SPEECH. THE VOWELS. 



the mouth is bounded anteriorly by the teeth, the lips being retracted. 

 The oral canal between the hard palate and the back of the tongue is 

 greatly constricted to a median, narrow channel. Hence, the air can 

 pass through only with a clear, whistling sound, and even the vertex 

 of the skull may be set into perceptible vibration; if the ears are stopped 

 up, a shrill sound may be audible in them. It is impossible to pro- 

 nounce I (ee) when the larynx is depressed and also when the lips are 

 protruded, as for U(oo). 



In pronouncing E (a), which stands next to I (ee), the cavity has 

 likewise the form of a flask with a small belly (fundamental tone f) 

 and a long, narrow neck (fundamental tone b'"). The neck, however, 

 is wider, so that it does not give rise to a whistling sound. The larynx 

 is somewhat lower for E (a) than for I (ee), but higher than for A (ah). 



Fundamentally, Briicke is right in assuming that there are only three funda- 

 mental vowels, namely / (ee), A (ah), U (oo), between which the others, as well 

 as the so-called diphthongs, are interpolated. The hieroglyphic, Indian, old 

 Hebraic, and Gothic writings contain only these three vowels. 



2 



FIG. 218. Sagittal Section through the Human Larynx in the Vowel-positions A (ah), I (ee) and U (oo) : Z, tongue; 

 p, soft palate; e, epiglottis; #, glottis; h, hyoid bone; i, thyroid cartilage; 2, 3, cricoid cartilage; 4, arytenoid 

 cartilage. 



Diphthongs occur during the utterance of a sound, by passing from 

 the position of one vowel into that of another. Distinct diphthongs 

 are sounded only on passing from a vowel with a wider oral opening 

 to one with a narrower opening; if the reverse occurs, the vowels appear 

 separated to the ears. 



Landois was especially successful in producing the vowels artificially. In 

 the two halves of a head sawn through in a sagittal plane he arranged all of the 

 parts in the positions that they would have to assume in enunciating a certain 

 vowel, and then the entire space from the trachea to the lips was filled with paraffin. 

 Both halves were then welded together. A paraffin cast was thus obtained of 

 the vowel-cavity. The cast was covered with plaster-of- Paris, and then the 

 paraffin was removed by melting. In this way a plaster reproduction of the 

 vowel-cavity was obtained. A vocal apparatus was then introduced into the 

 trachea from below. This apparatus was made of a thin, ivory reed, set in a 

 wide frame, and having its pitch accurately adjusted to the fundamental tone 

 of the plaster cavity. All the vowels, even I (ee), were thus produced with sur- 

 prising success. 



In addition to the pitch the characteristic timbre, or tone-color, of 

 the vowel is worthy of notice. In this connection the mouth, charac- 

 teristically shaped for the. utterance of a vowel, may be compared to a 



