48 



CEYLON BRANCH— ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY. 



as the symbol of the transition i ; and w, as that of the tran- 

 sition u ; so that ie, ia, io, iu, when the transition is made 

 rapidly to the latter vowel, are written ye, ya, yo, yu ; and 

 no, na, ne, ui, in the same circumstances, are written wo, 

 wa, we, wi. 



These phenomena exhaust the principal peculiarities of 

 the voice when uttering vowels, and it thus appears that the 

 alphabet in use in Europe, in so far as the vowels are con- 

 cerned, is eminently philosophical, and renders it possible to 

 express in writing, by the use of nine marks taken from the 

 Roman alphabet, sounds for which the Deva Nagari employs 

 sixteen, and the Singhalese a still larger number. 



OE CONSONANTS. 



Sounds not vocal or vowel, that is simple and continuable, 

 are produced either by cutting short the voice altogether, 

 (mutes) or by permitting it to flow imperfectly either through 

 the mouth (liquids, sibilants) or by the nostrils (nasals.) And 

 though there are infinite positions between the larynx and 

 the lips, where these sounds may be produced, yet they may 

 be considered chiefly in reference to four regions, guttural, 

 palatal, dental, and labial ; the tendency of a language being, 

 according as the people who use it tends more and more 

 towards a state of repose, to move forward from the throat 

 towards the lips, and consequently to lose its gutturals, 

 asperates, and palatals, in favour of sibilants, dentals and 

 labials. The repose may be that of order and intelligence, 

 or it may be that of efTeminacy or of mere indolence. Let 

 emotion and energy diminish from any cause, the gutturals 

 and asperates of that people's language fall into disuse, at 

 the same time. When the heart ceases to speak, the lan- 

 guage becomes that of the lips. Of this we have abundant 

 instances in our own language. Thus the words nacht, 

 gebracht, regen, (still spelled, night, brought, rain,) we pro- 

 nounce thus, nait, brat, ren, sinking the c's, the g's, and the 



