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have the same conformation as in man, would speak like him, if the air 

 as it leaves the larynx, were not diffused into the hyo-thyroid cavities, 

 which are membranous in some, cartilaginous and even bony in the 

 howling monkey, whose cry is so hoarse and melancholy. Every time 

 that the animal would utter his cry, these sacs swell, then empty them- 

 selves, so that he is not able, at will, to supply to the different parts of 

 his mouth the sounds they might articulate*. 



Articulated sounds are represented by letters which express their whole 

 force. One cannot reflect on it all, without seeing what an advance man 

 made towards the perfection of his nature, when he invented these signs 

 for the preservation and transmission of his thoughts. The vocal sounds 

 are expressed by the letters called vowels, that is to say, which the voice 

 furnishes almost completely formed, and which need, for their articula- 

 tion, nothing more than the more or less opening of the mouth, by the 

 separation of the jaws and of the lips. We pronounce, without effort, 

 the letters A, E, I, O, U ; they are the first the child utters; they appear, 

 besides, to cost him less study than the consonants. These*, which form 

 the most numerous class of the letters of the alphabet, serve only, as 

 their name indicates, to bind together their vowels. Their pronunciation 

 is always less natural, and consequently more difficult. Accordingly, it 

 is observed, that the most harmonious languages, the most grateful to 

 the ear, are those which use fewest consonants and most vowels. It is 

 in this point especially, that the Greek tongue surpasses all, ancient and 

 modern! ; that, of dead languages, Latin holds the second place ; and. 

 lastly, that Russian, Italian, and Spanish, are more agreeable in pronun- 

 ciation, than French, and still more than languages of Teutonic origin, 

 as English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Sec, Among some north- 

 ern nations, all articulated sounds appear to issue from the nose or the 

 throat, and make a disagreeable pronunciation, no doubt, because it re- 

 quires greater effort, and he who listens sympathizes in the difficulty 

 which seems to be felt by him who speaks. Would it not seem that the 

 inhabitants of cold countries have been led to use consonants rather than 

 vowels, because the pronunciation, not requiring the same opening of the 

 mouth, does not give the same room to the continual admission of cold 

 air into the lungs. The gentle pacific nature of the inhabitants of Ota- 

 heite, and of the other Fortunate Isles of the South Sea, is shown in the 

 words of their language, in which are abundance of vowels, whilst the 

 hard and barbarous speech of the Esquimaux of the people of Labrador, 

 and New Zealand, is the natural consequence of the rigour of their cli- 

 mate, the barrenness of their soil, and their ferocious and warlike habits. 



The distinction of letters into vowels and consonants, has not been 

 thought sufficient : they have been further distinguished, according to the 

 parts which are more especially engaged in the mechanism of their pro- 

 nunciation. Thus we mark the labial, oral 9 nasal, and lingual vowels; 

 and semi-vowek) M, N, R, L, which bear different names, according as 

 the tongue, in articulating them, strikes the roof of the mouth, the teeth, 

 or the lips: lastly, explosive consonants, K$ T, P, Q, G, D, B, P, and sibi- 

 lant^ H, X, Z, S, J, V, F, C, which are more numerous and more fre- 

 quently employed in languages of more difficult pronunciation. If infor- 



- In the ass ah analogous structure is obsewecL 



j Gratis dedit ore rotundo 



..If UFO, loqid. HOHAT. 



