338 SPEECH. [BOOK in. 



of the back of the tongue in relation to the soft palate and 

 pharynx or fauces; these are called guttural consonants, the 

 name being also applied to certain consonants which are essentially 

 noises generated in the l;iiyn\ itself. These names are useful for 

 a general broad classification ; the term dental however is used to 

 include consonants which are formed by the tongue in relation to, 

 not the teeth, but the front part of the hard palate; hence it 

 is to that extent open to objection. There are also other classifi- 

 cations into which we cannot enter here. 



919. When the various languages of the world are examined 

 the number of consonants, that is to say of sounds used in 

 speech and having the characters on which we are dwelling, is 

 found to be very large ; and concerning the nature and mode 

 of formation of -many of them much discussion has taken place. 

 We must content ourselves here with very briefly indicating the 

 chief facts concerning the mode of formation of the most important 

 and common. 



The group of consonants represented by M, N, NG, are very 

 closely allied to vowels. In each of these as in a vowel the larynx 

 is thrown into vibrations ; but instead of the vibrations passing 

 out by the mouth through a passage which has assumed a form 

 belonging to this or that vowel, the passage to the mouth is closed, 

 and the vibrations find their way out through the nasal cavity which 

 acts as a resonance chamber. When a vowel is sounded the soft 

 palate either completely shuts oft the nasal cavity from the vowel 

 chamber, or at least offers such resistance that an insignificant 

 proportion of the expiratory blast passes into the nasal cavities. 

 A vowel may be sung powerfully, and yet a flame exposed to the 

 nostrils only will shew no movements ; in the case at least of some 

 vowels however a piece of cold polished steel will become dim, 

 shewing that some air is passing through the nostrils. When 

 the communications between the nasal and pharyngeal cavities are 

 sufficiently free, and the other conditions are favourable for the 

 nasal cavities to act as a resonance chamber, the vowel sounds 

 are apt to take on a nasal character ; and this occurs more readily 

 when the vowel is said than when it is sung. In the group of 

 consonants in question the nasal cavities become all important, the 

 passage through the mouth being blocked. In M the passage is 

 closed by shutting the lips, in N by the application of the tongue 

 to the front of the hard palate and upper teeth, in NG by the 

 application of the tongue to the soft palate. 



While in the above group no new vibrations are added to the 

 laryngeal vibrations, in the ordinary L which like them is based 

 on laryngeal sounds, new vibrations, constituting a noise, are 

 added. The passage is not completely, only partially closed ; the 

 front of the tongue is pressed against the hard palate in such a 

 way that the passage is blocked in the middle but the air escapes 

 through narrow channels on each side. It is the noise caused by 



