Orthography Part 27

? = o?o = ?

i = ?

oi = oy ou = ow u = ew

CHAR. EQUIV.

j = g (soft) g = ? (hard) z = ?_ k = c? = c?h f = ph s = c (_cedilla c_) sh = ch ? = ng x = ks x_ = gz

COGNATE sounds are such as are produced by the same organs of speech in a similar position. The cognates are in pairs, as follows: _Vowels_: a e, e i, a a, a ?, a? o, u u, oo o?o; _consonants_: g' k, b p, d t, j ch, th th, v f, z s.

#[Second Month.]#

LETTERS.

A LETTER is a mark or character used to represent a sound,-usually an elementary sound.

An ALPHABET is an orderly arrangement of all the letters of a language.

The NUMBER OF LETTERS in the different alphabets vary, as follows: English 26, Arabic 28, French 25, German 26, Greek 24, Hebrew 22, Italian 21, Russian 33, Spanish 27, Sanskrit 49. The Chinese have no alphabet, but about 20,000 syllabic characters.

The POWER OF A LETTER is the elementary sound for which it stands.

LETTERS AS TO FORM are either script or print.

There are many different STYLES OF LETTERS; as, Roman, Italic, Old English, and Script.

As to SIZE letters are both capital and lower case.

#[Third Month.]#

VOWELS.

A VOWEL sound is a free and uninterrupted sound of the voice. The vowel sounds are formed by the voice modified, but not interrupted, by the various positions of the tongue and lips.

A CONSONANT sound is an articulate sound made by the obstructed voice, and which in utterance is usually combined with a vowel sound.

There is no absolute division between vowels and consonants. Certain vowels are so open as to be only vowels, certain consonants are so close as to be only consonants; but there are yet others which have the value now of vowels and now of consonants; as, _i_, _u_, _w_, and _y_.

"_Y_ as a vowel is a subst.i.tute for _i_, and _i_ is a consonant as a subst.i.tute for _y_. _W_ and _y_ are vowels: (1) When they end words or syllables, (2) when they are not followed by a vowel in the same syllable, (3) when they are followed by a silent vowel in the same syllable. _W_ and _y_ are consonants when they begin words or syllables and are immediately followed by a vowel. _I_ is a consonant when it represents the consonant _y_, as in _alien_. _U_ is a consonant when it represents the consonant _w_, as in _quick_, _language_."-_Irish's Orthography._

A DIPHTHONG is produced by running together two vowel sounds in the same syllable.

A diphthong is PROPER if both the vowels are sounded; as _o_ and _i_ in _boil_.

An IMPROPER DIPHTHONG or DIGRAPH is merely a collection of two vowels in the same syllable, of which only one is sounded; as in _rain_, _teach_.

The diphthongs in the following words are all that are in common use, viz.: t_oi_l, t_oy_, s_ou_nd, c_ow_, p_ea_l, _oi_l, _au_dible, _aw_ning, s_ay_, s_ei_ne, p_eo_ple, f_eu_d, ob_ey_, esch_ew_, bel_ie_ve, l_oa_n, h_oe_, h_ue_, j_ui_ce. Of these _oi_, _oy_, _ou_, and _ow_ are the only _proper_ diphthongs.

A TRIPHTHONG is produced by running together three vowel sounds in the same syllable.

A triphthong is PROPER if all three of the vowels are sounded. (But there are no proper triphthongs that I know of.)

A triphthong is IMPROPER or is called a TRIGRAPH if one or two of the three vowels is silent; as in ad_ieu_, b_eau_ty.

#[Fourth Month.]#

CONSONANTS.

CONSONANTS are divided on three different bases; as follows:

I. MUTES and SEMIVOWELS.

The mutes represent an explosive sound, and are so called because the mouth organs are closed just before the sound is uttered and the voice is momentarily _mute_.

The four subvocals _b_, _d_, _j_, _g_, and their cognates, _p_, _t_, _ch_, and _k_, are generally cla.s.sed as mutes. p.r.o.nounce them and see if they do not represent _explosive_ sounds.

All other consonants are _semivowels_, and are p.r.o.nounced with a _continuous_ sound. The sound may be continued so long as the breath lasts; but in the case of mutes the sound must stop with the explosive utterance.

II. The SUBVOCALS and ASPIRATES are shown in the vertical columns of the table below. The subvocals are sometimes called _voice_ consonants and the aspirates _breath_ consonants. These are fit terms, for they indicate the basis of cla.s.sification.

III. l.a.b.i.aLS, LINGUA-DENTALS, and PALATALS const.i.tute a cla.s.sification of the consonants with respect to the place of formation. Bead the table from left to right. The _lips_ have most to do with making the l.a.b.i.al sounds; the lingua-dentals are formed at the point of the _tongue_ in contact with the _teeth_, the palatals between the tongue and hard and soft _palate_.

#Consonant Table.#

#Subvocals.# #Aspirates.# (Voice.) (Breath.) l.a.b.i.als. { b p (Lips.) { v f { w wh { m

Lingua- { d t Dentals. { z s (Point of{ th (sonant) (non-sonant) th tongue.) { l { n { r

Palatals.{ zh sh (Between { j ch tongue { g k and { y palate.) { h { ng

EIGHTH YEAR.

#[First Month.]#

SYLLABLES.

SYLLABLE literally means _taken together_.

A SPOKEN SYLLABLE is an elementary sound, or a combination of elementary sounds, uttered _together_, or with a single impulse of the voice. It const.i.tutes a word or a part of a word.

A WRITTEN or printed syllable is a part of a word separated from the rest, and capable of p.r.o.nunciation by a single impulse of the voice.

As to where a word shall be divided in making it into syllables depends upon the PURPOSE OF SYLLABICATION. When the purpose is to show the derivation the division is made with reference to the component parts (roots, prefixes, and suffixes); but if the purpose is to indicate correct p.r.o.nunciation, the result may be very different. For ill.u.s.tration, the following words are divided, first, to show derivation: abs-tract, bene-vol-ent, pre-de-cess-or, e-duc-ate, phon-o-typ-y, pro-gress, e-lig-ible; and, second, to indicate correct p.r.o.nunciation: ab-stract, be-nev-o-lent, pred-e-ces-sor, ed-u-cate, pho-not-y-py, prog-ress, el-i-gi-ble.