Or where the gorgeous East, with richest hand, To that bad eminence.-MILTON. State, exalted, eminence, and merit, are from the Latin; throne, richest, and royal, from the Norman French; barbaric, Ormus, and Ind, from the Greek; Satan, from the Hebrew; the remainder from the Anglo-Saxon. 3. From what languages do the following groups of words come? a. Cromlech, bard, pibroch, clan, bran, mop, button? b. Province, funeral, liberty, college, firmament, ruminate? c. Hand, thousand, full, wealth, hills, valleys? d. Whitby, tarn, Codale, Milthorp, hose? e. Conquest, castle, venison, pork, feasts, beauty, mountains? p. Bamboo, gong? q. Tattoo, tabu? r. Cariboo, racoon? 4. He is well versed in the principles or rudiments of the language, and is principally indebted for this to his erudite preceptor. 5. I was yesterday, about sunset, walking in the open fields till the night fell insensibly upon me. I at first amused myself with all the richness and variety of colors which appeared in the western parts of the heavens.-ADDISON. 6. The beauties of her person and graces of her air combined to make her the most amiable of women, and the charms of her address and conversation aided the impression which her lovely figure made on the hearts of all beholders.-HUME. 7. In the second century of the Christian era, the empire of Rome comprehended the fairest part of the earth and the most civilized portion of mankind.-GIBBON. SYNTHESIS. 1. Compose a sentence consisting of words derived from the AngloSaxon. 2. Compose a sentence consisting of words derived from the AngloNorman words. 3. Compose a sentence in which there shall be at least one word derived from the Celtic. 4. Compose a sentence in which there shall be at least one word derived from the Danish. 5. Compose a sentence in which there shall be at least one word derived from the Spanish; and another in which there shall be at least one word derived from the Italian; and another in which there shall be at least one word derived from the Chinese; and so on of the other languages. PART II. PHONETIC ELEMENTS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. CHAPTER I. SEPARATE PHONETIC ELEMENTS. DEFINITIONS. § 67. PHONOLOGY, from the Greek phone, sound, and logos, doctrine, is, in the widest sense, the doctrine or science of sounds. In a limited and proper sense, it is the doctrine or science of the sounds uttered by the human voice in speech. The phonology of the English language, then, is the doctrine of the sounds in the spoken language. The PHONETIC ELEMENTS of the English language are those elementary sounds in the spoken language which it is the province of phonology to exhibit, both separately and in combination. ORGANS OF PRODUCTION. § 68. The sounds which constitute language are formed by air issuing from the lungs, modified in its passage through the throat and mouth by the organs of speech, at the will of the speaker. The tones of the human voice are produced by two membranes called the vocal ligaments. These are set in motion by a stream of air gushing from the lungs. The windpipe is contracted near the mouth by a projecting mass of muscles called the glottis. The edges of the glottis are membranes, and form the vocal ligaments. Ordinarily, these membranous edges are inclined from each other, and, consequently, no vibrations take place during the passage of the breath; but, by the aid of certain muscles, we can place them parallel to each other, when they What is the definition of the term Phonology in general, and in its application to the English language? What are the phonetic elements of the English language? How are the sounds which constitute language formed, and by what organs? immediately vibrate and produce a tone. With the aid of other muscles we can increase their tension, and thereby the sharpness of the tone; and by driving the air more forcibly from the lungs, we may increase its loudness. The tone thus formed is modified by the cavities of the throat, nose, and mouth. These modifications form the first elements of articulate language. They are produced, not by the lungs or the windpipe, but by the glottis, the palate, the tongue, the teeth, the lips, which are called the ORGANS OF SPEECH. As the tongue is the principal organ in changing the cavities which modify the tone, it has given its name to speech, both in the Anglo-Saxon and the Latin, and many other languages. CLASSIFICATION OF THE PHONETIC ELEMENTS. § 69. In the spoken language, the phonetic elements are divided into two classes: I. VOCALIC or VOWEL SOUNDS. II. CONSONANTAL or CONSONANT SOUNDS. VOCALIC OR VOWEL SOUNDS. § 70. VOCALIC SOUNDS are those which can be formed without bringing any parts of the mouth into contact to interrupt the stream of air from the lungs. Thus the sound of a or o can be pronounced with the mouth partially open, and the breath in one continuous current. The word vowel is from the Latin word vocalis, vocal, through the French voyelle. It means what can be sounded or form voice by itself. Some ambiguity is connected with the use of the word, inasmuch as it not only denotes a sound, but also the letter which represents the sound. In this chapter it is used to denote the sound, and not the letter. CONSONANTAL OR CONSONANT SOUNDS. § 71. CONSONANTAL SOUNDS are those which can not be formed without bringing the parts of the mouth into contact. Thus the sound indicated by the letter p can not be produced without bringing the lips into contact. So the sound indicated by I can not be pronounced without bringing the tongue and the roof of the mouth near the teeth into contact. Though the consonantal sounds can be isolated, that is, separated from the vocalic, yet in practice they are joined to vocalic sounds and pronounced with them. For this reason, this class of sounds can be Which is the principal organ of speech, and to what has its name been applied? Into what two classes are the phonetic elements divided? Give the distinctive characteristics of vocalic sounds. Upon what does the peculiar character of the different vowel sounds depend? Give the distinctive characteristic of consonantal sounds, and state why they are so called. properly called consonants, from the Latin words con, with, sonans, sounding. The particular consonantal sound that is produced by interrupting the stream of air which flows out in the production of a vowel sound, depends upon what parts of the mouth are brought into contact. ARTICULATE SOUNDS. § 72. An ARTICULATE SOUND, from articulus, a Latin word for joint, is properly one which is preceded or followed by the closing of the organs of speech, or bringing some parts of the mouth in contact. A consonant alone is, in the strict sense, an articulation, or an articulate sound; but, in use, the term is frequently extended to vowel sounds. Vowel sounds are produced by the lower organs of speech, and consonantal sounds by the upBrute animals utter vowel sounds; man only can utter consonantal sounds. per. ANALYSIS OF SYLLABIC SOUNDS. § 73. In the analytical examination of words and syllables for the purpose of discovering the elementary sounds of which they are composed, we must withdraw our attention from the letters, and fix it upon the sounds themselves. In the common pronunciation of words and syllables, the consonantal sound is not uttered without the vowel sound with which it is connected. But in our analytical examination, we can utter it or partly utter it without the vowel. We can in this way separate an elementary consonantal sound from its associated vowel sound, so far, at least, as to discover its nature. Thus, in analyzing the sounds in the combinations indicated by ro, lo, do, po, we can isolate the sounds indicated by r, l, d, p, and pronounce them as if written r-o, l-o, d-o, p-o. In the case of d there is an imperfect sound, in which there is a slight vocality. In the case of p there is but little more than an effort at a sound. SURDS AND SONANTS. § 74. If the vocal ligaments be so inclined to each other as not to vibrate, the emission of breath from the lungs produces merely a whisper. This whisper may be modified in like manner as the voice by similar arrangements of the organs. Every vocal sound has its correspondent whisper sound. If you take the sounds of p, f, t, k, s, th in thin, sh in shine, and iso To what class of sounds is the word articulate strictly applicable, and to what sounds is it also in use applied? Describe the proper mode of analyzing the sounds of which words and syllables are composed, and give examples of this mode. Explain the meaning of the terms Surd and Sonant, and mention sounds to which they are severally applied. |