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Messrs. W. H. Preece and A. Stroh. [Feb. 27, 



confirmed recently by Messrs. Eleeming Jenkin and Ewing, by an 

 analytical examination of phonographic tracings, fully described by 

 them in a paper read before the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 



7. The principal vowel sounds are — 



Ah, as in . . . . . . path 



A „ hay 



E „ ... .. .. he 



„ .. .... old 



00 . . . . , . good. 



There are several others which are modifications of these five, such 

 as uh as in gut ; a as in bad ; aiv as in law, &c. 

 The diphthongs are : — 



1 which is compounded of ah and e. 

 u ,, ,, e and oo. 



y „ ,, oo, ah, and e. 



8. The cavity of the mouth changes during the articulation of these 

 diphthongs — it remains constant during the articulation of vowels. It 

 is thought that the influence of the first emission of breath in dis- 

 tinguishing the character of the vowels has been lost sight of, and 

 that in addition to the influence of the cavity of the mouth, some 

 allowance must be made for the increment and decrement of the 

 sonorous vibrations, as well as for the variation of air pressure at the 

 commencement and completion of a vowel sound. Helmholtz has 

 acknowledged the influence of these operations in consonants and 

 compound musical tones generally, but he has not considered them in 

 vowel sounds. The previous diagram (fig. 2) shows what an essential 

 feature they bear on vowel sounds. 



9. The manner in which vowel sounds blend into each other is 

 strikingly shown in the way in which different dialects deal with 

 different vowels. Thus, what a London man calls subject a Lancashire 

 man calls soobject ; a Londoner says Manchester, a Lancashire man 

 Mawnchester, a Scotchman Monchester. Under is often pronounced 

 onder. We need not, however, examine different dialects to discover 

 this curious blending of vowel sounds ; it is found in inhabitants of 

 the same district to a greater or less extent. Thus with the word 

 Manchester, Londoners often say Menchester, MoMchester, or Marnchester. 

 In every case which the authors have investigated, this change of 

 vowel sound, due to dialect, is simply due to the shifting or lowering 

 of the upper partials. 



10. The order of the principal vowels, which is given above, does 

 not follow any theoretical principle. It would seem that a better 

 order to follow would be one dependent on the pitch of the partials 

 as given by Helmholtz. 



