INTKODUCTION, 



Among the frmisonants we will Hrst take uji some of tliose as to whose mode of representation there can be no question whatever. 

 There are, for example, the three so-called " mutes," j), (, and A,- these signs belong to the sounds instanced below : 



P I k , : . 



im,, tn,t rmil.: „ ,/ ,, ,. , 



The last example shows that we use c as well as /,■ witli this value ; that must, of eoursc, be avoided In a systematic alphflbet. 



The t and k of other languages often do not precisely agree in character with ours ; one should bo on the look-out liore (as, indeed, everywliere 

 else) for difTerences, and should note and describe them, if possible. 



Of these three, the ]) is called a " labial " mute, because made with the lips ; the I a " lingual" (or " dental "), because made with the tongue-tip 

 (and near the teeth), the k a "palatal" or "gutteral," because made against the palate, or near the throat, with tlie back part of tiie tongue. 



Then there are three other mutes, closel.v related witli these; they and their examples are these : 



'' '' .</ 



bf<ih ilrt-ittt yi'ug. 



They diflfer from the three preceding in that tiiere is t<>nc, audible sound, made in the throat diu'infi the eontimiaiu-e of the rniiUuM by \\!ii<-h the\- are 

 l)riKUuvd. They are, therefore, properly called the "sonant" mutes, while the others are called the "surd," or "non-sonant," or "toneless" mutes— 

 or something equivalent to tliis (the names "haixl" and "soft," and their like, are altogether to be rejected). Usually, a language has both the surd 

 and sonant corresponding mutes — t and d^ p and f>, k and g — if it lias either. 



In some languages the mutes (especially the surd ones) are sometimes uttered in such a way that there is a little perceptible pult'of breath, a 

 kind of A sound, between tliem and the following sound. In such cases they are said to be "aspirated," or the resulting sounds are called "aspirates." 

 They may be l)est written with a so-called "i-ough-breathlng" (Greek), or reversed apostrophe, after the letter: thus, 



P' b' r' d' k' if . 



All these sounds are called mutes because the mouth-organs are bo closed in making them that no breath escapes until the closure is broken or 

 exploded. 



If, now, Willi .just the saifie positions of the mouth-organs the breath is suffered to pass into or through the nose, the result is the so-called "nasal 

 mutes," or "nasal cuiisoiianis," or simply "nasals." Generally, a language has a nasai corresponding to each pair of non-nasal mutes (surd and 

 sonant I. sio. in i'.M_'li<h wr lii;ir (iu- laijial )iasal m, the lingual nasal ri, and the palatal nasal, in xlng, bring, etc. Tliis last is just ms ^iniiiU- a s.>und as 



cither of tl i li^i -, Kul w r l]a\ .■ no Miniih' si:;ii for it, and write it with ng. If this double sign, or "digraph," wcit ;Hlii|iird ..^ ii^ r.|ii<'v,.ni.ii ive, we 



should have ditliriilty in ilisiiiiLiiiishiim tlir simple nasal, as in -lingry, from tiie nasal followed )i.v aflr-sound, as In/i/i /> /■. Tlu' in-l sin::;, -ui.-titutu is 

 n, because it is always to be round in the printing olti.'c-.. 



The nasals, then, are — 



mum nun ringing. 



The nasal mutes are made, as above delincd, with complete closure of the mouth-organs, and get their peculiar nasal quality from the ringing of tiie 

 expelled air in the nose. But if the same nasal ringing is made while the mouth-organs are in a position which produces a vowel (part of the breath 

 being driven through the mouth, as in ordinary vowel utterance, but a part also into or through the nose), the result is a vowel witli a nasal tang or 

 tone added to it, or a "nasal vowel." The French, for example, has four nasal vowels, as in via, en, on, tin. Whenever such are found in an Indian 

 language, they may best be written with the proper sign for just that vowel-sound which is given, and with the addition of a "superior" n to indicate 

 the nasality. Thus, the IViui- French sounds would be represented thus: 



a" d" a" «" ' ^ • ' '" 



vin en on 'un, 



Kut there are other pairs of surd and sonant sounds (without any nasal correspondents). 



Thus, tor example, the/ofyi/c and the r of mire ttturtd related in this way, the /being made by an expulsion of pure breath, and the r. of intoned 

 or sonant breath; through precisely the same position of the mouth-organ. In English, this position is a pressing of the upper teetli upon tlie lower 

 li|>; but some languages leave out the teeth altogether, and produce very nearly the same sounds between the edges of tiie two lips alone. In any 

 language, it would be well to look sliarply to see- whether Its/ Or v, or both, are of tlie one kind or the other, and the purely labial pair may best be 

 written pft and 6/1. • , 



The f/i-sound in our words thin and Iriim, and that in then and uiitft, are related in the same way, one being surd and tlie other sonant. Although 

 they are simple sounds, we have no simple signs for ttlftiii; we must write them, the thin-truth one with th; and then we shall best write the other, 

 the then-ivUh one, with dh, because it stands in precisely the same relation to the «i-sound as the d does to the t. 



This class of sounds are best called tlie "spirants." The/ and r are labial, and the th and dh are lingual (although each pair lirings in an 

 additional organ, the teeth). In -English we have no palatal spirants ; but they are found in many languages. The German, for examjile, has two : 

 one in words like irh and milch, formed further forward on the tongue; the other, in ach, dnch, etc., further back, more gutturally. By analogy with 

 tlie «ft-sign we may best write the German iWj-sound witli kh: and then, for convenient distinction, we may write the. ac/i-sound with gh. They are 

 both surd, and the corresponding sonant is very rare; if met with 'nearly the Arabic "r/ftnin"), it would have to be written witli gh. 



The spirants, then, are— ......... 



./-'■■ ^ "'(J th dh kh gh 



fife -valve thin then [ic/i] [«c7i]. 



We come now to the class of "sibilants," or hissing letters. Our common English s and z need no explanation; they, too, are corresponding 

 surd and sonant. But our .sft-sound is ju.st as muph a simple sound as .?, although we use two letters to write it with; and it, as a surd, lias its corre- 

 sponding sonant in azure and plermire, in fusion -Mid adhfsiun, and their like. So, if we continue to write .n7i, we must represent its Sonant by'zA .■ and 

 there is nothing better that we can do. . ' ■' ' - 



Thus, the sibilants are— 



* z sh zh 



sauce zones shrewish azure. 



Tlie eh and j sounds in chureh and.iudge are compound, having for tlieir last part the sh and zh sounds, with a ( pretlxed to the one and a d to the 

 other; the t and d, however, formed in a somewhat different way from our usual ones— namely, further back in the mouth, and witli the flat of the 

 tongue. They may, if met with, be written with <sft and dzh; or, for brevity's -sake, with eft and.;.- or even with c instead of c/i ; according iis the c or 

 eh may be required for no other uses. 



The sounds of our y and w, as in you and we, should be written with those letters. The same with an ft-sound prefixed to them— as in u-hen. 

 = 7i't',>rti and ft't? ;='t(/!t/— should be written as pronounced: that is, 7hw and hy. .Some hold, to be sure, that these sounds are not «> and j/ with an h 

 prefixed, but rather are the corresponding surds to w and y: in either case, however, the hw and hy signs are the best, and unobjectionable. 



The precise English w is a rather uncommon sound among other languages; the 1/ is almost universal. Both, as regards the way in which they 

 are made by the moMth-oi-gans, are only inHnitesimallv difl'erent from i (pique) and it (rule). 



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