66 PAIRING 0? SOUNDS. 



taken, one from the Thin or Abstractoid, and one 

 from the Thick or Concretoid Variety, make a couple, 

 as it were Male and Female, and so nearly resemble 

 each other, that if the sounds of one of these sub- 

 classes alone be taken and used for those of both, 

 the words so spelled are not, for the most part, un- 

 intelligible. A little awkwardness only ensues from 

 this change, as if, for example, a woman were set to do 

 a man's work ; thus, if instead of "M.a,s(s)a,(tsh)uset(t)8 s 

 we were to pronounce Ma.sajuzerf , the result would 

 be nearly the same on the ear. If, indeed, the pro- 

 nunciation be done deftly and lightly but few people 

 will notice the difference. 



104. The 7^-sound and the hard sound of g fas in 

 r/ive) are such a pair of sounds ; the t and the d; and 

 the p and the b ; and the th (in i high) and the ill (in 

 thy) ; and the tsh and the j ; and the sh and the zli ; 

 and the s and the z ; and the / and the v, are also 

 such pairs of the Solid Consonant-Sounds ; the first 

 of each pair being Abstractoid (or Masculoid), and 

 the second or remaining one of each pair (relatively 

 soft) being Concretoid (or Feminoid.) 



105. It is probably only a small proportion of Eng- 

 lish speaking persons who practically recognize the 

 fact that there are two different sounds of th, one as 

 in ^//igh (thin, light, hard, abstract), and one as in 

 li.y (thick, heavy, soft, concrete) ; and still less do 

 they recognize that there is, between these sounds in 

 f//igh and thy, precisely the same kind and degree of 

 difference which there is, between t and d in tie and 



The twoness of the letters first obscures to the 



