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ON VOCAL SOUNDS. 



voiceless oral consonants, the voiced oral consonants, the voiced nasal 

 resonants. 



The voiceless W and the voiceless L have been given above within brackets, the former 

 being now almost confined to Scotland, and the latter being peculiar to Wales. The burring 

 or uvular R is also given within brackets. 



For example, the voiceless labial p corresponds with the voiced 

 labial b and the voiced nasal resonant m. When the consonant is 

 voiceless, it communicates an explosive character to the succeeding 

 syllable, as in " pitch " ; but if it comes at the end of a syllable it gives 

 a sharp sudden termination to that syllable, as "stop." If the labial 

 consonant be the voiced b, the explosive beginning or sharp sudden 

 termination of the syllable is not so marked as in Bob. The difference 

 between these two letters depends in part upon the firmness with which 

 the orbicularis oris closes the mouth. M is produced in the same way 

 as b, with the difference that in the former the air is allowed to escape 

 through the nose. Voiceless w is produced in almost exactly the same 

 manner as p, and the voiced w in the same way as b ; the only difference 

 is that, in the two ws the mouth is not completely closed, and a fricative 

 sound accompanies the consonant. The voiceless w occurs in " which " ; 

 the voiced w in such words as " water." F and v t the former voiceless, 

 the latter voiced, are produced by the passage of the breath between the 

 lower lip and the upper incisor teeth. Similarly, the voiceless and 

 voiced th, as in " think " and " thou " respectively, are formed by the 

 breath rushing through between the tip of the tongue and the incisor 

 teeth. S and z are produced in almost the same way as ih (voiceless) 

 and ih (voiced) respectively; in pronouncing the s and z, however, 

 the tip of the tongue touches the tooth nearer its insertion, and indeed 

 often touches the gum rather than the tooth itself. Sh and zh (as azure) 

 are respectively the voiceless and voiced oral consonants produced by 

 the tongue and anterior part of the palate ; while t and d are produced 

 by the same structures, but with the stoppage between tongue and palate 

 more complete than when sh and zh are uttered. N is produced in the 

 same way as d, but with nasal resonance superadded. L and r are also 

 produced at this position ; in the former case the tip of the tongue is 

 applied to the palate while the breath escapes on each side; r is 

 produced by the vibratory movement of the tongue against the palate. 

 The remaining consonants are produced by the posterior portion of 

 the tongue and the palate. K and g are voiceless and voiced conson- 

 ants, respectively, while ng is g with nasal resonance added. It is 



