40 The Sounds of the Consonants. 



to reproduce a vowel sound only by adding to that funda- 

 mental its proper harmonic. Now, for the first and second 

 harmonics the phonograph does this with sufficient distinct- 

 ness, hence we get the vowels 5 and u and a well enunciated ; 

 but when we come to produce the vowels e, au, u, &c., the 

 results are vague^ for the vibrations are too feeble to register 

 themselves properly on the tin-foil, and so, while the fun- 

 damental note is loudly sounded, the vowel is almost beyond 

 recognition. 



The ear has the power of analysing all these vibrations, 

 but when the sound is drawn by any of the graphic methods 

 the eye does not recognise each of them as a distinct vibra- 

 tion, but sees a single set of vibrations, whose lines are 

 broken and varied by the super-position of the smaller sets. 

 In the phonograms, as seen on the tin-foil, we see the fun- 

 damental vibrations marked as a row of prominent dots ; the 

 harmonics appear either as smaller dots between, or as 

 variations in the thickness and depth of the main juncture. 

 This is the origin of the pear-shaped dots which recur so 

 often, and also of the dashes which seem as though drawn 

 out in some places and thickened in others. Among the 

 consonants we have to distinguish two very different classes. 

 The sibilants and liquids have wave-forms of their own 

 which are no less constant and definite than those of the 

 vowels ; but the remainder which form the real consonants 

 have no wave vibrations peculiar to themselves ; perhaps it 

 might be more correct to say that they have no vibrations 

 whatever, but exist only as modification of the vowel 

 sounds. 



First, as to the liquids. — Of all the letters there is none 

 that gives so marked a phonogram as R. This consists 

 of groups of dots varying from four to ten, according to 

 the amount of roughness put in the letter, and these 

 groups are separated by intervals equal to about four 

 of their wave lengths. The dots are similar in shape to 

 those of the vowel ti, and so we reach the conclusion that 

 the liquid r is nothing more or less than the vowel u inter- 

 rupted twenty or thirty times in a second. 



The letter I has a simple sound ; its phonogram consists 

 of a series of bars, with smooth surfaces, that is, there are no 

 haimonics visible, ^— -i— — ; the curve dips into the tin 

 foil, and then rises by an unbroken sweep. This is what we 

 should expect ; for in pronouncing this sound the mouth is 

 closed by the tongue being placed close against the palate, 



