in rHONATION AND AETICULATION 155 



highest faculties by which he is distinguished from the rest of 

 the animal kingdom. From the physical point of view it consists 

 in a series of special expiratory and sometimes inspiratory sounds 

 produced in the resonance cavity of the pharynx, mouth, and nose, 

 which may be, but need not be, combined with the laryngeal 

 tones. In talking aloud the laryngeal tones are combined with 

 the pharyngo-buccal sounds into articulate speech, but in whisper- 

 ing, i.e. speech without voice, there are no laryngeal tones. It is 

 even possible to speak sotto voce without a glottis, as after loss of 

 the larynx by surgical operation. The resonator is therefore of 

 fundamental importance to the formation of words, while in 

 singing it is of secondary importance. 



The vocal apparatus has rigid parts, such as the hard palate 

 and nostrils, and mobile parts, such as the lips, tongue, and soft 

 palate. It is the changes in form of the resonating cavity due to 

 the movements of these soft parts which give rise to the different 

 articulate sounds. Sometimes these changes do not interrupt the 

 continuity of the vocal instrument ; at other times they constrict 

 or close it, rendering the escape of the expired air difficult or 

 impossible. This constriction or occlusion may occur in certain 

 regions, as in the glottis, in the isthmus of the fauces, between the 

 soft palate and dorsum of the tongue, between the hard palate or 

 alveolar arches and the tip of the tongue, or at the lips. These 

 are known as the regions of articulation. 



The number of elementary sounds which in different combina- 

 tions build up a language or dialect is limited, but it varies 

 considerably in different languages and dialects. The sounds are 

 distinguished as vowels and consonants in the grammar of every 

 language. The value of this distinction has been much discussed, 

 and many erroneous definitions have been made, showing that 

 there cannot be any absolute difference between vowels and 

 consonants, by which they can invariably be recognised. One 

 group of consonants, in fact, has the character of vowels, and 

 these sounds are frequently referred to as the semi- vowels. 



Speaking generally, it may be said that the vowels are laryn- 

 geal sounds, which assume their specific character in the resonating 

 cavity owing to the predominance there of one or two tones of a 

 given pitch. The consonants, on the contrary, are sounds which 

 are almost invariably formed in the resonating cavity, and may 

 or may not be combined with laryngeal tones. 



The vowel a (ah) is often regarded as the foundation from 

 which all the other vowels may theoretically be derived. It does 

 in fact represent a laryngeal sound as little modified as may be 

 by the resonating cavity, which remains as widely open as possible. 

 C. Hellwag in his De formatione loquelae (1781) distinguishes three 

 typical vowels, which produce the maximal difference to the ear. 

 These three are the only vowels found in hieroglyphs, and in 



