SPEECH-SOUNDS, the sounds actually used for the conveyance of thought by speech. See Phonetics.
1. Symbolization.— It is necessary to have some system of writing speech-sounds, in order to talk of them. The system used in the present article is the palaeotype of the present writer’s Early English Pronunciation. All letters or words thus written will be enclosed in (). The following preliminary list of the ordinary sounds, with examples, will render what follows intelligible. For an alphabetical list, see art. 20.
English.— 1. b ee t b ai t b aa b ough t b oa t b oo t (biit b ee t b aa bAAt b oo t buut). 2. kn i t n e t gn a t kn o t n u t n oo k (n i t net naet nɔt nǝt n u k). 3. f i le f oi l f ow l fuel (fa'il fɔ' i l fa'ul fĭuu' i l). 4. h ay (h ee ). 5. p ea b ee, t oe d oe , c ape g ape (pii bii, t oo d oo , k ee p g ee p). 6. wh ey w ay, f eel v eal, th in th en , s eal z eal, r u sh r ou ge, h ue y ou (wh ee w ee , fiil viil, th i n dhen, siil ziil, rǝsh ruuzh, Jhĭuu Juu ). 7. ea r r ing, gu ll litt le (iiɹ r i q, gǝl l i t’l). 8. su m chas m , su n op en , sung (sǝm kaez’m, sǝn oo p’n, sǝq). 9. chest jest (tɟest dɟest).
Foreign.— F French, g German, it Italian. 10. b ê te f, l â che F, n ò it, d û F, f eu F, v eu f F, v in F, v en t f, v on t f, un f, s oi n f, s oi F, l ui f (bEEt, l aa sh, no, dyy, f ǝ , voef, veΛ, vaΛ, vo Λ , oeΛ, sŭeΛ, sŭa, lyí). 11. da ch tei ch , ta g e siege, w ahl, all g (dakh táikjh, taaghe, ziigjhe, bhaal). 12. pag li a it, beso gn e F (pà·ljà, b ǝ̯ zonj).
2. Nature of Speech-Sounds.— Speech-sounds result from shocks given to the air by the organs of speech, received by the drumskin of the ear, and transmitted to the auditory nerves in the cochlea. The apparatus is explained by Helmholtz, who deals with musical sounds. But speech is not musical, and its sounds are much obliterated when rendered musical. An original quality of tone generated by the vocal chords is modified by the cavities through which it passes, as explained by Helmholtz (Sensations of Tone) on the principle of resonance. There are three ways in which speech-sounds may be produced—(1) by the air in the mouth, without additional breathing, by smacks and clicks; (2) by drawing in air, as orally in chirps, whistles, sobs, gasps, and nasally in snuffles, snores; (3) by expelling air, as in the greater number of speech-sounds. The last are either fated, the vocal chords being wide apart and hence not vibrating, but allowing breath to pass freely, or voiced, the vocal chords being close together and vibrating fully, or else whispered, the vocal chords approximating but not touching, and their edges only vibrating. The last is only a variation of the second and needs no further consideration. Flated and voiced sounds are either fixed, the position of the vocal organs remaining unchanged throughout, or changing, the position constantly altering from one fixed position to another, forming “glides.”
3. Generic and Specific Speech-Sounds.— Fixed speech-sounds, intended to be the same, vary from speaker to speaker, and in the same speaker at different times. Those who attempt to write sounds from dictation rapidly find that they have to disregard these specific differences, and simply discriminate genera. And much difference of opinion has always existed as to the discrimination and number of genera.
4. Vowels, that is, vocals, are so called because their positions allow the voice-sounds to pass with least obstruction. The three genera (ii, aa, uu), which have always been distinguished, differ greatly in the positions of the tongue and lip, that is, in their mouth cavities, and hence resonance. The usual method of describing speech-sounds is by the shape of the cavity, which, however, could be shown to be insufficient for many reasons. As differently shaped cavities resound to a note of the same pitch, Helmholtz proposed the last for discrimination. The pitches of (ii, aa, uu) are widely different, (ii) having the highest and (uu) the lowest; but the extreme diversity of results in attempting to assign the actual pitch of vowel cavities shows that this will not suffice. Resonance cavities do not create but merely modify original vowel qualities of tone, and these last seem to depend upon the will of the speaker, guided by his powers of appreciation and imitation, both extremely variable, partly hereditary, partly depending on conformation of brain, and partly acquired during adolescence.
Melville Bell, Sweet, Storm, and Sievers, and all who have latterly examined the subject distinguish at least two series of vowel genera, that is, two forms of each genus, called “narrow” and “wide but they are far from being agreed as to what the difference consists in and how it is produced. Sweet differs from Bell, and Sievers does not wholly agree with Sweet. All, however, call (ii, uu) narrow, and (i, u) wide.
Besides these two series Bell introduced another distinction applying to both, termed “rounding,” consisting in a greater or less closure of the lips, slight for (aa), much for (uu), and intermediate for (oo ). But this character is not scientifically precise, because all the vowels can be produced with the mouth wide open (by means of a compression of the arches of the palate), and still more easily with the mouth at least as much closed as ordinarily for (uu). Other phonetists wish to introduce distinctions based upon the shape of the apertures between the lips.
There is also a feeling of intermediateness between vowelsounds. Thus (yy) is felt by many to lie “between” (ii, uu), and (oeoe) between (oo, ee). But we also have other intermediates which arise spontaneously when listening to new languages and dialects. Thus in west Somerset there is a vowel between (ə, i), one between (y, ə ), and another between (ə , oe), and the positions for these vowels have not been ascertained. These are only specimens of numerous cases. Hence the positional discrimination breaks down at present. Nevertheless it is very good so far as it goes, but must not be pressed to extremes.
All the vowels may be also flated and whispered; that is, the position and dictating vowel-intention remaining, the totally or partially open vocal chords forbid voice and produce sound more or less recognized as substitutes for the true vowels. Write (ii) voiced, ('ii) whispered, (“ii) flated. This distinction becomes of more importance for consonants.
5. Glottids and Physems.— A glottid is the action of the vocal chords in altering the form of the glottis or tongue-shaped space between them. (1) The glottid is clear when there is no attempt to utter the vowel until the chords are brought together, yet the utterance takes place at that instant. This may be written (,ii) initial. Similarly, a vowel may end with a clear glottid (,ii,), no flatus escaping after the vowel ceases. This clear glottid is usually inferred and not written. (2) The glottid is gradual, written (ן), when flatus passes through the vowel position before the chords are sufficiently approximated for voice, or after they are separated, thus (ןiiן) is really (“ii+ 'ii + ii +'ii +“ii). This is an exceedingly common habit with some speakers. (3) The check glottid (;), Arabic hamza *, arises from keeping the chords tightly closed so that they cannot vibrate, and then releasing them with an explosion. It may be final in reverted order in Arabic, and it is common as an initial in German, as ;eine;er;innerung, and is used as the catch accent in Danish, as ma;nd, a man, distinct from man = F on. (4) An exaggeration of (;) gives Arabic (g⅛in) £, the bleat, with a rattle in the cartilaginous glottis.
Physems are the bellows-actions of the lungs. (1) The jerk (h) or sudden puff of either vocalized or flated breath, accompanying either clear or gradual glottid. The first, with voice only, is the singer’s and Bengali aspirate; the second, with flatus, is the Scotch or German aspirate. (2) The wheeze (h ), Arabic stated by Czermak to arise from suddenly forcing breath through the cartilaginous glottis.
6. Vowel Glides and Vanishes.— So far the positions of the vowel above the larynx have been supposed to remain unchanged. In this case many degrees of length may be distinguished, as (ă) very short, (a) short, (à) medium, (aa) long, (aà) drawled, (aaa) extravagantly prolonged. If the vowel sign consists of two parts, as (ah), only the first is marked doubled or tripled for these lengths, as (ăh, aah), &c. In English it is felt very difficult to preserve the positions for long (ee, aa, oo), and these vowels gravitate to, without by any means reaching, (i, ə, u). The first and last may be written (edj, odw), implying what are termed vanishes or gliding alterations of sound, accompanied by alterations of position as the vowel ceases. This change is generally unintended and mostly used unconsciously.
7. Diphthongs.— But there are conscious changes to quite different positions. The first and last vowels are then taken as fixed, one of them having the chief stress, and there is a vowel glide between them. These form diphthongs; the stress and glide being the chief characteristics are marked by ('), and the two elements are juxtaposed. The glide is generally short and close in English, longer in German, still longer and looser, or “slurred,” in French and Italian. There are many typical classes, i. With weak final (i), unanalysed (a'i), analysed (ái, á i, ə' i, Ǝ' i , éi, é i, E 'i, ae'i), &c., all common. ii. With weak final (u), unanalysed (a'u), analysed (áu, á u, ǝ 'u, Ǝ' u , éu, é u, E' u, ae' u ), &c., all very common, iii. Weak final (y), theoretic German eu (óy, áy), Devonshire ow (oe'y 1 5 ). iv. Weak initial (i) or (ĭ), used for (J) in Italy, France, Wales, &c. v. Weak initial (y) in Fr. vi. Weak initial (u) or (ŭ), used for (w) in Italy, Spain, France, Wales, &c. vii. Murmur diphthongs ending in weak (e ), common in English, but generally with the option of trilling an (r) after it, and hence written (ɹ), as in ear, air, oar, lord, poor, pure, pyre, power (ii ɹ , eeɹ, oo ɹ, lAAɹd, puuɹ, pĭ uu ɹ , pa' i ɹ, pa'uɹ); the r is always trilled in Scotland, viii. The vanish diphthongs (ee ’j, oo ’ w ), just considered. ix. Inchoant diphthongs, first grave, where the speaker begins too low and corrects himself, as (í i, ú u), and secondly acute, where he begins with the mouth too open and corrects himself as he proceeds, as (Ǝ'o); both are common in English dialects.
8. Glides from and to Mutes, Post-Aspirates, Sonants.— The essence of the diphthongal character was the glide, which was independent of the sounds of the first and last elements. These might be absolutely mute, as in (piip, tAAt, kook) peep, taught, coke, in which (p, t, k) are mere positions without sounds. But the results are quite different from (ii, aa, oo ), because while the consonant positions are opened out the vowel is at the same time sounded. Similarly in the reverse order, when final. But here the enclosure of the breath is felt to be uncomfortable, and, if there is no vowel to fall upon, the mouth is opened and a puff of flatus (‘), called the “recoil,” is heard in England, as (piip') peep! Using then (+) for the gliding sounds, we have (p + ii + p + '); but there is no recoil in (p + ii + p + i + q) or (p + ii + p b + oo ’ w !) peeping, peep-bo! Various nations'have very different habits in this respect. In Indian languages (p') would be felt as a final post-aspirated mute. So initially in Germany, the (p) position is usually released, not on a vowel with a clear glottid, as in England and Italy, but on a vowel with a gradual glottid, as (pןii), and hence flatus is heard before the vowel. When this is exaggerated, as (pןhii) or (pHןhii), we have the true Indian post-aspirated mute.
But an attempt to utter the vowel through a mute position may be made before the position is quite opened out, or the vowel may be continued into it after it has been assumed. This gives the English, Italian, and Indian “sonant,” as in (b ee b) babe. The German is not quite the same. Here the glides are (b + ee + b), with possibly a voiced recoil (b + ee + b + ’), where (’) represents the most amorphous voice. This voiced recoil is strong in French, but seldom heard in English, except in declamation, is regular in modern Indian, and impossible to a German, who says at most (b ee bp') or (b ee p'); also Indians and Irish sometimes jerk out their vowel after sonants, as (bH ee bH'), producing the sonant post-aspirates. The ancient Indian never ended words in the pause with sonants, post-aspirated mutes, or post-aspirated sonants, but only with simple mutes, and avoided the recoil.
9. Glides to and from Hisses, Buzzes.— In the case of a hiss, flatus passes through the consonant position and is continued part of the time during which the vowel position is assumed, but towards the end of that time voice is put on. Hence in (s + ii) see, the glide (+) is partly flated and partly voiced, so that (s) acts in much the same way as a gradual glottid; similarly when final, as (s + ii + s) cease, where the hiss replaces the recoil. But the proportion of voice and flatus in the glide may vary. The voice may be put on during the hiss, and then the change takes place in the hiss position. The result, far less clear than a vowel, is a hiss (s), followed without a positional glide by the buzz (z), then an entirely vocal glide, the vowel, and a vocal glide, a buzz, and a hiss, as (sziizs) seize, sees. The initial (sz) is regular in Germany, where no vowel precedes, as sie sehen (szii z ee ’n), they or you see; and the reverse (zs) is regularly in English seize (siizs) in the pause, and similarly (haavf, briidhth, ruuzhsh, dɟǝdɟshj) halve, breathe, rouge, judge. In the south-west of England Saxon words beginning with s, f are pronounced with (z, v) initial, which passes through (sz-, fv-) to (s, f).
10. Glides to and from Flaps.— Flaps are consonants where there is a slack organ which flaps with the breath as it passes. The r is very varied, but properly voiced, though the flated form occurs. The flap may be made (1) with the lips, as (brh), used in Germany to stop horses; (2)
with the tip of the direct tongue, (r, r), used in Italy; with the tip of the reverted tongue, (r), used in the south of England and in modern (not ancient) Indian, where it is called “cerebral”; (3) with the uvula, (r ), common in France and north Germany, labialized (rw ) in Northumberland, and harsher in Greek and Arabic; (4) with the glottis, (ן), usual in Denmark; and so on. In the educated south of England the tongue is often raised to the (r) position, but not allowed to flap, and is treated as a buzz (r o ).
The above form the central flaps; if the point of the tongue is fixed and the voice escapes by the side it causes minute lateral flaps of the tongue. The place of the point of the tongue discriminates the various sounds which differ but slightly—(l), advanced tongue at gums, Continental; (1), coronal, tongue near the crown of the palate, English; (l), reverted, in connexion with (r) in south-west England.
Both flaps, especially the latter, are extremely vocal, and the glides from and to them are like those from and to vowels, while they glide readily to and from mutes, sonants, hisses, and buzzes.
11. Glides to and from Hums, Orinasals.— For (p, t, k) both nasal or oral passages are cut off, the former by pressing the uvula against the back of the pharynx. Let this pressure be relaxed so that the nasal passage is opened, the oral passage remaining closed. The voice passes through the nose, forming the three hums (m, n, q). The glide from these to ordinary vowels is the same as from (b, d, g), and the peculiarity consists in the preceding hum and the closing of the nasal passage as the vowel position is assumed. If the nasal passage is left open at all the vowel is “nasalized,” and as it resounds partly in the nose and partly in the mouth it becomes an “orinasal.” Four principal orinasals exist in French, as an, on, un, vin (a λ , o λ, oe λ, ve λ) ; there are more in Portuguese, and many others in the modern Indian languages. The oral vowel is altered in character by nasalization, and it is not possible to assign the oral to the orinasal form precisely. If the oral passage is only slightly open, a “nasalized tone” is produced, as in Gaelic, some south German, and American dialects, written as (a i ). The hum also may be prolonged, and (’mpaa, ’mbaa, ’ntaa, ’ndaa, ’qkaa, ’qgaa) result. These forms exist in South African languages.
The final hum may be continued like a vowel. If the nose entrance is closed and the voice continued (l i m, laem, k oo m) become (l i mb, laemb, k oo mb), which, as the ordinary spelling shows, were probably once pronounced. But not only the nasality, the voice itself may be cut off, and then we have the mere stops (p, t, k), thus (l i mp, l i nt, l i qk), which in the pause have the recoil. Some phonetists consider (m, n, q) to become flated in this case, as (mh, nh, qh). This is no more necessary than to suppose a vowel to be flated before a mute, so that (laep, maet, haek) lap, mat, hack should be (l“aep, m“aet, h“aek), a usage unknown.
12. Palatalization and Labialization.— When a consonant precedes a diphthong of classes iv, v, vi, in art. 7 beginning with weak (i, y, u), there is a tendency to take these vowels as nearly as possible simultaneously with the consonant, expressed by writing (j, w j, w) after the consonant. To say (tj) at least two-thirds the length of the tongue from the tip backwards must lie against the palate, for (kj) two-thirds from the root forwards. The first occurs in Hungarian; the second was very common among older speakers of English before (ae), as (kjaend’l). Both (tj, kj) are apt to develop into (tɟ); compare nature, kirk, say (neetɐɹ, kjǝǝɹkj), with colloquial modern (n ee tɟɐ, tɟǝǝtɟ). Similarly the voiced sounds (dj, gj) become (dj), compare rig, ridge. These (tɟ, dɟ) are consonantal diphthongs = (tjshj, djzhj), as in ch est, j est, and are distinct from the Indian sounds (kɟ, gɟ) W, ∣Γ, which are true mutes, produced by bringing the tongue from the position for (j) tight up against the extreme back of the hard palate so as to produce a complete stop. The most important of the palatalized letters are (lj, nj), the Italian gli, gn in miglior, ognor (mìljò·r, ònjò·r), where the palatalization brings the Italian advanced (l, n) to the position of the English (l, n). The (lj) has degenerated to (ĭ) or (j) in France during the 19th century. It exists in Spanish ll, Portuguese lh. The (nj) exists as gn in French, ñ in Spanish, and nh in Portuguese.
Parallel to the palatal are the labial forms, of which English queen, guano (kwiin, gwaa·no) are examples. They seem to exist in abundance in French, as in toi, doigt (t w a, d w a). The palato-labial form (w j), as in juin (zh w jeΛ), is much disputed, and a diphthong (zhyéΛ) is usually assumed.
13. Syllables.— A group of speech-sounds increasing in volume from a mute, sonant, hiss, buzz, or flap to a full vowel and decreasing again to one of the former constitutes the ideal syllable (συλλαβή, collection). The initial and final parts may sink to clear glottids, and the middle part to a simple vowel. The type of a syllable is then < >, crescendo followed by diminuendo, as in (,aa, ĭaaĭ, tĭaaĭt‘, stĭaaĭts), theoretical, and (dɟǝdɟd, streqkth, t w elfths), actual syllables. The hisses or recoil before or after a stop are not felt as belonging to fresh syllables, because they have no vowel, which is the soul of the syllable. Monosyllables present no difficulty, but the division of syllables in polysyllables is not easy to understand. In (pii + p + i q) the middle (p) ends one set of glides and begins another. One syllable ends and the other begins with the assumption of the (p) position which is absolutely mute, so that the end of the first and the beginning of the second syllable are simultaneous, as the end of one hour and the beginning of the next. In this case (p) is said to be “medial.” But there may be and often is a sensible pause between the two syllables, and then (p) is said to be “double,” as (pii + pp + i q, piipp i q), in which case no recoil can be used, as (piip'p i q). In “syllabizing,” a totally artificial process, doubling is necessary, and very frequently the recoil is used, but it never is in speech. In (sii + s + i q) ceasing, there is a sensible hiss between the glides which end the first syllable and those which begin the second, and the syllable divides during that hiss. If we wished to produce the effect of doubling, we must break the hiss into two either by a silence or a diminution of force, as (m i ssent). The same remarks hold for sonants, buzzes, and flaps, where we have a sensible voice sound during w hich the syllable divides. Syllables may even divide during a vowel, as French payen, fayence, vaillant (paĭeΛ, faĭaΛS, vaĭaΛ), where the syllable divides during (ï), which may even be lengthened to show the two syllables; but, if the syllables have to be sung to notes with a pause between them, we must double the (ĭ), thus (paĭ ĭeA, faĭ ĭaΛs), as either (paĭ eΛ, faĭ aΛs) or (pa ĭeΛ, fa ĭaΛs) would be unintelligible. The sensation of separate syllables is always easy. It is the essence of versification, the oldest form of literature.
14. Accent and Emphasis.— Generally several syllables form a single word, and in many languages—by no means all languages—one syllable in a word is rendered conspicuous. Several plans have been adopted for this purpose.
(1) Quantity or length of syllables, which seems to be all that is known to modern Indians, Arabs, and Persians.
(2) Heightened or lowered or descending gliding pitch (con portamento) of one syllable, which were the acute, grave, and circumflexed syllables of Sanskrit, Latin, and Greek, the position of these syllables in a word there depending partly on the quantity of the syllables and partly on sense; this pitch difference remains in a more complicated form in Norwegian and Swedish. (3) Greater force given to one syllable; this is the English, German, and Italian “stress,” and from the end of the 3d century a.d., when the feeling for quantity faded, was used instead of high pitch in Latin and Greek. The modern Italian and modern Greek as a general rule preserve the memory of the syllable which had the high pitch by giving it greater force, with but few exceptions, as Italian cade·re ri·dere, to fall, to laugh. (4) By a peculiar pronunciation, as the “catch” of the Danes. In French none of these methods seem to be consciously adopted. Some declare that the last syllable (not counting mute e) always has the stress, others that it never has the stress; others, again, consider the stress to be intentionally even, and when altered to depend mainly on grammatical construction, while there is certainly a raised pitch, frequently towards the close of a phrase or sentence, but sometimes on a penultimate syllable. Turks and Japanese have also even stress. All these modes of rendering a syllable conspicuous are apt to be called “accent,” the Latin translation of πpοσῳδία, the song added to the word, which properly applied to class (2) only. Where pitch accent prevailed there may have been also stress, but that stress was probably as little subject to strict rule as alteration of pitch is in English speech, where it undoubtedly exists, without properly affecting signification. Hence we may say roughly that in Latin and Greek pitch was fixed and stress free, but in English and German stress is fixed and pitch free.
What accent is to a word, emphasis is to a sentence. But there is this difference. Accent always falls on a fixed syllable of a word. Emphasis varies with the word to be made conspicuous. Emphasis does not consist merely in making the stressed syllable of a word louder. It depends upon a number of most subtle varieties of qualities of tone, length, and pitch of utterance,—in short, of those tricks and wiles of speech which form the stock-in-trade of actors and orators. The same words will mean totally different things according to the place and nature of the emphasis used. Different nations emphasize differently. To an Englishman French emphasis is apt to seem placed on the wrong word.
15. Intonation.— Although musical accent does not exist in English, almost every county has its peculiar sing-song mode of utterance. And even among educated men the sing-song may frequently be heard in public speaking, or in declaiming poetry, or recitation, or reading aloud generally. For these things no invariable rule exists. But in England questions require the pitch of the voice to be raised, and affirmations to be lowered, towards the end of a clause. In Scotland the pitch is raised in both cases, so that to an Englishman a Scotchman seems to be always asking questions.
16. Analysis of Speech-Sounds.— What is heard are sentences consisting of various fixed sounds cemented by gliding sounds, which act one on the other, and thus become greatly modified. To construct an alphabet it is necessary from this mass to separate the fixed elements and the changing glides, to crystallize them into symbols, and finally to make the value of those symbols known to the reader. The last cannot be done satisfactorily except by viva voce instruction, but much can be accomplished by a review of the relations of sounds, made dependent on the relations of the motions of the organs of speech by which they are produced. There is a preliminary difficulty in defining an element. Perhaps position, flatus, whisper, and voice are the only ultimate elements. But it is usual to be very lax. Thus (p, t, k) have position only, (f, s, sh, kh) position and flatus, (i, a, u, w, z, zh, gh) position and voice. The analysis is therefore only into “proximate” and not “ultimate” elements. Again, when a new mass of sound is presented to the ear, a long time passes before the ear becomes sufficiently accustomed to the sound to distinguish the proximate elements and their combinations, and therefore before the voice can imitate them at all satisfactorily. Hence the best phonetists differ. It may certainly be considered impossible from a knowledge of a few languages to construct an alphabet which will serve for all. Nevertheless a consideration of some partial schemes is of great value as a stepping-stone. We give Mr Melville Bell’s vowel system and Mr Henry Sweet’s alteration of Mr M. Bell’s consonant system, both supposed to be universal, but neither properly appreciating Asiatic, African, and American-Indian languages and habits of speech. After these follows a modification of a confessedly partial system by the present writer, applying chiefly to English, German, Italian, Spanish, and French, with a few partly theoretical sounds, introduced to show connexions. In all these the sounds will be expressed by palaeotype symbols without any explanation in the tables themselves, because that is furnished at better length than would there be possible in the alphabetical list of art. 20.
17. Mr Melville Bell's “Visible Speech" Vowels.— These are arranged primarily according to the height of the tongue, which is supposed to be divided into “back” and “front” or central part, beyond which lies the “point.” The heights refer first to the “back” and lastly to the “front,” and between them lie the “mixed,” for which both back and front are more raised than the “front,” so that there is generally a hollow between them. Each set is then divided into “narrow” and “wide,” the precise meaning of which, as stated in art. 4, is not settled. Finally come the “rounded” vowels, there being three degrees of rounding,—one for “high,” one for “mid,” and one for “low” tongue. For convenience here the back, the mixed, and the front are formed into separate groups, and all the vowel signs are numbered, being referred to in the following lists by V and the number, thus V4 is (u ), which in Mr Bell’s nomenclature would be called “high-back wide-round.” The letters n, w, nr, wr at the heads of columns mean “narrow, wide, narrow-round, wide-round.”
Mr. Melville Bell's “Visible Speech" Vowel Table. [table]
These positions being insufficient, although supposed to be precisely known, may be “modified” by raising the tongue more (a 1 ) or lowering it more (a 1 ), or bringing it nearer the teeth (a) or nearer the throat (a,). And, even this not sufficing, Mr Sweet has contrived a number of new modifiers, here passed over. And with all this none of the sounds can be produced purely through any position without an effort of will dependent on a conception of the sound. The characteristic of the vowel notation contrived by Mr Bell is that each sign shows at once the position of the sound in the Table. 18. Mr. Henry Sweet’s “Sound Notation" Consonant Table. [table]
These signs will be referred to as S 8 c , or Sweet, line 8, col c, giving (n). The consonants are modified in a similar manner to the vowels. Columns a, b, c indicate straits or contacts between the palate and the parts of the tongue named. By the “blade” is meant the part of the tongue between the “front” and the “point.” Mr Sweet’s substitutes for glottids and physems, and his and Mi-Bell’s notation of glides are omitted for brevity. Their notation throughout is entirely different from that here used.
19. A. J. Ellis’s partial schemes, modified from his Speech in Song. [table]
The meaning of this arrangement is that, if we pronounce the vowels in the order of the numbers, they will form a sufficiently unbroken series of qualities of tone, or, if each line be so pronounced leading to 8 = 22 a, three series of the same kind are produced, and also that the speaker feels that the vowels in the middle line lie “between” the vowels in the first and third lines between which they are written. These intermediate characters refer only to qualities of tone and not to the vowel positions, as they apparently did in the older “vowel triangles” from which the trigram is adapted. The arrangement of Mr Bell is excellent for showing the relations of the positions, but gives no more clue to the relations of sound than the indispensable ratios 1: 2, 2: 3, 3: 4, 4: 5, 5: 6 give to the musical sensations of the intervals known as the octave, fifth, fourth, major third, and minor third. Hence the advantage of this additional arrangement. It will be referred to as T 6, that is, trigram, vowel 6, or (oe).
Consonant Table. [table]
This table will be referred to as C iv 7, or consonant table, class iv, column 7 = (zh). The glottids and physems are sufficiently explained in art. 5, and are here omitted.
20. A lphabetical List and Explanation of the Palaeotype Symbols. — Small letters, italics, small capitals, and the forms resulting from turning them must be sought under the large capital of the same class, where the order of all the letters is specified. Explanations are greatly condensed and often confined to references to the preceding articles and tables, or to an example. The notation for differences of length is explained in art. 6.
Abbreviations.
ar . Arabic.
B. Melville Bell.
C. A. J. Ellis’s consonant table (art. 19).
dn Danish.
E. A. J. Ellis.
e . English.
f . French.
g . German.
it. Italian.
LLB. Prince Louis - Lucien
Bonaparte.
ls. Lowland Scotch.
mg. Modern Greek, occ . occasionally.
pl . Polish.
pr . Portuguese.
S. Sweet’s consonants
(art. 18).
sn . Sanskrit. sp. Spanish.
St. Storm.
Sv. Sievers.
Sw. Sweet. swd. Swedish.
T. A. J. Ellis’s vowel trigram (art. 19).
V. Bell’s visible speech vowels (art. 17).
A. (a ah a'i a'u aΛ a'y, a 1 , a a h, ɐ , ).
(a) V 6, T 8 = T 22, short G m a nn, long e f a ther, art. 6.
(ah) V 18, T7, occ. e p a ss, p a th.
(a'i) art. 7 i, unanalysed diphthong, e eye, g ei.
(a'u) art. 7 ii, unanalysed diphthong, E h ow , G b au .
(ax) art. ll, f v en t, a conventional form.
(a'y) art. 7 iii, unanalysed g fr eu de, often (ɔ'i).
(a 1 ) or (a) with higher tongue, it and f short a , nearly=(ah).
(a) V 10, T 9. B. hears it in e f a ther, a rms, a lms; E. does not.
Sw. and E. hear it in ls f a ther, E. and LLB. in f di a ble, E. in f p â te, p a s.
(ah) V 23. B. says (a) with advanced tongue = (a), (a) on the road to (a).
(a) Vll, T10, short open in e authority, long closed e aw l, almost peculiarly e . (ɐ) V 2, T 19. B. hears it in E dung eo n, moti o n, consci ou s, aband o n, hon ou r, bell ow s. E. hears it in these syllables and in E p a rent a l, cap a ble, c a pacious, Chin a , and g gab e . Sw. and Sv. hear (ǝ) in all these cases.
Ae. (ae, aeh).
(ae) V 34, T 6, e gn a t, almost peculiarly e .
(aeh) V 36. B. hears it as a Cockney substitute for ou, ow in ou t , n ow, which E., a born Londoner, does not know. Sv. finds it to be “open” g ö, see (y).
B. (b bh brh, b 1 , bh 1 , b).
(b) S 7 g , C ii 13, art. 8, e b ee , e bb.
(bh) S 5g, C iv 12, G w, lips flat, not touching teeth, see (ph), (brh) C vi 13, used by Germans to stop horses, as wo! is in England. (b 1 ) C ii 12, sonant of (p 1 ), which see, theoretical.
(bh 1 ) S 6 g, sonant of (ph 1 ), which see, theoretical.
(b) Cii 11, sonant of (p ), which see, theoretical.
C. (ɔ ɔh, ɔ' i, ç çh, ç ç h).
(ɔ) V12, T ll, E knot, almost peculiarly e, replaced on the Continent by (o, oh, o h), which see.
(ɔh) V 24. B. calls it an advanced (ɔ), that is (,ɔ), and hears it as regular short Irish-English o , Cockney a sk, American Chicago. Sw. hears it in swd s o n. Sv. gives no example. E. does not know it.
(ɔ' i ) art. 7 i, diphthong e f oi l, by some taken as (a ' i ).
(ç) reverted (s), the under part of the point of the tongue against the palate. St. hears it in East Norwegian börse and also in swd.
(çh) reverted (sh), sn. τj, the under part of the point of the tongue against the palate, but lower than for (ç) and pointing further back, see (t ɟ).
(ç ) buzz of (ç), theoretical.
(ç h) reverted (zh), buzz of (çh), see (dj).
D. (d dɟ dh dj, 1 d, dh z , d, d d ɟ Dh, b bj).
(d) S 7 c , C ii 8, e doe, sonant of (t), which see.
(dɟ) art. 12, E judging, consonantal diphthong = (djzhj), usually assumed as (dzh), and also as sn ςT, for which see (gɟ), and ar which Lepsius thinks was also once (gɟ).
(dh) S 5 d, Civ 10, e then, mg δ, ar j, buzz of (th), see (dh,).
(dj) C ii 6, Hungarian gy οn gy, pearl, art. 12.
(,d) S 7 d, C ii 9, f d oux, tip of tongue against gums, used in some midland and northern e dialects before r, -er.
(dh,) C iv 10, sp li d , lisped (z), retracted (dh).
(d) ar (d aad), described by Lepsius as close emphatic (.,1 1 ), see (s , t, z) and especially (k ).
(d) C ii 7, reverted or cerebral sn common in south-west Eng land, in connexion with (r), which see, by some taken to be retracted (d,), parent of e (d).
(d ɟ ) a reverted consonantal diphthong = (d + ç h), heard in Wiltshire (Ǝrd ɟ ) ridge.
(d h) reverted (dh), under part of point of tongue against teeth, theoretical.
(Ù) Irish Gaelic d air, an oak, “broad” post-aspirated sonant.
The place of tip of tongue unimportant, but generally taken as dental or interdental. Essential points, tongue laterally expanded and slack, back raised, leaving a hollow “front.” Followed by a slow voice glide, resembling a preponderating e (sh) mixed with (gh). This glide, occurring between a sonant and a vowel, is closer at first than for an ordinary buzz and then more open. Constantly used for (dh) by Irish speakers of e . [Lecky, MS. communication.]
(ιj) Irish Gaelic d eas, palatalized or slender (ÎJ); glide from it like preponderating (j ) mixed with (z). [Lecky, MS. communication. ]
E. (e eΛ, e, e, ǝ ǝh, ǝ 1 , ǝ eh , ǝ 1 , Ǝ , Ǝ 'o).
(e) V 30, T 4, e net, sp e, medial between f and it close and open (e , e), often (e) in dialectal e. B. hears it only long in e there. Sw. gives f père, which E. hears with (ee). Sv. gives e men, g männer, äh re , dn tr ae . LLB. hears it always and only in unaccented it syllables.
( e λ) art. 11, orinasal, f v in, conventional symbol.
(e ) V 29, T 3, F de', g eh re . B. says it is found in e always and only in the vanish (ee ’j), art. 6; but E. hears the vanish from received speakers only in the pause, otherwise he frequently hears (ee ) without vanish. Sw., Sv., and St. do not admit (ee ) in e without vanish.
(e) V 33, T 5. B. considers it the regular e sound in net, see (e).
E hears it long in g spräche, f bete, it open e . Sw. hears it in e ai r , ι.s men, F vin (veλ). Sv. also in dn l ä ra.
(ǝ) V 17, T 20. E. hears it in his e n u t, which B. wrote (nƎt) from J. (j ’j ȷ, j j h).
(j) a modifier, symbol of palatalization, art. 12, but this simultaneous palatal action is constantly confused with successive (j, ĭ).
('j) art. 7 viii, used to express the vanish of (ee, e) towards (i), ending in an approach to the consonant (j), thus (ee ’j, e 'j).
(ȷ) or (j) without a dot, marks a semipalatalization, the tongue being only approximated to the palatalizing position, observed in several Uralic languages by LLB.
(j ) S 5 b , C iv 5, e y ea .
(j h) S 1 b, C iii 5, e h ew, h ue (j hĭu), hiss of (j) very close to flated
(“ii), art. 4.
K. (k kɟ kh kj kjh krh k w k w h, k k h).
(k) S 3 oe, C i 3, E cape, perfectly mute, art. 8.
(kɟ) S3 7>, Ci5, sn ’ =q∙, the “back” and “front” of the tongue brought closely into the (k) and (j) positions, forming a complete stop; the "point" may rest against the lower gums, and had better do so to avoid the jump up to (tɟ) ch est , with which this mute is constantly confused; but (tɟ) is more like (kɟ h lh) or post-aspirated (kɟ), which supplies the necessary hiss.
(kh) S 1 a, C iii 3, g da ch , sp j, see (kjh k w h).
(kj) Ci4, it la ch iave, palatalized (k), art. 12. In the 17th and 18th centuries constantly used in e before (a, ae), it may be now constantly heard in London before ou in count, called (kj e ' u nt), or finer (kjéunt) for (ka'unt).
(kjh) C iii 4, G tei ch, palatalized (kh), confused with (j h) by German theorists, but the back of the tongue is higher for (kjh). English people confuse it with concave (sh), which it ought never to approach, though it comes near convex (shj). Either (kjh) or (kjh), the hiss of (kɟ), which was not distinguished from (j h), was the original sn yj now called (sh) and confused with τp properly (çh), see under C.
(krh) Cv3, ar ζ, a (kh) with the uvula slightly trilled, as in
Dutch ch ; Lepsius considers both to be (k h).
(k w ) Ci2, art. 12, E qu een (k w iin), not (kwiin).
(k w h) C iii 2, LS quh at (k w h a t), g au ch, bu ch , art. 12 labialized (kh). (k ) Ci 1, AR jj (κααf), the tongue greatly retracted and wedged against the uvula. Lepsius considers the proper sound of ar to be (g), the sonant of (k ). By Syrian Mohammedans and often by Egyptians the jj is lost or rather becomes hamza (;), as (;aa·la) for (k aa·la) said. “Emphatic” character attaches to ar jj l∕ , U r, ^ ι eιe here written (k krh grh t d s z ) , which Lepsius takes to have the values (g kh g h .,d 1 , .,1 1 , .s 1 , .dh 1 ) respectively; this “consists in a modification of the vowel by narrowing [the passage below] the soft palate”; these letters are called “high” by the Arabs because of this very high back of the tongue. They call the emphatic pronunciation “thick, rough, fatty.” In fact (a) becomes (a ), (o) remains, (e, i) become (e, i 1 ), (u) is scarcely changed. Europeans recognize the consonants mainly by this vowel change.
(k h) hiss of (k ), considered by Lepsius to be the proper sound of what is here written as (krh).
L. (1 lɟ lɟh lh lj l§ l§h, 'l, ,l ,lh, l l h, l l h, I Ij, l lh, ˥).
(l) S 6 c, C viii 8, art. 10, e gu ll , tip of the tongue far behind the gums, replaced on the Continent by (,l).
(lɟ) S 6 c . Sw. says “(l) formed in the place of (j),” and hears it in it gli, sp ll, pr lh, where LLB. and E. hear (lj).
(lɟh) S 2 b . B. says it is “a variety of defective s ,” theoretical,
(lh) S 2 c , C vii 8, flated (1), not Welsh ll. B. hears it before (t)
in fe l t, as (f e hlt). E. hears no trace of it, any more than he hears (“e) in (wet).
(lj) C viii 6, art. 12, it gli, sp ll, pr lh. LLB. and E. hear this as a palatalized E (1), not Continental (,1), the palatalization having retracted the (,l).
(l§) C viii 8, voiced form or buzz of unilateral Welsh ll, see (1§h). (l§h) C vii 8, or more conveniently (lhh), Welsh ll a ll∙, put tongue in position for (1), raise the left side to touch the palate, let flatus escape by the right side. The tongue is then in the position assumed after making the unilateral click (tj§+), see (+h) under H. This unilaterality is insisted on by Salesbury, and E. was thus taught in Wales. Sw. also insists on it. Some Welshmen do not.
('l) e litt le , syllabic (l), the voice of the lateral flap sufficing to form a syllable when final.
(,l) S 6 d, C viii 9, f l ait, the tip of the tongue against the gums, as is usual out of England.
(,lh) S 2 d, C vii 9, flated (,l), occ. f peup le .
(l ) S6 a , pl guttural or “barred” l, that is, l with a slanting line drawn through it. The back of tongue is raised as high as for (k ). St. finds e l after a vowel in the same syllable half guttural; this is unknown to Englishmen.
(l h) S2 a. B. calls it “the hiss of a water-fowl,” the hiss of (l ), theoretical.
(l) C viii 7, reverted l , the underpart of the point of the tongue coming against the hard palate, used in conjunction with (r) in south-west England, as wor l d (wƎ rd'l ). Those who used retracted (r,) say (wƎr,d,'l,).
(l h) C vii 7, flated form of (l), theoretical.
(I) Irish Gaelic “broad” ll, as in a l t (the l being written singly because of the following t ; at the end of a word it is always written ll ), tongue in the same position as for (Ö), which see, but with the lateral emission of the l class. [Lecky, MS. communication.]
(Ij) Irish Gaelic “slender” ll, as in Irish Gaelic, mi ll ; this bears the same relation to (I) as (tj) does to (t), see (tj). [Lecky, MS. communication.]
(l) turned l, the gradual glottid, art. 5.
(lh) an exaggerated form of the gradual glottid, art. 5, and see (h lh) under H.
(˥) turned l, dn r et, glottal r . Donders says “sing a note as deep as possible, and then try to sing a lower one, the voice will be replaced by a peculiar crackling noise,” which is (˥); it is the common form of dn r .
M. (m mh 'm, W).
(m) S 8 g , Cx13, art. 11, e m u mm ing.
(mh) S 4 g , Cix13, flated form of (m). B. hears it before mutes in place of (m), as ca m p (kaemhp); E. does not, art. 11.
('m) syllabic m , e chas m (kaez’m).
(W) turned m , C vi 12, e defective r in ve w y (ve w i ) very, differing from (brh) by having tight and flat in place of loose and round lips, with minute instead of considerable excursions of the flap.
N. (n nɟ nh nj, ,n ,nh, ’n, n , n nj).
(n) S 8 c, C x 8, e no, tongue as for (t), mouth open or closed indifferently, as the tongue is an effectual stop, art. ll.
(nj) a nasalized (lɟ), which those take to be it gn who assume it gl to be (lɟ), see (nj, qɟ).
(nh) S 4 c, C ix 8, flated (n), used in Cumberland for initial kn, in kn ow (nhoo). B. hears it before mutes, as in be n t (b e nht); E. does not, see art. 11.
(nj) nasalized (dj), the tongue lies along the palate in the same way as for (dj), but the nasal passages are now open. LLB. and E. hear it as palatalized e (n), not (,n), it gn, sp ñ, pr nh, f gn . St. takes the f sound to be (qj). E. has not detected (qj) in native f speakers, after long-continued express observation.
(,n) S 8 d, C X 9, F n ain, tongue on gums.
(,nh) S 4 d, C ix 9, flated (,n), theoretical.
('n) syllabic (n), E open (oop’n).
(n) Cx7, reverted (n), tongue as for (t ), sn Tfl, south-west e n in connexion with (r ), as ( hƎ rn) ran.
(n) Irish Gaelic “broad” nn , as in dra n t (the n not doubled because of following t ), tongue as for (t, h), which see, but with nasal passages open. [Lecky, MS. communication.]
(nj) this bears the same relation to (n) that (tj) does to (t), Irish Gaelic “slender” nn , as in bi nn . [Lecky, MS. communication.] .
O. (o oh o λ óy, o o h).
(ο) V 8, T 12, short it open o, n ò , long in e o re (ooɹ), which is fast degrading in London to (aa ɐ ).
(oh) V 20. Sw. and Sv. hear (oh) and neither (o) nor (o h) in f h o mme, which E. hears as (om), very different from e (ɔm). B. hears (oh) in colloquial el o quence, philos o phy, o pinion, and American wh o le, in all of which E. hears (o ).
(oλ) art. 11, F v on t , a conventional form, not to be confused with (aΛ).
(óy) art. 7 iii, theoretic form of g eu, see (a'y).
(o ) V 7, T 13. B. hears it short in E g o er, m ow er; E. in p o etic, follo w ing. B. hears it when long in e always and only with the vanish (oo ' w ), art. 6, art. 7 viii. E. hears (oo ' w ) in the pause, but otherwise generally (oo ), and (óou ) is always erroneous.
(o h) V 19. B. says this is a mixture of (o ) with (i ) or is (o ) with advanced tongue, that is, (,o); he hears it in f h o mme (o hm), where E. hears (om), see (oh).
Oe. (oe oeΛ oe'y, oe oe 'u, oe, oe oe ).
(oe) V 32, T 18, F v eu f, g b ö cke. See Sv. under (y).
( oeΛ ) art. 11, orinasal F un, cha cun, conventional symbol.
(oe'y) art. 7 iii. (oe) V1. B. hears it in Scotch Gaelic l ao gh; it may be produced by saying (uu) and suddenly opening the mouth, see (oe 'u).
(oe 'u) acute inchoant diphthong, art. 7 ix, or (uu), begun with the mouth open and without internal rounding, very common in south Lancashire and Cheshire.
(oe) V 9. B. makes it the “narrow” form of (a ), and the regular form of ls u p , c o me; Sw. occ. ls form.
(oe) V 22. B. hears it as the regular e sound of er, ir, yr. Sw.
hears it in the first element of h ow (hoe' u ), which E. finds dialectal.
(oe ) a dialectal south-west English sound of (Ǝ) through which a sound of (a, ɔ) seems to run, and usually appreciated as the latter.
P. (p ph prh, p 1 , ph 1 , p ).
(p) S 3 g , Cil3, E p ee p ing, perfectly mute, art. 8.
(ph) S 1 g, C iii 12, Hungarian f , mg φ, an (f) spoken by the lips only without the teeth, mouth in position for blowing to cool, flated form of (bh), which see.
(prh) Cv13, flated form of (brh), common with babies before they can speak.
(p 1 ) Ci12, mute of (ph), the lips closed flat to form a complete stop, theoretical.
(ph 1 ) S 2 g , middle of lips in contact, flatus expelled from each corner of the mouth, theoretical.
(p ) Ci11, mute of (f), lower lip forming a complete stop with upper teeth, theoretical.
Q. (q qɟ qɟh qh qj).
(q) S 8 a, C x 3, e si ng er, fi n ger, (g) with nasal passages open, (qɟ) S 8 b , C x 5, sn nasal of the palatal series, see (kɟ gɟ).
Bopp considers it to be f gn, and Sw. hears it in f and it gn, sp ñ, pr nh, in all of which LLB. and E. hear (nj)only.
(qɟh) S 4 b, flated (qɟ), theoretical.
(qh) S 4 a, C ix 3, flated (q). B. hears it before mutes, as sink (s i qhk); E. does not, art. ll.
(qj) C x 4, palatalized (q), different from (qɟ).
R. (r rh rsh, r o r o h, ,r ,rh ,r o , r r h rw, r o , r r o , ɹ ).
(r) C vi 8, e r ing, tip of tongue far behind gums, flap weak in
England, strong in Scotland and Italy.
(rh) C v 8, flated form of (r).
(rsh) pl p rz ez, tongue in position for (sh) with point flapped.
(r o ) S 5 c, C ii 8, imperfect (d), the tongue not quite in contact, almost (zhj); imperfect (r), the flap being omitted, considered by B. aud Sw. as normal (r), a sign for flapping being added where a trill is used. Sv. makes e r before a vowel regularly (,r o ). To E., a born Londoner, (r o ) before a vowel is very difficult to utter.
(r o h) S 1 c , flated (r o ), theoretical.
(,r) C vi 9, sp r ey, it r è, fully trilled r with the point of the tongue advanced to the gums.
(,rh) C v 9, flated (,r), occ. f nôt re .
(,r o ) alveolar unflapped (,r), see (r o ), possibly the “soft” sp r in ama r , a r ado, b r eve.
(r ) C vi 3, Parisian Pa r is, uvular r , art. 10 (3), resembling (grh). (r h) C v 3, flated (r ), common as a g final r in the pause, and then greatly resembling a faint (krh).
(rw ) C vi 2, labialized uvular (r ), regular in Northumberland.
(r o ) untrilled uvular (r ), heard faintly between vowels in North umberland, in ve r y, me rr y (va 1 r o i , ma 1 r o i ), almost (v’a i , m’a i ), like it v ai, m ai (r) C vi 7, reverted or cerebral r , the underpart of the point of the tongue brought near the palate, and, according to E.’s observations, allowed to flap, but constantly asserted to be unflapped, see (r o ). Common in modern Indian, not in sn , and found in Norway and Sweden. The characteristic of south of England dialectal speech, and parent of received E r and the vocal degeneration of r, art. 7 vii. By some considered as greatly retracted (r,).
(r o ) C iv 7, unflapped variety of (r), supposed to prevail for (r), which see.
(ɹ) art. 7 vii, fully degenerated vocal (r), which may be followed permissively by a trilled or flapped (r), forming the murmur diphthongs.
S. (s sh shj sj, ,s ,sh, s , s j).
(s) S 1 e, C iii 9, e seal, hissing, with a convex tongue forming a central strait, the sides being held firmly by the palate and teeth, point tense and unruffled, with many unconscious varieties.
(sh) S 1 f, C iii 7, e ru sh , tongue retracted in respect to (s), upper surface rather hollowed than convex, see (çh, shj) and occ. lips projected, as e hu sh (hǝsh 5 ).
(shj) C iii 8, (sh) with convex tongue, tip somewhat depressed, second element in (tɟ = tjshj), High g s initial before p, t, as s pielen, s tehen, where (sh) is not admissible.
(sj) C iii 6, pl ko s ', palatalized (s), art. 12.
(,s) C iii 9, point of tongue advanced nearly to teeth. LLB. hears it in Tuscan sharp it lo zio, usually taken as (,t,sìo).
(,sh) advanced (shj), tongue convex and nearer the palate. LLB.
hears it in Tuscan pece (pè·sh e ), and considers it the only proper sound of it c before e and i, which is usually assumed to be (,t,sh) or (,tɟ); but an Englishman’s (tɟ) is quite intelligible.
(s ) ar . (s aa d), according to Lepsius a close emphatic s or (.s 1 ), see (k ) and (d, t, z ).
(s j) Irish Gaelic ciste (,kj is jte,) treasure, s of the same series as (tj), which see. [Lecky, MS. communication.]
T. (t tɟ th tj, ,t, th,, t, t t ɟ, t t j).
(t) S 3 c, C i 8, e t oo , tip of the tongue far behind the gums, generated by reverted (τ), with which it is confused by Indians, who use their cerebral 3 5 for E (t, d).
(tɟ) e ch est=(tjshj), art. 12, not to be confounded with (kɟ), which see.
(th) S 1 d, C iii 10, e th in, Icelandic p, mg θ, ar ό, point of tongue against back of front teeth, hiss produced by flatus escaping between tongue and teeth, not necessarily between the interstices of the teeth, as Sw. says.
(tj) Ci6, Hungarian t y, palatalized (t), art. 12, see (dj).
(,t) S 3 d, C i 9, F t as, usual Continental alveolar t, with the tongue against gums, sn 7τ, found in some midland and northern e dialects before r or --er, see (,d).
(th,) C iii 10, sp z everywhere, and c before e, i, vo z z opo, c e c éo c into, lisped (s), tongue against gums, and hence a retracted (th), see (dh,). LLB. hears it in it vi z io, where it is generally assumed to be (,t,s).
(t ) ar b (t aad), which Lepsius describes as a close emphatic (.d 1 ), see (k ).
(t ) C i 7, reverted or cerebral sn ~ζ, with underpart of the point of the tongue against the palate, common in south-west e in connexion with (r), parent of received e (t).
(t ɟ ) consonantal diphthong=(t çh), heard in Wiltshire in connexion with (r), as (Ǝ rt ɟ) rich.
(t ) Irish Gaelic “broad” post-aspirated mute, as in Irish Gaelic al t , tá, tú. The place of the tip of the tongue is apparently unimportant, but it is generally assumed to be dental or interdental. The essential points are that the tongue is laterally expanded and slack, while the back is raised, leaving a hollow in the “front.” It is followed by a slow flated glide, while the position changes to that of the vowel, resembling a greatly predominating (th) mixed with (kh). The voice is not put on till the vowel position is reached. This is constantly used for (th) by Irish speakers of English. [Lecky, MS. communication.]
(t j) Irish Gaelic “slender” form of post-aspirated mute, as in ail t , of a knuckle; the tongue is spreading and slack; the part nearest to the palate is about an inch on the inner side of the tip, being more towards the back than in the position for (s), the “front” being also raised; the tip is not turned up and its position is unimportant. The glide of the post-aspiration sounds like a predominating (jh) mixed with (s), being tighter at first and looser afterwards than the e (jh). [Lecky, MS. communication.]
U. (u ŭa, u u h ú u , u 1 , u).
(u) V 3, T15, short e to unemphatic, f poule, replaced by (u )
in e ; long e too. Some phonetists make the e long (uu) to be always (ú u) or (u w).
(ŭa) art. 7 vi, where (ŭ) replaces (w), f oi e (ŭa), ou i (ŭi), in s oi , d oi gt,
&c. LLB. considers that (s, ,d), &c., are labialized, art. 12.
(u ) V 4, T 14, e f u ll, w oo d, w o man, c ou ld, “wide” form of (u). (uh) V 16. B. hears it in the “colloquial” use of e awf u l, fiss u re, nat u re, fort u ne (which E. does not understand), but says also that it is (u ) with a raised tongue, and hence—(u 1 ). Sw. hears it in swd u pp, Sv. and St. in Norwegian h u ska.
(ú u) art. 7 ix, grave inchoant diphthong, possibly Sw.’s (uw), common dialectally in Cumberland and Westmorland.
(u 1 ) midland e vowel replacing (ǝ, Ǝ). E. feels it to be near (o 1 ), or to be a “thickened” (u ); Mr Hallam, to whom it is native, considers it to have the tongue intermediate to its position for (o , u), and the closure of the lips equal to that for (o ), but made with flattened lips. In Yorkshire, Cumberland, and Westmorland it is replaced by (u ), with which most received speakers confound it.
(u ) V 15. Sw. hears it long in Norwegian and swd bus, ut, and says it is not far from f l u ne, but see (y). St. considers it intermediate between (u, y). V. (v, Λ).
(v) S 5 i, C iv ll, e v eal, voiced (f), easy for e, f, it, hopeless to g, sp, ar, mg, and Hungarian. Indians use (v) with lower lip against upper teeth, but the dentality is not prominent; they read sn - q ’ in this fashion when not following a consonant; when it does, it reverts to (ŭ) rather than to (w), as (anusŭaara), not (anuswaara). In Bengali both - q ’ T are called (b), which may be compared with sp (bh) for (b, v).
(Λ) a turned v, regarded as an imperfect N, without the last upstroke, n, after a vowel represents f nasality, art. 11, and used also for that of pr and modern Indian, in which the nasality seems much harsher, written like Greek η.
W. (w wh, w w j , ' w).
(w) S 5 h, C iv 13, e we (wii), with which compare f v ie (vii), ou i
(ŭi) and G w ie (bhii); possibly ar j.
(wh) S 1 h, Ciii 13, e wh ey , wh ich , wh eel , wh ale , as distinct from w ay, wi tch, w eal, wa il; the distinction, however, is nearly obliterated by received speakers, who use (w) for both (w, wh), which is like saying v eal, v ale, v ile for f eel, f ail, f ile; yet they laugh at the Somersetshire peasant for using initial (v) for (f). Some consider (wh) to be (hw), meaning (whw), and others to be (hŭ.).
(w ) a modifier to show labialization, art. 12, see (k w ).
(w j) art. 12, symbol of LLB.’s presumed palato-labialization, by attempting to pronounce (y) at the same time as a preceding consonant, as f lu i , nui t , which on this hypothesis are (,l w ji, ,n w ji), and not (,lyi, ,nyí).
(' w ) an indefinite vowel sound approaching to (u), towards which e (oo ) vanishes, art. 6.
Y. (y yí, y 1 , y y ).
(y) V 28, T16. B. and E. hear this in f u ne. Sw. thinks the f sound to be (i ). Sv., speaking of the two series of vowels (I ǝ ǝh) and (y oe aeh), says what is equivalent to close g u in über = (ǝ), the lips being often pressed against the teeth; open g ü in h ü tte = (ǝ 1 ), somewhat more open than (ǝ ); close g ö in sch ö n = (oe); open g ö in b ö cke = (aeh). Sv. also makes f u in l u ne and dn y in l y s = (i ); f eu in p eu = (ǝ ) ; swd ö in f ö r = (ǝ h), which last he believes to be the vowel nasalized in f un Sw. also makes dn y in l y st = (y) and f eu in p eu ple = (oe)
(yí) art. 7 v, f h ui le, see also (w j).
(y 1 ) intermediate between (y, ǝ ), frequent in west Somerset and Devon, where it replaces the received long (uu) and the received diphthong (ĭu).
(y ) V 14. B. considers that e (i, i, e e) when unaccented tend to (y ), as in return, lim i t, S ai nt Paul’s, capt ai n, there is, and regularly unaccented th e . Sw. hears it as occ. e in pretty. E. has not observed this change.
(y ) V 13. B. hears it long in American s i r. Sw. says “the only
Russian vowel which offers any special difficulty is the bi, first correctly identified by B. as (y).” Lepsius describes it as having (u)-tongue and (i)-lips, which would give (oe), and not (y). Sw. also identifies both North Welsh u and occ. y, as in s u t, t y , with (y), replaced by (i ) in South Wales. The pl and Bohemian y have the same sound.
Z. (z zh zhj zj, ,z ,zh, z ).
(z) S 5 e , C iv 9, e z eal, bu zz , not in sp or Indian.
(zh) S 5 f , Civ 7, e divi si on, f j. St. says the e and f sounds are different, the f being more dental.
(zhj) C iv 8, voiced (shj), found in e (dɟ = djzhj).
(zj) Civ6, pl lez', voiced (sj), palatalized (z), art. 12.
(,z) C iv 9, it lo zelo, according to LLB. Usually conceived as (,d,z), voiced (,s), which see.
(,zh) voiced (,sh), which see, heard by LLB. in it re gi o , usually accepted as (,d,zh), for which the Englishman’s (dɟ) is sufficiently intelligible.
(z ) ar îô (zaa ). Lepsius considers this to be a close and emphatic (dh)—that is, (.dh 1 ), see (k )—but that in some places it is incorrectly pronounced as an emphatic (.z) and in others as an emphatic (.,d).
Numerals, (2 3 3h 4 5 7 8, 1 1 4 5 )∙
(2) Kaffre reverted click = (t ‡), see (‡h) under H, Appleyard’s q. (3 ) ar (gáin), see art. 5 (4).
(3h) “trilled wheeze,” differing from (h ) solely by a rattle of mucus.
(4) Hottentot bilateral palatal click, Boyce’s qc= (tj‡), see (‡h).
(5) Kaffre dental click, Appleyard’s c =(t‡), see (‡h).
(7) Kaffre unilateral palatal click, Appleyard’s x = (tj§‡), e click to start a horse, see (‡h) and (l§h).
(8) Waco (North-American Indian) guttural click = (κ‡), see (‡h). (1 ) modifier, meaning properly “with raised tongue,” used laxly, see (k ).
(1 ) modifier, meaning properly “with lowered tongue,” used very laxly, as in (ǝ 1 , y 1 , u 1 p 1 , b 1 , ph 1 , bh 1 ), which see.
(4 ) modifier, meaning “internally rounded” by compressing arches of palate, art. 4, as in a parrot’s puss (p 4 u 4 s).
(5 ) modifier, meaning “with projecting lips,” compare (p u s, p 5 u 5 s, p 4 u 4 s), and Devon (oe'y 1 5 ), art. 7 iii.
Points. (,; ؛: . · ’ ‘ “ ,,).
(,) clear glottid, art. 5 (1).
(;) check glottid, ar hamza, art. 5 (3).
(؛) suddenly stop, or absence of recoil in the pause, as(:swau‘waki), not (:seraa·wak‘).
(:) (1) after a vowel shows that the syllable has a secondary stress, as (nɔ:min ee ·shun) nomination; (2) before a whole word indicates the secondary emphasis usually shown by a capital, as (p aal: p aal ) pall, Paul.
(.) before a letter shows that it is especially strongly uttered, emphasis on a single element, as (.haet, h.aet, hae.t) h at, h a t, ha t , as distinct from “at, hot, had,” see (k ).
(·) (1) after a vowel shows that the syllable containing it has the principal stress; (2) prefixed to a word shows it to be emphatic, a substitute for italics, as (·w i l) i kǝm? w i l ·hii kǝm?) will he come? will he come? art. 14.
(’) (1) before (h), see ('h) under H, crude voice; (2) before voiced letters, rendering the voice syllabically prominent, see ('I 'm 'n), &c.; (3) more laxly r used in (’j, ' w) for indefinite vowels near (i, u); (4) after sonants, voiced recoil, as (ded') dead, art. 8.
(‘) (1) abbreviation for ('h) flatus, which see under H; (2) before voiced letters indicates whisper, art. 4; (3) after mutes, flated recoil, as (det‘) debt, not written unless it is necessary to call attention to it.
(“) before voiced letters, reduces them to flated, as (“ii), art. 4. (,,) after a vowel or consonant nasalized by partial opening of nasal passages, in Gaelic, south g , occ. American. Accents. (´ ˝ ̗ ̗ ̗ ̗̗̗̗` ̖ ̖ ̖ ̖ ̖ ̖ ).
(´) (1) mark of diphthongization, placed over or after stressed element, art. 7; (2) after (a) and not over it, as (a'i), distinct from (ái), mark of unanalysed diphthong, art. 7.
(˝) in place of ('), mark of slurred diphthongs, art. 7.
( ̗) (1) after a letter shows retraction, as (d ̗, dh ̗), &c.; (2) ( ̗ ̗)
more retraction.
(`) (1) over or after a vowel denotes medial length, often united with diphthongal (´) forming a circumflex, as (â i , ǝ´` i ); (2) after a consonant shows that it is held, the position being maintained throughout even when mute, as (det`'); used for the north of England definite article (t'man) the man, distinctly different from (tman, tɐman, ɐtman). ( ̖) prefixed to a letter means “with tongue advanced towards the teeth,” see (t d n); (3, 4) ( ̖ ̖ ̖ ̖ ̖) more advanced, as (t) tongue point some way behind gums, ( ̖t) tongue point on gums, (̖ ̖ t) tongue point on teeth, ( ̖ ̖ ̖t) tongue point on upper lip.
Signs. (‡ j i + ) ) l ).
(‡) abridgment of (Jh), which see under H.
(j ) mark of trill or flap, used in transliterating B. and Sw., thus their equivalent of (r o j) = (r).
(i ) symbol of inspiration, art. 2(2).
(+) symbol of glide or speech-sound with changing position, when simple juxtaposition is insufficient, arts. 2, 8.
()) the second half of a parenthesis ()) cut at the height of a non-ascending letter, symbol of “break,” showing that there is no glide between the letters juxtaposed. Thus (s+ii) is usually written (sii), but (s)ii) are the two letters and their sounds (s,ii) without any glide, of great use in theoretical discussions.
()) the second half of a parenthesis placed between two letters shows that, though they belong to different words, they run on with a glide as if they belonged to the same word, very convenient in dialect writing, as (oo l')d)Ǝ∙mɐn) old woman, usually written ole dumman by dialect writers; here (') shows that (1) is held, but ()) marks that it does not run on to the (d), which, however, is shown by ()) to belong to the same word with (1), but to run on to (Ǝ) in the next word.
(l ) is [ cut at the height of a non-ascending letter and shows that the letter it precedes is scarcely perceptible in speech, as (:màdh,rì l dh,) Madrid.
There are many more palaeotype letters and signs, here omitted for brevity, but found necessary for phonetical discussions.
21. Practical Alphabets.— The above alphabetical list comprises 243 symbols, made up of 192 elements, 14 vowel diphthongs, 4 consonant diphthongs, 19 modifiers, and 11 other signs. It has been reduced to the smallest possible number suitable for giving a notion of the kind of symbolization required for universal alphabets. The list from which it was extracted contained double the number and was still incomplete, even so far as the writer’s investigations had extended. A universal alphabet would probably require a thousand cases to be provided for. It would be difficult for even the inventors to use such an alphabet, and absurd to present it for practical use. Inventors have therefore had recourse to radical signs symbolizing what they consider the principal relations and modifiers of these radicals. Some, as Brücke, Merkel, Bell, and Sweet, use entirely new characters, of which Bell’s and Sweet’s are intended by their shape to recall the positions of the organs of speech in uttering the sounds represented. But these writers are not agreed either as to the shape or value of the radicals themselves. The modifiers are very various, and when more than one modifier is required the characters become too complicated for the eye and hand to deal with them rapidly. Universal writing is still a philosopher’s stone, though much has been learned in its pursuit. Palaeotype is of course a mere typographical makeshift.
Fortunately writing long preceded phonetic knowledge. The number of distinct sounds in any one language seldom exceeds fifty, and practically fewer still are needed, for a native needs only a broad hint of the sound to reproduce it. The signs for English in art. 1 are rather superabundant than deficient, and the small additions of foreign signs suffice for French, German, and Italian practically, though very deficient scientifically. In fact, the modes of combining sounds in those three languages and English are so different that the alphabet has to be differently conceived for each. This is the final breakdown of universal writing. An English, German, French, and Italian reader, each requires an alphabet founded on his own linguistic habits, and very insufficiently comprehends any other. But even a rough appreciation for linguistic purposes is better than the thoroughly false appreciations now current. To obtain a scientific foundation for erecting an alphabet of any language which shall have scientific value, five stages are needed :—(1) the perfect acquisition of a series of words containing every sound used; (2) variation of each word by involving its sounds in different combinations to appreciate the effects of gliding juxtaposition; (3) the perfect acquisition of short sentences of different characters to understand the effects of construction and emotion; (4) the study of unrestrained conversation between natives from the phonetic point of view; (5) frequent writing from the dictation of natives and teaching others to read by the signs adopted after the first four stages are passed. How far the characters should indicate the positions of the organs of speech is another point, which need not be considered at first, and can only be accomplished with extreme roughness even at last. Thus Bell’s capitally conceived and executed “visible speech” requires much explanation to be intelligible and after all tells but little. Any signs easy to write and distinct to read without wearying the eye will suffice, provided each be furnished with a full explanation (much longer and more explicit than the greatly condensed explanations of art. 20) not only of its separate but its combined power, and the requisite knowledge for furnishing these cannot be obtained without much and long-continued labour. Mr Sweet’s studies of Danish, Swedish, Russian, Portuguese, and North Welsh pronunciation are models in their way, especially the last, but suffer from extreme conciseness.
The use of such phonetic studies is principally philological, a much smaller amount of precision sufficing for all the purposes of ordinary life,—understanding speech and speaking intelligibly, writing speech from dictation and reading what is written. Our scientific knowledge of speech-sounds has really only just commenced, and is therefore extremely incomplete and confined to very few people. But what has as yet been learned is of great practical value in the reduction of unwritten dialects and languages to writing, in exhibiting the actual speaking habits of existent written tongues, in divining the intention of systems of writing employed in extinct languages, and hence in historically tracing the cognation and filiation of one language to another and the successive forms assumed in the gradual development of a single form of speech. These great applications of the study of speech-sounds, as well as the practical introduction of systems of spelling easier to read and write than those now found in most of Europe (including European America) and Asia, lie beyond the scope of this article, which only aims at showing in extremely condensed terms the foundations of the theory of their combinations and some of their most important and best known forms.
Bibliography.—- Subjoined is a list of the principal works on the subject since 1S44 inclusive, in alphabetical order of the writers. E. Behnke, Mechanism of the Human Voice, 3d ed., 1882; Behnke and Brown, Voice, Song, and Speech (see Brown); A. Graham Bell, “Vowel Theories,” in Amer. Jour, of otology, July 1879; A. Melville Bell, Visible Speech, 4to, 1867; Id., Sounds and their Relations, fls. 4to, 1881; Prince L. L. Bonaparte, “Vowels and Consonants,” in Ellis’s Early English Pronunciation ; Id., “Portuguese Simple Sounds,”in Trans. Philol. Soc., 1880-81; Id., “Simple Sounds of ail living Sclavonic Languages,” ibid.;
Lennox Brown and Emil Behnke, Voice, Song, and Speech, 1883 (with photographs of living vocal chords); Ernst Brücke, Grundzüge der Physiologie und Systematik der Sprachlaute, 1st ed. 1856, 2d ed. 1876; Id., Neue Methode der phonetischen Transcription, 1863; Johann Czermak, “Physiologische Untersuchungen mit Garcia’s Kehlkopfspiegel,” in Vienna Acad. Math.-Phys., vol. xxix., 1858; Id., “Spiritus Asper und Lenis, Flüsterstimme, Kehlkopilaute,” ibid., vol. lii., part v.; F. C. Donders, De Physiologie der Spraakklanken, 1870; Alexander J. Ellis, Alphabet of Nature, 1844-45; Id., Essentials of Phonetics, 1848 (printed in phonotypy); Id., Teacher's Guide to the Reading Reform (introducing·“glides”), 1853; Id., “Palaeotype,” in Trans. Philol. Soc., 1867; Id., Early English Pronunciation, parts i. and ii. 1869, part iii. 1871, part iv. 1874 in progress; Id., “Accent and Emphasis,” in Trans. Philol. Soc., 1873; Id., Pronunciation for Singers, 1877; Id., Speech in Song, 1877; W. R. Evans, “Phonetic Outlines,” in Spelling Experimenter, 1S84, vol. ii.; Ewing (see Jenkin); S. S. Haldeman, Analytic orthography, Trevelyan prize essay, 1860; H. Hale, “Doubtful or Intermediate Articulations,” in Jour. Anthropol. Inst., February 1885; H. Helmholtz, Tonempfindungen, 1st ed. 1862, 4th ed. 1877, 2d ed. of A. J. Ellis’s translation, “Vowel Theory,” 1885; Fleeming Jenkin and J. A. Ewing, “Harmonic Analysis of certain Vowel Sounds," in Trans. R. Soc. Edin., 1879, vol. xxviii.; Ch. Joret, Du C dans les langues Romanes, 1874; J. P. N. Land, Uitsρraak en Spelling, 1870; R. G. Latham, English language, 4th ed. 1855, vol. ii. part iii., “Phonesis”; James Lecky, “Irish Gaelic Sounds,” in Proc. Philol. Soc., June 1884 and May 1885; R. Lepsius, “Chinesische und Tibetische Lautverhältnisse,” in Trans. Berlin Acad. Sci., 1860; Id., “Die Arabischen Sprachlaute und Sclavisches y," ibid., 1861; Id., Standard Alphabet, 1863; J. A. Lundell, “Det Svenska Landsmälsalfabet,” 1879, part of Nyare Bidrag till Kännedom om de Svenska Landsm&len, 1878, Stockholm; C. L. Merkel, Anthropophonik, 1857; Id., Functionen des menschlichen Schlund-und Kehl-Kopfes, 1862; Id., Physiologie der menschlichen Sprache (Laletik), 1866; G. Michaelis, S-Laute, 1863; F. Max Müller, Languages of Seat of War in East, and Missionary Alphabet, 1855; James A. H. Murray, Dialect of Southern Counties of Scotland, 1S73; H. Nicol, “Diphthong au, in Trans. Philol. Soc., 1877-79; Id., “Old French Labial Vowels,” ibid., 1873-74; W. H. Preece and Augustus Stroh (studies on acoustics), “On the Synthetic Examination of Vowel Sounds,” in Proc. R. Soc., 27th February 1879, vol. xxviii.; H. B. Rumpelt, Das natürliche System der Sprachlaute, 1869; Madame E. Seiler, Altes und Neues über die Ausbildung des Gesangorganes, 1861, translated in 1871 in America as The Voice in Singing; Id., The Voice in Speaking, translated by Dr W. H. Furness, 1875; Edward Sievers, Grundzüge der Lautphysiologie, 1876; Id., Grundzüge der Phonetik, as 2d ed. of preceding, pp. xv. and 224, 3d ed. 1885 (in his bibliography the author refers to 157 works of eighty-eight authors); Johann Storm, Englische Philologie: I. Die lebende Sprache; Stroh (see Preece); Carl J. Sundevall, “Om Phonetika Bokstäfver,” in Trans. Swedish Acad. Sci., 1856, vol. i.; Henry Sweet, “Danish Pronunciation,” in Trans. Philol. Soc., 1873-74; Id., “History of English Sounds,” ibid. ; Id., Handbook of Phonetics, 1877; Id., “Sounds and Forms of Spoken Swedish,” in Trans. Philol. Soc., 1877-79; Id., “Russian Pronunciation," ibid.; Id., “Sound Notation,” ibid., 1880-81 (with corrections of the Handbook); Id., “Spoken Portuguese,” ibid., 1882-84; Id., “Spoken North Welsh,” ibid.; F. Techmer, “Naturwissenschaftliche Analyse und Synthese der hörbaren Sprache,” in Internat. Zeitsch. f. allg. Sprachwissenschaft, vol. i.; W. D. Whitney, “On Lepsius’s Standard Alphabet,” in Jour. Am. Orient. Soc., vol. viii.; Id., “On Bell’s visible Speech," in Orient, and Linguis. Studies, 1876; Id., “How shall we Spell?” ibid.; Id., “English Pronunciation,” ibid..; Id., “Relation of Vowel and Consonant, "ibid.; Id., “Accent in Sanscrit,” ibid.; J. Winteler, Die Kerenzer Mundart; O. Wolf, Sprache und Ohr.
