12 fetJREAtJ OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 99 



Vowels — Oral — Continued. 

 Voiceless — 

 A, I, u, — 



Voiceless vowels, as they are paradoxically called, are phonems produced by 

 lips and tongue taking the position to pronounce a vowel (a, i, u, or o, as 

 the case may be) ; there may be — and there usually is — a strong emission 

 of breath, but as the vocal cords are not brought in action, the phonem 

 is voiceless. 

 Nasalized — 



9, St, but more commonly with less pronounced nasalization, thus: a°, a°. 

 9', (usually long) as in Fr. bon; as in Engl, don, but longer and nasalized, 

 f , (usually long) as in Fr. pain, dessin. 

 Q', (usually long) as in Fr. un. 



5°, (very short) as in Engl, bird, Gm. Gotter, Fr. boeuf, but always short and 

 nasalized. 

 When only a slight degree of nasalization is heard, this is shown by writing 

 a small -» after the vowel, instead of writing a hook under it, as is done in 

 cases where nasalization is more pronounced. 

 Semiconsonants : 



y, w, may be strongly aspirated, when they are written y', w'; may also be 

 voiceless, when they are rendered y, w. The w is often preceded by a barely 

 audible u sound; in this case the phonem is written "w. 

 Consonants : 

 Stops — 

 Dental — 



d, voiced, as in Engl. dawn. 



D, intermediate sound between voiced and unvoiced dental, 

 t, unvoiced, as in Engl. hit. 



t*, unvoiced and aspirated, as in Engl, tin, tan, but with aspiration more 

 emphatic. 

 Velar — 



g, voiced, as in Engl, go, dog. 



G, intermediate sound between voiced and unvoiced velar, 

 k, unvoiced, as in Engl. back. 



k, unvoiced, but pronounced farther back than previous sound, 

 k', unvoiced and aspirated, as in Engl, come, can, but with more emphatic 

 aspiration. 

 Nasals — 

 Dental — 



n, voiced nasal, as in Engl, can, near. 



^n, the same nasal, but preceded by a hardly audible d. The tongue 

 takes the dental position as if about to pronounce d (implosion), but 

 immediately the uvula is lowered and the breath escapes by the nose 

 passage, without having occasioned the explosion usually accompanying 

 the d phonem. 

 N, voiceless nasal; always followed by a strong nasal aspiration 

 Bilabial — 



m, voiced as in Engl, mother. 

 Velar — 



q, voiced, as in Engl, sing, rang. 

 Spirants — 

 Dental — 



s, unvoiced fricative as in Engl, race, sing, 

 z, voiced fricative as in Engl, gaze, doze. 



