PART II. ACCIDENCE. LETTERS. 31. LETTERS were once pictures of various objects, but are now used as symbols to represent sounds. 32. A collection of the symbols employed in any language is called an Alphabet. The word is derived from alpha, beta, the Greek names for the first two letters. 33. The number of articulate sounds is very great, and no language possesses a separate symbol to represent each distinct sound. In the English language there are twenty-six letters, viz. a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z. These letters are divided into vowels and consonants. 34. Vowels.-A vowel is the continuous sound produced when the organs of speech are retained in one position, as a, e, o. It is capable of forming a syllable or a word without the assistance of other letters: a man, amend. 35. The vowels, as arranged in the English alphabet, are a, e, i, o, u; but the natural order in which they are produced is i, e, a, o, u, pronounced ee, ay, ah, oh, oo. The intermediate letters, e, a, o, are frequently termed strong vowels; i and u, weak. Owing to the imperfect nature of the alphabet, these letters are often employed to represent other vowel sounds. 36. Several vowel-sounds frequently occurring in the English language are not represented in the alphabet by separate symbols: 1. fat, father, fall. 2. pit, pet, mete, mate. 3. not, note. 4. bulb, bull, move. Twelve sounds are here represented by five sym bols. i and u in mine and muse are diphthongs (§ 38). 37. With the vowels may be classed the letters and w. y represents the sound of i (e) pronounced rapidly before a vowel, čōke=yoke. y w is the sound of u (oo) pronounced rapidly before a vowel, ŭin=win. 38. The sounds represented by the combination of e and o with y and w, viz. ey, oy, ew, ow, are called diphthongs. These are the only true diphthongs in English. They are variously represented in the written language: 1. ey eye, kaleidoscope, thy, thine, flies, dyes. 3. ew: few, refuse, euphony, shoe, purlieu, hue. The other so-called diphthongs are simple vowelsounds: ae aether (ether). ai: maid (made), plaid (plad). au: caul (call). ea: meat (mete), bread (bred). ie: field (feeld). oa: broad (a in fall), road (rode). oe: toe (o in tone), does (u in dust), phoenix (phenix). 39. The system of vowel-sounds may be thus represented: 40. Consonants.—A consonant cannot form either a word or a syllable without the aid of a vowel: as m, k, s. The word is derived from the Latin consonans, sounding together,' because it is always sounded with a vowel. 41. Consonants are divided into liquids, mutes, and sibilants. 42. Liquids.-A liquid is the continuous sound produced when some organ of speech has changed its position: as m, produced by the compression of the lips; 7, by the application of the tongue to the palate. These letters are called liquids, because the sound flows on, i. e. is continuous. 43. The liquids, as arranged in the English alphabet, are l, m, n, r; but the natural order, commencing with the throat and ending with the lips, is r, l, n, m. To these must be added the sound of ng in sing. They are connected with the vowel-system by the letter r. Liquids. r, I, n, ng, m. 44. Mutes. A mute is the interrupted sound produced when some organ of speech has changed its position. Thus, after sounding the t in at, the tongue is pressed against the teeth and palate, the voice is checked, and all articulation interrupted. 45. The mutes are classed according to the organs of speech by which they are expressed. Thus, p, f, b, v, are called labials, or lip-letters, because the lips are employed in producing the sounds they represent. Similarly t, th (in thin), d, th (in thine), are called dentals, or tooth-letters; k, ch (in the Scotch loch), g, gh (in the Irish lough), are gutturals, or throatletters. 46. On comparing the sounds of p and b in pat and bat, of t and d in tin and din, of k and g in Kate and gate, it will be found that p, t, k are pronounced sharply, with the lips compressed; and b, d, g, flatly, with the lips protruded. Hence, p, f, t, th (in thin), k, ch (in loch), are called sharp mutes; and b, v, d, th (in thine), g, gh (in lough), flat mutes. 47. On comparing pat, bat, tin, dine, with fat, vat, thin, thine, it will be found that the initial letters of the latter series are pronounced with a stronger emission of the breath than those of the former. Letters of this nature are called asperates. The asperated mutes are ƒ, v, th (thin), th (thine), ch, and gh. 48. The distribution of the mutes may be thus represented : N.B. The sounds ch and gh occur only in the names of places in Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. 49. A sibilant is the continuous hissing sound produced when the organs of speech are retained in C |