption to the passage of the air-current is suddenly in- 

 terposed or removed (P, T, B, D, K, G). Other consonants are 

 continuous (as F, S, R), and may be subdivided into: (1) Aspirates, 

 characterized by the sound produced by a rush of air through a 

 narrow passage, as when the lips are approximated (F), or the 

 teeth (S) , or the tongue is brought near the palate (Sh) , or its tip 

 against the two rows of teeth, they not being quite in contact 

 (Th). For L the tongue is put against the hard palate and the 



