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TH in thick becomes THH in this, S in seal becomes Z in zeal, P becomes M, D is changed to N, H to R, K to NG, &c.

The sub-liquids are less perfectly vocalized than the liquids, having the sound muffled by closing the opening through the nose, so that, instead of turning P, T, and K into M, N, and NG, they become B, D, and G.

Mutes. -S, F, H, K, P, T, TH, SH.

Liquids. -Z, V, R, NG, M, N, THH, J, L.

Sub-liquids.-G, B, D.

The phonographic classification, adopted in the 3d part of this series, divides the consonants into five classes, abrupts, semi-vowels, liquids, resonants, and ambigues, and sub-divides each of the first two into whispered and spoken.

S whispered, P, T, CH, K.

Abrupts, spoken, B, D, J, G.

Semi-vowels,

S whispered, F, TH, S, SH.
spoken, V, THH, Z, ZH.

Liquids.-L, R.

Resonants. -M, N, NG.
Ambigues.-W, Y, H.

CLASSIFICATION BY FORMATION.-For the purposes of vocal culture and practice, it is also necessary to classify the consonants, or articulations, according to the organs which are chiefly concerned in producing them; the lips, teeth, tongue, palate, throat, and nose. These classes are differently arranged and designated by different authors. The following is the best I have seen.

Labials.-P, B, F, V, M, W.

Linguo-dentals. -T, D, TH, THH, S, Z, L, R, N, Y.
Palatals.-CH, J, SH, ZH.

Gutturals.-K, G, NG, H.
Peculiars.-Q, WH.

MUTES, LIQUIDS AND SUB-LIQUIDS.

The following analysis and classification are framed for a partic

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To prove that the liquids (except 1) are derived from the mutes, it is only necessary to place the organs in the position for uttering a mute, as p, and then vocalize a sound through the nose, and you have the corresponding liquid, m. If then you vocalize and explode the sound, instead of pressing it into the nose you have the sub-liquid b. The French j is the liquid of sh, or zh, the English jis the liquid of ch, which is the sound of sh dentalized.

LIP LESSON.

An exercise calculated to give flexibility and precision to the motions of the lips, and enable the pupil to distinguish certain sounds. To be repeated like the other lessons.

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Designed to bring into proper action the parts of the tongue, the tip, the middle, and the roots, so as to give the entire command of those muscles, and prevent lisping and other defects of articulation.

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Correct pronunciation of words is essential to good reading. The general standard of pronunciation is the usage of well-educated people.

Where usage is well settled, it is a mark of carelessness or ignorance to depart from it.

There are some words of which the pronunciation is not fully settled, and different modes may be allowed.

There are shades of sound, in regard to some classes of words, which cannot be taught by rules alone, but are only to be learned by actual familiarity with well-educated people. These shades of sounds cannot be adequately represented by any system of notation.

One who is really well educated will make certain sounds easily and gracefully, while another, who had not the advantage of associating with such persons when young, will make them awkwardly, stiffly, and in an affected manner.

The principal differences among teachers and book-makers, in regard to pronunciation, relate to the vowels. The faults of pronunciation of consonants are those of indistinctness or harshness of articulation-except in regard to those modes of speaking which are so decidedly illiterate that no one who regards propriety will fall into them.

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CLASSIFICATION OF VOWEL SOUNDS.

The simple vowel sounds may be divided into two corresponding classes, called the full and the stopped sound.

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In the English language, the stopped vowels are always followed by a consonant sound in the same syllable, with the exception of some sudden and startling interjections. The Indian languages abound in syllables that end with a stopped vowel. These word are often written as if they ended with k or t, as Housatonuk, Samoset, &c., which the Indians unquestionably pronounced u' and e’.

There are many words which it is difficult to assign to either of these classes, or to determine whether usage in all requires the vowel sound to be made full or stopped. Such as again, home, soon, often pronounced by good speakers, age'n, hō'me, soo'n.

A full vowel is not necessarily long, but a stopped vowel is necessarily short. The full vowels are generally long in accented syllables, and short in the unaccented. Precise and affected speakers only take pains to pronounce unaccented full vowels long, as āwāy, for e'way or a'way; suitable for suite'ble.

The vowel sounds are ranged, in the above table, in the order in which they are made by opening the mouth-No. 1 opening the mouth least, No. 2 more, No. 3 still more, and No. 4 most of all. hence called the broadest vowel sound. At No. 5 the mouth is less opened, at No. 6 the lips are rounded into a circle, and at No. 7 protruded like a tube, as in the following diagram, taken from the Phonographic Class Book.

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The first and fourth are the extremes, as slender and broad, and the first and seventh are extremes as sharp and round.

The sound u' (or uh) is called the natural vowel, because it is the sound which the organs make in their natural position, when we vocalize the breath without any effort to modulate it.

This sound has no letter to express it. All the vowels, when unaccented, have a constant tendency to run into this sound. It is a mark of good education to be able to utter unaccented vowels gracefully and easily, without going fully into this sound of uh or u'. The true sound is between that given to the same vowel when accented, and that of uh or u'.

Thus the e' in sole'mn is not sounded like e' in sole'mnity, nor like u' in column, but has a sound between the two.

So the a in along is not uh-long, nor ā-long nor ah-long, but a graceful intermediate sound, sometimes designated in dictionaries as the obscure vowel sound. So the o' in combine is neither o' nor u', but a sound between the two.

Some persons interpose this sound of uh or u' in syllables ending in le' or sm, but it is ungraceful, as articu'l, prisu'm, and yet it is impossible to give a graceful and distinct utterance to those syllables, without adding a sound that is somewhat like the natural vowel.

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