VOICE AND SPEECH. 643 



Aspirates. Labials, without voice F. 



" with voice V. 



Dentals, without voice S, L, Sh, Th (hard). 



" with voice Z, Zh (azure), Th (soft). 



Gutturals, without voice. . .Ch (loch). 



" with voice Ch. 



Resonants. Labial M. 



Dental N. 



Guttural NG-. 



Vibratories. Labial not used in European languages. 



Dental .R (common). 



Guttural R (guttural). 



H is a laryngeal sound : the vocal cords are separated for 

 its production, yet not so far as in quiet breathing. The air- 

 current then produces a friction sound but not a true note, 

 as it passes the glottis; and this is again modified when the 

 current strikes the wall of the pharynx. Simple sudden 

 closure of the glottis, attended with no sound, is also a 

 speech element, though we do not indicate it with a special 

 letter, since it is always understood when a word begins with 

 a vowel, and only rarely is used at other times. The Greeks 

 had a special sign for it, ', the soft breathing; and another, 

 \ the hard breathing, answering somewhat to our h and indi- 

 cating 'that the larynx was to be held open, so as to give a 

 friction sound, but not voice. 



In whispering there is no true voice; the latter implies 

 true tones, and these are only produced by periodic vibra- 

 tions; whispering is a noise. To produce it the glottis is 

 considerably narrowed but the cords are not so stretched as to 

 produce a sharply defined edge on them, and the air driven 

 past is then thrown into irregular vibrations. Such vibra- 

 tions as coincide in period with the air in the mouth and 

 throat are always present in sufficient number to characterize 

 the vowels; and the consonants are produced in the ordinary 

 way, though the distinction between such letters as P and B, 

 F and V, remains imperfect. 



