158 Scientific Proceedings, Royal Dublin Society. 
The diagram formed by it is 
‘hangatwatayeAnrngcsneel roman eae agg OUR 
The smooth R is always preceded by a vowel, and appears to 
have the characteristics of a vowel. This letter will be referred 
to again under the head of vowel sounds. 
The letter Lis of the class of linguals, and, like R, is a con- 
tinuous pneumic; that is, a continuous stream of air must be 
kept up while the action is made. 
The parts of the tongue employed appear to be the same as for 
the rough R, but the movement is controlled by the muscles. The 
action of this consonant will be seen in the diagram of the words 
“the lilies of the valley,” page 172. 
There are four simple sibilants, or hissing consonants (pneu- 
monics», 
S, Z, Sh, and Zh, 
the latter two not having any proper single alphabetical signs 
allotted to them in English, although as perfectly simple as the 
former two. G soft and J are compound sibilants phonetically 
identical. Ch soft is another. The hissing sound of these con- 
sonants is equally heard in whispering and in speaking aloud. 
The diagram of the syllable ses 
et en te Ne 
The pre-pause 2 is a hiss which is stopped by the vowel sound, 
and repeated in the sub-pause 6 and re-action 7. 
The aspirate H is not accompanied by the movement of any 
parts of the mouth; it is in effect a sudden commencement of 
vowel action, preceded by, and made during, the expulsion of air 
from the mouth. 
The diagrams of ah and hah become 
ah. ah. hah. hah. 
asa Se fe eu we ey ENO fe 
The letters Q, or rather Qu, as it occurs in English, and X are 
compounds; the one being KW with the vowel sound following ; 
the other KS with the vowel sound preceding. 
W and Y partake of the character of vowels as much as of 
consonants. 
Their action as consonants appears to be limited to the com- 
