SPEECH. 827 



found that the resonance will be particularly great with the fork having the 

 pitch of the bass 6-flat. Similarly, other and higher notes will be intensi- 

 fied when the mouth is moulded to utter the other vowels. And it is the 

 experience of singers that each vowel is sung with peculiar ease on a note 

 having a prominent overtone corresponding to the tone proper to the mouth 

 when moulded to utter the vowel. The precise nature of the vowel sounds 

 is, however, still disputed. 



As the vibrations are travelling through the pharyngeal and buccal cavi- 

 ties, the posterior nares are closed by the soft palate ; and it may be shown, 

 by holding a flame before the nostril, that no current of air issues from the 

 nose when a vowel is properly said or sung. When the posterior nares are 

 not effectually closed the sound acquires a nasal character. The same hap- 

 pens when the anterior nares are closed, as when the nose is held between 

 the fingers, the nasal chamber then forming a cavity of resonance. 



Consonants. 



769. Vowels are, as their name implies, the only real vocal sounds ; it 

 is only on a vowel that a note can be said or sung. Our speech, however, is 

 made up not only of vowels but also of consonants, i. e., of sounds which are 

 produced not by the vibrations of the vocal cords but by the expiratory blast 

 being in various ways interrupted or otherwise modified in its course through 

 the throat and mouth. 



The distinction between the two is, however, not an absolute one, since, 

 as we have seen, the characters of the several vowels depend on the form of 

 the mouth, and in the production of some consonants (B, D, M, N, etc.) 

 vibrations of the vocal cords form a necessary though adjuvant factor. 



Consonants have been classified according to the place at which the 

 characteristic interruption or modification takes place. Thus it may occur: 



1. At the lips, by the movement or position of the lips in reference to 

 each other or to the teeth, giving rise to labial consonants. 



2. At the teeth, by the movement or position of the front part of the 

 tongue in reference to the teeth or the hard palate, giving rise to dental 

 consonants. 



3. In the throat, by the movement or position of the root of the tongue 

 in reference to the soft palate or pharynx, giving rise to guttural consonants. 



Among the dentals again may be distinguished the dentals commonly so 

 called, such as T, the sibilants such as S, and the lingual L, all differing in 

 the relative position of the tongue, teeth, and palate. 



Consonants may also be classified according to the character of the move- 

 ments which give rise to them. Thus they may be either explosive or con- 

 tinuous. 



1. Explosives. In these the characters are given to the sound by the sud- 

 den establishment or removal of the appropriate interruption. Thus, in 

 uttering the labial P, the lips are first closed, then an expiratory current of 

 air is driven against them, and upon their being suddenly opened, the sound 

 is generated. Similarly, the dental T is generated by the sudden removal 

 of the interruption caused by the approximation of the tip of the tongue to 

 the front of the hard palate, and the guttural K by the sudden removal of 

 the interruption caused by the approximation of the root of the tongue to 

 the soft palate. 



The labial B differs from P, inasmuch as it is accompanied by vibrations 

 of the vocal cords (that is, a vowel sound is uttered at the same time), and 

 these vibrations continue after the removal of the interruption. Hence, B is 



