NO. 6 PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF INDIAN LANGUAGES J 



may be preceded by a closure forming an affricative similar to the 

 medial affricatives. The symbols recommended are the following: 



8. Glottal. — In American languages a peculiar hiatus is frequently 

 found between vowels, and a similar cessation of the breath precedes 

 and follows vowels. This closure is of the glottis, and is in all prob- 

 ability caused by the folding of the epiglottis over the glottis, as is the 

 case in swallowing. It is recommended that the apostrophe (') be 

 used. As noted above, this glottal closure also occurs with glottalized 

 consonants. 



A glottal spirant, evidently caused by the agitation of the relaxed 

 vocal cords during the forcible expiration of the breath, does not 

 differ particularly from the h of English. Strong aspiration should 

 be indicated by h, weak aspiration by breathing ('). 



B. RULES FOR THE MORE COMPLETE SYSTEM 

 DIACRITICAL MARKS USED INDEPENDENTLY 



1. As a sign for long vowel or consonant, it is recommended that 

 the inverted period (*) be used after a letter. For more than ordi- 

 nary length, a colon ( :) may be used after a letter. Thus, a • would 

 denote long a; a: would denote excessively long a. Excessive 

 length of non-grammatical significance, such as is often made use of 

 for rhetorical purposes, may be expressed by plus ( + ) . Characters 

 without explicit signs of length are to be considered as short. Ex- 

 cessive shortness of vowels is to be indicated, where it seems advisable 

 to do so, by a small superior breve ( " ) immediately after the letter. 

 It is to be recommended that it be printed small and close to the pre- 

 ceding letter, so as not to sprawl the word. 



2. Main and secondary stress accents are to be indicated by acute 

 ( ' ) and grave ( " ) respectively, which are to be placed after the 

 vowel or syllabic consonant afifected. Where an accent and a mark of 

 length apply to the same vowel, it is recommended that the two sym- 

 bols be united into a single symbol, so as to avoid sprawling the word. 

 Thus, ■' ' "^ and '^. 



3. A period on the line is to be used between characters normally 

 forming diphthongs or affricatives, when it is desired to indicate that 

 each of the sounds represented has its own (syllabic) value. Thus, 



' Small capital L. 



