4 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 66 



accents may be indicated by the grave accent ( " ). It should be 

 remembered that stress accent is exceptionally mztrked in English 

 and that it is less pronounced and plays a less important role in 

 many American languages. Unless the indication of stress is neces- 

 sary to distinguish one word from another, it need not be printed 

 each time a word appears in texts. 



II. CONSONANTS 



I. Stops. — The consonants that are usually known as stops, those 

 in which the stream of breath is completely checked for a moment 

 by a closure of the mouth passage, are classified in various ways. 



Various organs or parts of organs are employed : both lips, the tip 

 of the tongue against the teeth or palate, the back of the tongue 

 against the palate, the back of the tongue against the velum. The 

 sounds resulting from the release of the contact of these various 

 mouth parts have well-known and distinct qualities, such as the 

 bilabial sounds of p and b, the dental sounds of t and d, the palatal 

 sounds of k and g, and the velar sounds, not found, however, in 

 English. 



Various modifications of these stops uttered in the four positions 

 are recognized, and may be grouped in definite series. If the vocal 

 cords are not closed and are not in operation during the uttering of 

 the consonant, it is known as a surd. If the vocal cords are closed 

 and vibrating during the entire time occupied in articulating the 

 sound, it is a sonant. In many Indian languages sounds occur that 

 to the English ear appear now a surd and now a sonant. These 

 stops are called intermediates, and should be consistently represented 

 by definite symbols. Small capitals of the sonant symbols are recom- 

 mended for these. The ordinary b, d, g, may be used when only inter- 

 mediate surds and not sonants occur. Surd consonants are frequently 

 followed by a strong expiration of breath, and are called aspirated in 

 consequence. Unaspirated surds are usually difficult to distinguish 

 from intermediates. 



Many Indian languages have a series of stopped consonants quite 

 foreign to European ears. In addition to and during the usual closure 

 of the mouth characteristic of the particular sound, the^e is a closure 

 of the glottis. The air thus confined in the mouth is compressed and 

 escapes with abruptness when the stop is released. These glottalized 

 consonants may be indicated by following apostrophe (/>'). 



The following system of recording the stopped consonants is 

 recommended : 



