170 KEPORT — 1864. 



tions, perpendicular, horizontal, sloping to tlie right, and sloping to the left, make 

 twelve distinct signs. As these are not sufficient to supply one for every con- 

 sonant, recourse is then had to some appendage to the straight line, as a hook or 

 a circle. The expeiimeut of at once doubling the number of straight lines and 

 curves by- writing them light and heavy was first made in Phonography ; and, as 

 the principle waa employed in this system, it proved in practice a remai'kable suc- 

 cess. 



Consonant sounds are divisible into two classes, which may generally be desig- 

 nated as breath letters and voice letters. It was found that in English the breath 

 letters exceed in number the voice letters in the propoition of live to two. The 

 breath letters are k, p, t, sh (called ish as a letter, heard in wis/t), s, th (called ith as 

 a letter, heard in brea^A), f ; and the voice letters are //, cl, b, zli (named as a letter 

 zhe, heard in measure), z, th (called tJie, as a letter, heard in brea^^e), v. These 

 make up two-thirds of the consonants in our language. There are also three 

 nasals, m, n, ng (named mg as a letter, heard in si////) ; 2 liquids, l,r; 2 consonants 

 formed from vowels, w (on), y {ee) ; and the aspirate, h. Of pure vowels we have 

 six long, ah, eh, ee, aw, oh, oo\ and six short, a, e, i, o, u (in bwt, son), 66; called, 

 as letters, at, et, it, of, iit, dot. These 22 consonants and 12 vowels form the alphabet 

 of simple sounds for the English language. It is convenient and even necessary to 

 have signs for the two frequent double consonants ch (called chai/ as a letter, heard 

 in choose, stretcA) and/ (iu_/uice, edge) ; and for the double vowels i, oi, ou, u. Ch 

 is composed of the simple letters t, sh ; and,/ of d, zh. The diphthong i is composed 

 of an obscure vowel rapidly pronounced (which may be represented by e or a), fol- 

 lowed by short ee, thus ei or ai ; oi is aw long, followed by short ee ; on is an obscure 

 vowel rapidly pronounced (which may be represented by o or a) followed by short. 

 00, thus ou or au ; and u is ee, oo, the ee being pronounced as y. There are, there- 

 fore, in the shorthand alphabet 12 vowels, 4 diphthongs, and 24 consonants ; total, 

 40 letters. 



The principles on which the right lines and curves in various positions are as- 

 signed as the representatives of the consonants are these : — Light strokes represent 

 breath letters, and heavy strokes represent voice letters. By placing the six signs 

 I I ( ( ) ) in four positions, we obtain 24 characters serviceable for letters, which 

 is the number we require. But in arranging the signs and sounds it is evident that 

 some accommodations must be made as to heavy and light strokes ; for six of the 

 consonants, m, w, ng, y, w, h, do not pair as breath letters and voice letters, as do 

 the others. It is a most fortunate circumstance that we can harmoniously an-ange 

 22 out of these 24 signs, so as to preserve a relation between the sound and the 

 sign. 



There are two Jiinds of classes of letters, 1st, gutturals, palatals, dentals, and 

 labials ; so called from the seats of articulation where they are produced ; and 2nd, 

 mutes or explodents, in which the sound is completely stojjped in till it is exploded, 

 as p ; nasals, in which the sound issues through the nose, as m ; liquids, or melting 

 letters, as /, having the capacity of uniting with other letters, and producing diph- 

 thongal consonants ; semi\'owels, or half vowels, y, to ; and aspirate or breathing, 

 h; — these various classes being so called from the quality of the sound, or the place 

 of its exit. Now it is evident that but one of these two kinds of classification — 

 organic and qualitative — can be regai'ded in assigning signs to soimds ; for a given 

 stroke can no more be \NTitten in two positions at the same time, than a thing can 

 be in two places at the same time. In laying the foundation of Phonogi-aphy I 

 carried out au exhaustive series of experiments to ascertain which kind of strokes, 

 straight or curved, and what positions, would best suit the diiferent classes of let- 

 ters ; and I found that the best alphabet resulted from giving the straight lines to 

 the explodents k, t, ch, p, and the curves to all the other classes ; placing guttiu'al 

 and nasal letters in the horizontal position, dentals in the upright position, labials 

 sloping to the left, and palatals sloping to the right. Following out this arrange- 

 ment, every letter is in the same position as all the other letters of the same class, 

 except h and the downward r ; and twenty-seven years' experience has given every 

 assurance that can be desired that on this ground Phonography is unassailable ; or, 

 as an eminent American phonographer, .Stephen Pearl Andrews, expressed it, " The 

 fundamental principles of the art— the alphabet of the system — cannot be shaken 



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