81 



rear of 



.. ,, back point 



the mouth ^ lip^ 



(uvula) *«"§"« *«"»"' 



Stopped J 

 Consonants ) 



Fricatives 



-û 



Ч 



n 



m 



Ч 



к 



t 



P 



r 



Я 



jl 



w 



P 



X 



ç^ 



'P 



voiced 

 voiceless 



voiced 

 voiceless 



The Greenlandic language, then, appears to have developed 

 a stock of 18 consonants, which with amazing regularity may 

 be arranged in a fourfold system according to the four 

 fields of articulation. The series of uvular sounds, which is 

 either lacking or very incomplete in the languages of civiliza- 

 tion, occurs here just as complete as the other sound-series. 



In the following pages, 1 shall describe the positions and 

 processes of articulation of the above mentioned consonants in 

 the various vowel environments in which they may occur. It 

 is not my intention to treat this subject exhaustively; I cite 

 only some of those cases which I myself have observed. 



The key-words are always cited in such an order that 

 those illustrating sounds produced fartherst back in the mouth 

 come first, those illustrating sounds produced farther front, last. 



The uvular consonan ts [î^ 5' r ^] are all articulated 

 at about the same point (;-") , at the inner threshold of the 

 mouth-chamber, and are always articulated there in whatever 

 vowel-combinalion they happen to stand. 



§ 8. The back consonants [k 7/ g /]. 



These sounds are difficult to observe without risking a 

 change in the natural position of the mouth, which has to be 

 held open in order to let the light in. The field of articulation 

 is thereby shoved farther back or down toward the soft palate 



XXXI. 6 



