606 THE HUMAN BODY. 



Aspirates. Labials, without voice. . . .F. 



" with voice V. 



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



with voice Z, Zh (asure), Th (soft). 



Gutturals, without voice . Ch (loc/<). 



" 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 alaryngeal 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 waH 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 indicating 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 

 tolerably 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. 



