SIR CHARLES BELL ON THE ORGANS OF THE HUMAN VOICE. 313 
that these letters, D, B, G, are accompanied with a sound, though not joined 
to a vowel, and to call them semimutes. 
Grammarians admit “ that the mouth is not the proper organ for producing 
sound, but only the organ for modulating and articulating the specific sounds;” 
and having explained the formation of the vowels, they proceed to the for¬ 
mation of the consonants, accounting for their peculiar sounds by the position 
of the lips, tongue, and palate. 
We perceive that their explanation must necessarily be imperfect, owing to 
their ignorance of the anatomy, and especially of the action, of the pharynx. 
For example, P, B, and M, they say, are consonants formed by the application 
of the lips to each other: but this leaves the peculiar character of each letter 
unexplained, since all three are formed by the lips. The real difference is this: 
P gives no sound previous to the parting of the lips ; it is the vowel abruptly 
sounded by their separation. B differs only in as much as the sound pre¬ 
cedes the opening of the lips in the manner I have just explained; and as 
the pharynx, after being distended, contracts and forces open the lips, this 
letter is very properly called explosive. M, too, is in part owing to the arti¬ 
culation through the lips ; the sound, commencing in the vowel, is interrupted 
by the shutting of the lips ; after which it continues in a murmur ; with this 
difference from the guttural murmur,—that it ascends into the cavities of the 
face, the velum being lifted. The same difference is shown in other letters, 
as F and V. If we attempt to articulate certain letters in a whisper, we shall 
find how much the distinctness depends on the swelling of the pharynx. In a 
whisper it is with much difficulty that we can distinguish P from B, or T from 
D, or G (hard) from K. 
Thus we see that the consonants, classed according to their formation in the 
mouth, have varieties consequent on the action of the pharynx. 1st, The con¬ 
sonants formed by the closed lips ; 2nd, Those formed by the meeting of the 
lips and teeth; 3rd, Those formed by the tip of the tongue and palate; 4th, 
Those formed by the dorsum of the tongue and palate. All of these admit of 
variety by the operation of the pharynx and velum; viz. they are mutes, explo¬ 
sive semimutes, and nasal liquids. For example, taking the position of the tip 
of the tongue against the teeth as forming a consonant, we have T, the mute ; 
D, the semiinute, in which the sound precedes the explosion; and N, the sound 
