PHONOLOGY. 217 



has been noticed by travelers among the mde and hunting tribes of otber 

 parts of the globe; it seems to have a physiological cause, and not to be 

 intended for rhetorical effect. 



FEEQUENOY OP SOUNDS. 



The frequency of each alphabetic sound or class of sounds in a given 

 language largely depends on their mutual phonetic relations with neigh- 

 boring sounds within the body of the word, and will be treated of elsewhere. 

 A few hints on this subject are as follows: 



The three primary vowels, short u, a, i, are the most frequent of all 

 vocalic sounds; then follow a and e (both interchangeable), e, o; the 

 softened vowels 6 and ii are rather scarce: to'dshitodshi, and Modoc po'sh, 

 stel6pg6sh; utiissusd-ash, tii'ksha. 



Of all vowels, u commences most words, and a terminates a much 

 larger number of them: it is the most frequent of all \ocalic soiuids in this 

 upland tongue. Of the diphthongs ai, au, ua (wa), ui (wi), ia (ya) occur 

 much oftener than ei, yi, yu, or wo, and oi may be called a rarity. 



The most ubiquitous of all consonants is probably s, sir then follow the 

 gutturals, g, k, k, x, the laryngeal h, the palatals tch, dsh, y, the surd mutes 

 p, t, the nasals m, n, and the trilling sound 1. Unfrequent are g, b, d, z; 

 also v in the midst of words. None of the Klamath words end in g, y, ng, 

 nk, V, mb, mp, z, and a very restricted number in b, d, 'h; cf sjji'b, e'nd 

 (for ^nat), nad (or nat). Every sound of the alphabet can begin words, 

 but initial dsh, %, and z are rather exceptional. Over one fourth of the 

 terms in our Dictionary begin with s, sh. 



On the phonetic structure of the syllable, see below. 



GROUPING OF SOUNDS. 



We are prompted to call a language harmonious when the quality and 

 intonation of the sounds strikes our ear agreeably, and, when the grouping 

 of the several sounds in the word-unit appears to be even, rhythmical, and 

 musical. In due time high-pitched vowels have to follow those of a lower 

 pitch, consonants produced with one vocal organ should A'ary at short 



