Chapter 77

SYSTEM OF ARTICULATE SOUNDS.

§ 113.--The attention of the reader is now directed to the following _foreign_ vowel sounds.

1. The _é fermé_, of the French.--This is a sound allied to, but different from, the a in _fate_, and the ee in _feet_. It is intermediate to the two.

2. The u of the French, ü of the Germans, y of the Danes.--This sound is intermediate to the ee in _feet_, and the oo in _book_.

3. The _o chiuso_, of the Italians.--Intermediate to the o in _note_, and the oo in _book_.

For these sounds we have the following sequences: a in _fate_, _é fermé_, ee in _feet_, ü in _übel_ (German), oo in _book_, _o chiuso_, o in _note_. And this is the true order of alliance among the vowels; a in _fate_, and o in _note_, being the extremes; the other sounds being transitional or intermediate. As the English orthography is at once singular and faulty, it exhibits the relationship but imperfectly.

§ 114. _The system of the mutes._--Preliminary to the consideration of the system of the mutes, let it be observed:--

1. that the th in _thin_ is a simple single sound, different from the th in _thine_, and that it may be expressed by the sign þ.

2. That the th in _thine_ is a simple single sound, different from the th in _thin_, and that it may be expressed by the sign ð.

3. That the sh in _shine_ is a simple single sound, and that it may be expressed by the sign [sigma][42] (Greek [Greek: sigma]).

4. That the z in _azure_, _glazier_ (French j) is a simple single sound, and that it may be expressed by the sign [zeta][42] (Greek [Greek: zêta]).

5. That in the Laplandic, and possibly in many other languages, there are two peculiar sounds, different from any in English, German, and French, &c., and that they may respectively be expressed by the sign [kappa] and the sign [gamma][42] (Greek [Greek: kappa] and [Greek: gamma]).

§ 115. With these preliminary notices we may exhibit the system of the sixteen mutes; having previously determined the meaning of two fresh terms, and bearing in mind what was said concerning the words _sharp_ and _flat_, _continuous_ and _explosive_.

_Lene and aspirate._--From the sound of p in _pat_, the sound of f in _fat_ differs in a certain degree. This difference is not owing to a difference in their sharpness or flatness. Each is sharp. Neither is it owing to a difference in their continuity or explosiveness; although f is continuous, whilst p is explosive. This we may ascertain by considering the position of s. The sound of s is _continuous_; yet s, in respect to the difference under consideration, is classed not with f the continuous sound but with p the explosive one. This difference, which has yet to be properly elucidated, is expressed by a particular term; and p is called _lene_, f is called _aspirate_.

As f is to p so is v to b. As v is to b so is þ to t. As þ is to t so is ð to d. As ð is to d so is [kappa] to k. As [kappa] is to k so is [gamma] to g. As [gamma] is to g so is [sigma] to s. As [sigma] is to s so is [zeta] to z.

Hence p, b, t, d, k, g, s, z, are _lene_; f, v, þ, ð, [kappa], [gamma], [sigma], [zeta], are _aspirate_. Also p, f, t, þ, k, [kappa], s, [sigma], are _sharp_, whilst b, v, d, ð, g, [gamma], z, [zeta], are _flat_; so that there is a double series of relationship capable of being expressed as follows:--

_Lene._ _Aspirate._ | _Sharp._ _Flat._ Sharp. Flat. Sharp. Flat. | Lene. Aspirate. Lene. Aspirate. p b f v | p f b v t d þ ð | t þ d ð k g [kappa] [gamma] | k [kappa] g [gamma] s z [sigma] [zeta] | s [sigma] z [zeta]

All the so-called aspirates are continuous; and, with the exception of s and z, all the lenes are explosive.

§ 116. I believe that in the fact of each mute appearing in a four-fold form (i.e., sharp, or flat, lene, or aspirate), lies the essential character of the mutes as opposed to the liquids.

§ 117. Y and w.--These sounds, respectively intermediate to [gamma] and i (the ee in _feet_), and to v and u (oo in _book_), form a transition from the vowels to the consonants.

§ 118. The French word _roi_, and the English words _oil_, _house_, are specimens of a fresh class of articulations; viz., of _compound vowel_ sounds or diphthongs. The diphthong oi is the vowel o + the semivowel y. The diphthongal sound in _roi_ is the vowel o + the semivowel w. In _roi_ the semivowel element precedes, in _oil_ it follows.

§ 119. The words quoted indicate the nature of the diphthongal system.

1. Diphthongs with the semivowel w, a) _preceding_, as in the French word _roi_, b) _following_, as in the English word _new_.

2. Diphthongs with the semivowel y, a) _preceding_, as is common in the languages of the Lithuanic and Slavonic stocks, b) _following_, as in the word _oil_.

3. Triphthongs with a semivowel both _preceding_ and _following_.

The diphthongs in English are four; ow as in _house_, ew as in _new_, oi as in _oil_, i as in _bite_, _fight_.

§ 120. _Chest_, _jest_.--Here we have _compound consonantal_ sounds. The ch in _chest_ = t + sh; the j in _jest_ = d + zh. I believe that in these combinations one or both the elements, viz., t and sh, d and zh, are modified; but I am unable to state the exact nature of this modification.

§ 121. Ng.--The sound of the ng in _sing_, _king_, _throng_, when at the end of a word, or of _singer_, _ringing_, &c., in the middle of a word, is not the natural sound of the combination n and g, each letter retaining its natural power and sound; but a simple single sound, for which the combination ng is a conventional mode of expression.

§ 122. Compared with a in _fate_, and the o in _note_, a in _father_, and the aw in _bawl_, are _broad_; the vowels of _note_ and _fate_ being _slender_.

§ 123. In _fat_, the vowel is, according to common parlance, _short_; in _fate_, it is _long_. Here we have the introduction of two fresh terms. For the words _long_ and _short_, I substitute _independent_ and _dependent_. If from the word _fate_ I separate the final consonantal sound, the syllable fa remains. In this syllable the a has precisely the sound that it had before. It remains unaltered. The removal of the consonant has in nowise modified its sound or power. It is not so, however, with the vowel in the word _fat_. If from this I remove the consonant following, and so leave the a at the end of the syllable, instead of in the middle, I must do one of two things: I must sound it either as the a in _fate_, or else as the a in _father_. Its (so-called) short sound it cannot retain, unless it be supported by a consonant following. For this reason it is _dependent_. The same is the case with all the so-called short sounds, viz., the e in _bed_, i in _fit_, u in _bull_, o in _not_, u in _but_.

§ 124. It is not every vowel that is susceptible of every modification. I (ee) and u (oo) are incapable of becoming _broad_. The e in _bed_, although both broad and slender, is incapable of becoming _independent_. For the u in _but_, and for the ö of certain foreign languages, I have no satisfactory systematic position.

§ 125. _Vowel System._

_Broad._ _Slender._ _Independent._ || _Independent._ | _Dependent._ a, in _father_ || a, in _fate_ | a, in _fat_. || é in _fermé_, | é, in _fermé_, || _long_ | _short_. e, in _meine_, Germ. || | e, in _bed_. || ee, in _feet_ | i, _pit_. || ü, of the German, | the same, _short_. || _long_ | || oo, in _book_ | ou, in _could_. || o in _chiuso_ | the same, _short_. aw, in _bawl_ || o, in _note_ | o, in _not_.

From these the semivowels w and y make a transition to the consonants v and the so-called aspirate of g, respectively.

§ 126. _System of Consonants._

Liquids. Mutes. Semivowels.

|| Lene. | Aspirate. || || Sharp. Flat. | Sharp. Flat. || || | || m || p v | f v || w n || t d | þ ð || . l || k g |[kappa] [gamma] || y r || s z |[sigma] [zeta] || .

n is doubled in _unnatural_, _innate_, _oneness_. l -- _soulless_, _civil-list_, _palely_. k -- _book-case_. t -- _seaport-town_.

It must not, however, be concealed, that, in the mouths even of correct speakers, one of the doubled sounds is often dropped.

§ 132. _True aspirates rare._--The criticism applied to words like _pitted_, &c., applies also to words like _Philip_, _thin_, _thine_, &c. There is therein no sound of h. How the so-called aspirates differ from their corresponding lenes has not yet been determined. That it is _not_ by the addition of h is evident. Ph and th are conventional modes of spelling simple single sounds, which might better be expressed by simple single signs.

In our own language the _true_ aspirates, like the true reduplications, are found only in compound words; and there they are often slurred in the pronunciation.

We find p and h in the words _haphazard_, _upholder_. -- b and h -- _abhorrent_, _cub-hunting_. -- f and h -- _knife-handle_, _off hand_. -- v and h -- _stave-head_. -- d and h -- _adhesive_, _childhood_. -- t and h -- _nuthook_. -- th and h -- _withhold_. -- k and h -- _inkhorn_, _bakehouse_. -- g and h -- _gig-horse_. -- s and h -- _race-horse_, _falsehood_. -- z and h -- _exhibit_, _exhort_. -- r and h -- _perhaps_. -- l and h -- _wellhead_, _foolhardy_. -- m and h -- _Amherst_. -- n and h -- _unhinge_, _inherent_, _unhappy_.

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