4. The Principal Organs of Speech are the lips, the teeth, the tongue, and the palate. 5. Voice is produced by the action of the breath upon the lǎrynx.1 6. Oral Elements are divided into three classes: eighteen TONICS, fifteen SUBTONICS, and ten ATONICS. Jonics Qral Elements Subtonics Atonics 7. Tonics are pure tones produced by the voice, with but slight use of the organs of speech. 8. Subtonics are tones produced by the voice, modified by the organs of speech. 9. Atonics are mere breathings, modified by the organs of speech. 10. Letters are characters which are used to represent or modify the oral elements. 11. Letters may be classed as representative, into vowels and consonants; and as formative, into labials, dentals, linguals, and palatals. 1 Larynx.—The larynx is the up- consisting of five gristly pieces per part of the trachea, or windpipe, which form the organ of voice. 12. Vowels are the letters that usually represent the tonic elements. They are a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y.1 13. A Diphthong is the union of two vowels in a syllable; as ou in our, ea in bread. 14. A Proper Diphthong is the union of two vowels in a syllable, neither of which is silent: as ou in out, ai in said. 15. An Improper Diphthong is the union of two vowels in a syllable, one of which is silent; as oa in loaf, ou in court. 16. A Triphthong is the union of three vowels in a syllable; as eau in beau, ieu in adieu. 17. Consonants' are the letters that usually represent either subtonic or atonic elements. They are of two kinds, single letters and combined, including all the letters of the alphabet, except the vowels, and the combinations ch, sh, wh, ng; th subtonic and th atonic. 18. Alphabetic Equivalents are letters, or combinations of letters, that represent the same elements, or sounds; thus, i is an equivalent of e in pique. 19. Labials are letters whose oral elements are chiefly formed by the lips. They are b, p, w, and wh. M may be regarded as a nasal-labial, as its sound is affected by the nose. Fand v are labio-dentals. 20. Dentals are letters whose oral elements are chiefly formed by the teeth. They are j, s, z, ch, and sh. 21. Linguals are letters whose oral elements are chiefly formed by the tongue. They are d, l, r, and t. N is a nasal-lingual; and y, a lingua-palatal. Th subtonic and th atonic are lingua-dentals. 1 W not a Vowel.-As w, standing alone, does not represent a pure or unmodified tone, it is not here classified with the vowels. 2 Consonant.-The term consonant, literally meaning sounding with, is applied to these letters and combinations because they are rare ly used in words without having a vowel connected with them in the same syllable, although their oral elements may be uttered separately, and without the aid of a vowel. Indeed, they frequently form syllables by themselves, as in feeble (bl), taken (kn). 22. Palatals are letters whose oral elements are chiefly formed by the palate. They are g and k. The combined letter ng is a nasal-palatal. 23. Cognates are letters whose oral elements are produced by the same organs, in a similar manner; thus, ƒ is a cognate of v; k of g, etc. IN II. ORAL ELEMENTS. N sounding the tonics, the organs should be fully opened, and the stream of sound from the throat should be thrown, as much as possible, directly upward against the roof of the mouth. These elements should open with an abrupt and explosive force, and then diminish gradually and equably to the end. In producing the subtonic and atonic elements, it is important to press the organs upon each other with great firmness and tension; to throw the breath upon them with force; and to prolong the sound sufficiently to give it a full impression on the ear. The instructor will first require the students to pronounce a catch-word once, and then produce the oral element represented by the figured vowel, or Italic consonant, four times-thus, àge-à, à, à, à; āte—ā, ā, ā, ā: åt-å, å, å, å; ash-ă, ă, ǎ, à, etc. He will exercise the class until each student can utter consecutively all the elementary sounds as arranged in the following ă, 1 A Fifth.-The fifth element, or sound, represented by a, is its first or Alphabetic sound, modified or softened by r. In its production, the lips, placed nearly together, are held immovable while the student tries to say a. ? A Sixth.-The sixth element represented by a, is a sound intermediate between a, as heard in at, ash, and a, as in arm, art. It is produced by prolonging and slightly softening ǎ. 3 E Third. The third element represented by e, is e as heard in end, prolonged, and modified or softened by r. 4 O modified.-The modified oral element of o, in this work, is represented by (8 or ŏ) the same marks as its regular second power. This modified or medium element may be produced by uttering the sound of o in not, slightly softened, with twice its usual volume, or prolongation. It is usually given when short o is immediately followed by ff, ft, 88, st, or th, as in off, sòft, cross, cost, broth; also in a number of words where short o is directly followed by n, or final ng, as in gone, begone; lỡng, prong, song, throng, wrong. SMART says, To give the extreme short sound of o to such words is affectation; to give them the full sound of broad a [a in all], is vulgar. " U initial.—U, at the beginning of words, when long, has the sound of yu, as in use. 6 R trilled. In trilling r, the tip of the tongue is made to vibrate against the roof the mouth. Frequently require the student, after a full inhalation, to trill r continuously as long as possible. When immediately followed by a vowel sound in the same syllable, it al ways should be trilled. FIRST the word containing the atonic element, then the subtonic cognate, uttering the element after each word— thus: lip, p; orb, b, etc. The attention of the pupil should be called to the fact that cognates are produced by the same organs, in a similar manner, and only differ in one being an undertone, and the other a whisper. ALPHABETIC EQUIVALENTS. HE instructor will require the students to read or recite the table of Alphabetic Equivalents, using the following formula: The Alphabetic Equivalents of 1 Wh. To produce the oral element of wh, the student will blow from the center of the mouth-first compressing the lips, and then suddenly relaxing them while the air is escaping. |