6l6 THE CONSONANTS. 



(B) Consonants of the Second Articulation-position. 

 Method. In order to determine the extent to which the tongue and the 

 palate are in contact in the formation of consonants in the second and third articu- 

 lation positions, the tongue is sprinkled with a powdered dye, while the mouth is held 

 wide open. When the consonant is formed, the palate receives a colored impres- 

 sion at those points where contact has taken place. Also in the case of the con- 

 sonants, with the exception of m, n, ng, the soft palate is elevated. 



1. The explosives, which are produced between the tongue and the 

 hard roof of the oral cavity, are the hard 7^-sounds (also dt and tt), 

 when enunciated sharply and without the voice; the soft .D-sounds 

 when uttered softly with simultaneous intonation of the voice. Vari- 

 ously designated and uttered modifications of these consonants occur in 

 various languages, accordingly as the tip or the back of the tongue, on 

 the one hand, and the teeth or the alveolar process or the hard palate, on 

 the other hand, are employed in their formation. 



2. The fricatives embrace the consonants allied to 5, including the 

 sharp s (also written 55 and sz), which is produced without the sound of 

 the voice, and the soft s, which can be produced only with intonation of 

 the voice. Modifications occur also here, in accordance with the regions 

 between which the aspirate consonant is formed. Thus, to the sharp 

 aspirates belong also the sharp Sch and the hard English Th; to the 

 soft aspirates the soft French J and the soft English Th. The sound L 

 likewise belongs to this class,- occurring in manifold modifications in 

 various tongues, for example the soft L of the French. The sound L 

 may also be uttered softly with the voice, or sharply without it. 



3. The vibratives of the second articulation-position, or the lingual 

 ^-sounds, are usually enunciated with the sound of the voice, although 

 they may also be formed without it. 



4. The resonants are the A 7 -sounds, which likewise may occur in 

 various modifications. 



(C) Consonants of the Third Articulation-position. 



1. The explosives are the AT-sounds, if hard and without the sound 

 of the voice; or the ^-sounds (gay), if the voice is also given. There 

 are various modifications of both; for example, the explosive position of 

 G (gay) and K preceding e (a) and i (ee) is situated farther forward on 

 the palate than that of G (gay) and K before a (ah), o, u (oo). 



2. The aspirates of these positions are the CTz-sounds, hard and with- 

 out the voice ; and J (y), if soft and without the voice. Following a (ah), 

 o, u (oo), these consonants are formed farther back on the palate than 

 those that follow e (a) and i (ee). 



3. The vibrative is the palatal R, which results from vibration of the 

 uvula. 



4. The resonant is the palatal N. After e (a) and i (ee) the closure is 

 displaced further forward, after a (ah), o, u (oo), further back. The 

 nasal N of the French is, however, not a consonant at all, but only the 

 nasal timbre of the vowel that results from the patulousness of the nasal 

 cavity. 



According to Saenger the participation of the nasal cavities in the production 

 of m, n, and ng consists chiefly in affording a passage for the air expired during 

 phonation. 



