On the powers of the alphabet. I. A tonic scale of alphabetic sounds / by Thos. Gordon Hake.

  • Hake, Thomas Gordon, 1809-1895.
Date:
1883
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the powers of the alphabet. I. A tonic scale of alphabetic sounds / by Thos. Gordon Hake. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    7he sounds of a in father, of r in rack, are loud ; those of s in ill, of / in fan, are whispered ; those of c in ac and of g in ag are mute until made articulate by means of an auxiliary, uch as the breath sound of e, in her; or by an additional yllable, such as tor after ac, as in actor. Different degrees of loudness, then, affect the alphabetic 3ries of sounds according to a physical necessity ; the restricted rganism forbidding a short sound to be prolonged or loudly tttered. For example, c and g cannot be pronounced with as reat length as s or /, and these cannot be made to reach the ratinuous length or fulness of r or of a. Intensity of sound, then, which in the vocal apparatus thus •presents quantity, is a secure basis on which to classify the •phabetic sounds in the order of their length. This is of much importance, for it will ultimately be found .at quantity is the ruling principle in speech, and that what- • er may pertain to accent, diphthongism, and kindred subjects, -sts on the relative lengths of the letters ; it is this which bermines the powers of the alphabet. The Tonic Scale, which flows later, is derived from these relative lengths through a ess of inductive reasoning which will be stated in full; but this stage no advance can be made before examining the t value of the English alphabet for the purposes of this [per. When this has been done, the genealogy of alphabetic mds will be traced, and a method of constructing a tonic de discussed. THE ENGLISH ALPHABET. ■ A represents the vowel sounds of a in far and in flat (a', a') ; of a in hare, f. ich is the same as e in there (a); and the short sound of which is e in |- / (a). It stands also for the diphthongal sound of a in fate, which ia lpounded of the a sound in ec (ecclesiastic), and the e sound in it and (de). IB represents the consonant sound of b, both as an initial and terminal, i o ba and ab. represents the consonant sound of c as an initial and terminal, as in j nd ac ; which is the same as that of k, as in &aand ah ; that of q before s in quart, and after the other vowels; and sometimes that of 8, as in | 'tin. represents the consonant sound of d as an initial and terminal, as in |>nd ad.