THE EXPRESSIVENESS OF SPEECH 123 



Continuous or abrupt Sounds and their Meanings. 



Before passing on to consider the various modes in 

 which sounds, actions, and even qualities, are expressively 

 represented in speech, attention must be called to the way 

 in which certain groups of consonants are utilized to in- 

 dicate differences in the general character of sounds and 

 motions. When either of the following letters -/, I, m, 

 n, ny, r, v, s, or z occur at the end of a word, either with or 

 without a final vowel, we can dwell upon them and thus 

 give them a continuous sound ; and the more important 

 of these have been termed liquids, because they seem to 

 flow together and form one continuous sound. But the 

 letters b, d, g, Jc, p, and t, have a very different character, 

 and when any of them comes at the end of a word, and 

 are not silent, the sound ends abruptly, and we find our- 

 selves altogether unable to dwell upon and lengthen out 

 the sounds of these letters as we can those of the first 



roup ; neither does the addition of a final e help us to 

 well upon them. Compare, for instance, the words ball 

 or bear with bat or dog. In the former the sound of 

 the final letters can be continued indefinitely, while in 

 the case of the latter we come to a dead stop, and by no 

 effort can continue the sound. 



Now, the various sounds which occur in nature may be 

 broadly divided into two classes, the continuous and the 

 abrupt ; and it is a most suggestive fact that these two 

 classes of sounds are almost always represented in our 

 language by words which, owing to their terminal letter, 

 are of a corresponding character. Thus, among continuous 

 sounds we have roar, snore, hiss, sing, hum, scream, wail, purr, 

 and buzz, all of which end in letters of the first series, 

 enabling us to dwell upon the word as long as we please. 

 But when we name abrupt sounds, such as rap, clap, crack, 

 tick, pop, thud, grunt, and many others, we find that the 

 word ends as abruptly as does the sound it represents, 

 and that the final letter does not in any case admit of 

 being dwelt upon and drawn out as in the case of words of 

 the first series. 



