The physiological & pathological relations of the voice and speech / by John Syer Bristowe.

Date:
1880
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The physiological & pathological relations of the voice and speech / by John Syer Bristowe. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    With vocal sound, or are uttered independently of such sound ; the former class, which is termed ' sonant,' or ' voiced,' including such letters as b, d, hard v, z, m, n, and /, together with the vowels ; the latter class, termed ' surd,'' voiceless,' or ' aspirate,' comprising, among others, k, f, s, and h. Or they may be classified according as their pronunciation admits of indefinite prolongation, or is of momentary duration only ; the latter class com- prising the explosive consonants b, d, hard^,/, t, and k, together with perhaps some of the so-called 'short vowels ; the former embracing all the remaining letters, which are sometimes called 'continuants.' Or, again, they may be grouped into those in the pronunciation of which the septum between the nose and mouth remains open, and which have consequently a nasal quality, and those in which this quality is absent. To the former class belong the letters m, n, and ng (in tongue), as also the French nasal vowels. It has always been customary among grammarians to make the primary division of letters into vowels and consonants ; the former, according to the general state- ment, admitting of perfect independent utterance, the latter needing, for the full development of their peculiar sounds, to be associated with some vowel. That there is a real and fundamental difference between vowels and consonants is, I think, quite certain. But the distinction which has just been quoted is ob- viously neither accurate nor sufficient. For the great majority of consonantal sounds may be produced per- fectly without vowel aid; while some, in certain com-