PART II

PHONETIC ELEMENTS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

CHAPTER I.

SEPARATE PHONETIC ELEMENTS.

DEFINITIONS.

§ 108. PHONOLOGY, from the Greek pwvý, sound, and λóyos, account, is, in the widest sense, the doctrine or science of sounds. In a limited and proper sense, it is the doctrine or science of the sounds uttered by the human voice in speech. The phonology of the English language, then, is the doctrine of the sounds in the spoken language.

The PHONETIC ELEMENTS of the English language are those elementary sounds in the spoken language which it is the province of phonology to exhibit, both separately and in combination.

These elements are the matter, or the raw material of the language, from which its numerous and expressive combinations are formed. Every word in the language is composed of some of these elements. They should be constantly considered as coming from the producing tongue into the receiving ear, and not be confounded with the letters, their symbols, on the printed page. They are, in the present work, treated in relation to the correct articulation and enunciation of individual words. To eloquence and to music they have a separate relationship, which it is the office of the elocutionist and the music-master to unfold.

ORGANS OF PRODUCTION.

$109. The sounds which constitute language are formed by air issuing from the lungs, modified in its passage through the throat and mouth by the organs of speech, at the will of the speaker.

The tones of the human voice are produced by two membranes called the vocal ligaments. These are set in motion by a stream of

air gushing from the lungs. The windpipe is contracted near the mouth by a projecting mass of muscles called the glottis. The edges of the glottis are membranes, and form the vocal ligaments. Ordinarily, these membranous edges are inclined from each other, and, consequently, no vibrations take place during the passage of the breath; but, by the aid of certain muscles, we can place them parallel to each other, when they immediately vibrate and produce a tone. With the aid of other muscles we can increase their tension, and thereby the sharpness of the tone; and by driving the air more forcibly from the lungs, we may increase its loudness. The tone thus formed is modified by the cavities of the throat, nose, and mouth. These modifications form the first elements of articulate language. They are produced, not by the lungs or the windpipe, but by the glottis, the palate, the tongue, the teeth, the lips, which are called the ORGANS OF SPEECH. As the tongue is the principal organ in changing the cavities which modify the tone, it has given its name to speech, both in the Anglo-Saxon and the Latin, and many other languages.

CLASSIFICATION OF THE PHONETIC ELEMENTS.

§ 110. In the spoken language, the phonetic elements are divided into two classes: I. VOCALIC or VOWEL SOUNDS. II. CONSONANTAL or CONSONANT SOUNDS.

VOCALIC OR VOWEL SOUNDS.

§ 111. VOCALIC SOUNDS are those which can be formed without bringing any parts of the mouth into contact to interrupt the stream of air from the lungs.

The

Thus the sound of a or o can be pronounced with the mouth partially open, and the breath in one continuous current. word vowel is from the Latin word vocalis, vocal, through the French voyelle. It means what can be sounded or form voice by itself. Some ambiguity is connected with the use of the word, inasmuch as it not only denotes a sound, but also the letter which represents the sound. In this chapter it is used to denote the sound, and not the letter.

It has been found that the note of a common organ may take the qualities of all the vowel sounds in succession. This is effected merely by lengthening the tube which confines the vibrations. It would seem, therefore, that the peculiar character of the different vowel sounds depends on the length of the cavity which modifies the voice. In pronouncing the a in father, the cavity seems barely,

if at all, extended beyond the throat; in pronouncing the a in all, it reaches to the root of the tongue; and to the middle of the palate in pronouncing the long e in eat; the sound of the long o in oat requires the cavity to be extended to the lips, which must be stretched out to form a cavity long enough to pronounce the u in jute. See GUEST'S English Rhythms.

CONSONANTAL OR

CONSONANT SOUNDS.

§ 112. CONSONANTAL SOUNDS are those which can not be formed without bringing the parts of the mouth into contact.

Thus the sound indicated by the letter p can not be produced without bringing the lips into contact. So the sound indicated by I can not be pronounced without bringing the tongue and the roof of the mouth near the teeth into contact.

Though the consonantal sounds can be isolated, that is, separated from the vocalic, yet in practice they are joined to vocalic sounds and pronounced with them. For this reason, this class of sounds can be properly called consonants, from the Latin words con, with, sonans, sounding.

The particular consonantal sound that is produced by interrupting the stream of air which flows out in the production of a vowel sound, depends upon what parts of the mouth are brought into contact.

§ 113. An ARTICULATE SOUND, from articulus, a Latin word for joint, is properly one which is preceded or followed by the closing of the organs of speech, or bringing some parts of the mouth in contact. A consonant is, in the strict sense, an articulation, or an articulate sound; but, in use, the term is frequently extended to vowel sounds. Vowel sounds are produced by the lower organs of speech, and consonantal sounds by the upper. Brute animals utter vowel sounds; man only can utter consonantal sounds.

ANALYSIS OF SYLLABIC SOUNDS.

§ 114. In the analytical examination of words and syllables for the purpose of discovering the elementary sounds of which they are composed, we must withdraw our attention from the letters, and fix it upon the sounds themselves. In the common pronunciation of words and syllables, the consonantal sound is not uttered without

the vowel sound with which it is connected. But in our analytical examination, we can utter it or partly utter it without the vowel. We can in this way separate an elementary consonantal sound from its associated vowel sound, so far, at least, as to discover its nature. Thus, in analyzing the sounds in the combinations indicated by ro, lo, do, po, we can isolate the sounds indicated by r, l, d, p, and pronounce them as if written r-o, l-o, d-o, p-o. In the case of d there is an imperfect sound, in which there is a slight vocality. In the case of p there is but little more than an effort at a sound.

§ 115. If the vocal ligaments be so inclined to each other as not to vibrate, the emission of breath from the lungs produces merely a whisper. This whisper may be modified in like manner as the voice by similar arrangements of the organs. Every vocal sound has its correspondent whisper sound.

If you take the sounds of p, f, t, k, s, th in thin, sh in shine, and isolate them from their vowels, and pronounce them, the sound is that of a whisper.

If you treat the sounds of b, v, d, g, z, th in thine, z in azure, in the same way, the sound is no whisper, but one at the natural tone of the voice. The first class are called SURDS, the second class SONANTS. Instead of these, the terms sharp and flat have been used, or aspirate and vocal, and are their equivalents.

CONTINUOUS

AND EXPLOSIVE SOUND S.

§ 116. A part of the consonant sounds are CONTINUOUS, and a part are EXPLOSIVE. If you isolate the sounds of p, b, t, d, k, and g surd, you have no power to prolong the sounds or of resting on them. They escape with the breath at once. It is not so with the sounds of f, v, sh, z, zh, s, l, m, n, r, ng. breath is transmitted by degrees, and the sounds can be prolonged. The first class are explosive, the second continuous. See LATHAM'S English Language, and Introduction to WALKER'S Dictionary.

DR. RUSH'S CLASSIFICATION.

Here the

§ 117. I. TONIC SOUNDS. A-ll, a-rt, a-n, a-le, ou-r, i-sle, o-ld, ee-l, oo-ze, e-rr, e-nd, i-n. These twelve tonic sounds have a vocality, as

distinguished from a whisper or aspiration, and admit of indefinite prolongation.

II. SUBTONIC SOUNDS. B-ow, d-are, g-ive, si-ng, l-ove, m-ay, n-ot, r-oe, have unmixed vocality; v-ile, z-one, y-e, w-o, th-en, a-z-ure, have aspiration. Some of the subtonic vocalities are nasal; as, m, n, ng, b, d, g.

III. ATONIC SOUNDS. U-p, ou-t, ar-k, i-f, ye-s, h-e, wh-eat, th-in, pu-sh. These nine have no vocality, but only a whisper or aspiration. In this classification of the elementary articulate sounds, we have twelve tonic, fourteen subtonic, and nine atonic sounds; in all, thirty-five.

Seven of the tonic elements are Diphthongs: a-ll, a-rt, a-n, a-le, i-sle, o-ld, ou-r. The remaining five are Monothongs, having one unaltered sound: ee-l, oo-ze, e-rr, e-nd, i-n.

This classification, though distinguished by great analytical ingenuity and talent, is not so well adapted to the purpose of this work as the one adopted.

15. That of h in hot, an aspirate or simple breathing.

"king, a nasal consonant sound.

16.

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ng

n not,

66

66

66

66

"let, a liquid consonant sound.