BOAS] HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN INDIAN LANGUAGES 77 



closing the glottis and nares, or by closing the posterior part of the 

 mouth with the base of the tongue. The release at the point of 

 articulation lets out the small amount of strongly compressed air, 

 and the subsequent opening of glottis and nares or base of tongue 

 produces a break in the continuity of sound. 



We find also with particular frequency the occurrence of a number 

 of lingual stops corresponding more or less strictly to our li sounds 

 which, however, are more finely differentiated than our Tc sounds. 

 Thus the velar Tc, which is so characteristic of Semitic languages, 

 occurs with great frequency in America. On the other hand, the 

 labio-dental f seems to be rather rare, and where a similar sound 

 occurs it is often the bilabial sound. 



The same may be said of the r, which on the whole is a rare sound 

 in American languages, and the trill of which is almost always so 

 weak that it merges into the d, n, I, or y, as the case may be. 



On the whole, the system of consonants of American languages is 

 well developed, particularly owing to the occurrence of the three 

 stresses to which I referred before, instead of the two with which 

 we are more familiar. In some groups of languages we have also a 

 quite distinct set of stops accompanied by full breathing, which cor- 

 respond to the English surds. Furthermore, a peculiar break, pro- 

 duced by closing the vocal chords, occurs quite commonly, not only 

 in connection with sonants, but also following or preceding vowels or 

 affricative consonants. This intonation is sometimes quite audible, 

 and sometimes merely a break or hiatus in the continuity of pronun- 

 ciation. Sometimes it seems related to the pronunciation of a voiced 

 consonant in which the voicing is preceded by a closure of the vocal 

 chords. In other cases it seems related to the production of the 

 great stress of articulation to which I referred before. For instance, 

 in a strong t the tongue may be pressed so firmly against the palate 

 that all the articulating organs, including the vocal chords, take part 

 in the tension, and that the sudden expulsion of the air is accom- 

 panied also by a sudden relaxation of the vocal chords, so that for 

 this reason the strong, exploded sound appears to be accompanied 

 by an intonation of the vocal chords. 



As stated before, these traits are not by any means common to all 

 American languages, but they are sufficiently frequent to deserve 

 mention in a generalized discussion of the subject. 



On the other hand, there are languages which are exceedingly defi- 

 cient in their phonetic system. Among these may be mentioned, for 



