642 THE HUMAN BODY. 



but the soft palate is not raised, and the mouth exit is more 

 or less closed by the lips or the tongue; hence the blast partly 

 issues through the nose, and the air there takes part in the 

 vibrations and gives them a special character; this is the case 

 with D), n, and ng. 



Consonants are sounds produced not mainly by the vocal 

 cords, but by modifications of the expiratory blast on its way 

 through the mouth. The current may be interrupted and 

 the sound changed by the lips (labials); or, at or near the 

 teeth, by the tip of the tongue (dentals); or, in the throat, by 

 the root of the tongue and the soft palate (gutturals). Con- 

 sonants are also characterized by the kind of movement 

 which gives rise to them. In explosives an interruption to 

 the passage of the air-current is suddenly interposed or re- 

 moved (P, T, B, D, K, G). Other consonants are continuous 

 (as F, S, R), and may be subdivided into (1) aspirates, char- 

 acterized by the sound produced by a rush of air through a 

 narrow passage, as when the lips are approximated (F), or the 

 .teeth (S), or the tongue is brought near the palate (Sh), or its 

 tip against the two rows of teeth, they not being quite in 

 contact (Th). For L the tongue is put against the hard 

 palate and the air escapes on its sides. For Ch (as. in the 

 proper Scotch pronunciation of loch) the passage between the 

 back of the tongue and the soft palate is narrowed. To 

 many of the above pure consonants answer others, in whose 

 production true vocalization (i.e. a laryngeal tone) takes a 

 part. F with some voice becomes V; S becomes Z, Th soft 

 (tee^) becomes Th hard; and Ch becomes Gh. (2) reso- 

 nant s; these have been referred to above. (3) vibratories 

 (the different forms of R). which are due to vibrations of 

 parts bounding a constriction put in the course of the air- 

 current. Ordinary R is due to vibrations of the tip of the 

 tongue held near the hard palate; and guttural R to vibra- 

 tions of the uvula and parts of the pharynx. 



The consonants may physiologically be classified as in the 

 following table (Foster) : 



Explosives. Labials, without voice P. 



" with voice B. 



Dentals, without voice T. 



" with voice D. 



Gutturals, without voice . . . K. 



" with voice G (hard). 



