It is seen also in the pasts and past participles of our strong verbs, as, drive, drove, driven; and in many cognate English words, as, strike, stroke, streak; peak, pike, poke, pick; drip, drop; fill, full; stick, stake, stock; revise, revision, &c. Any one sees that such words as these are radically the same, because the consonants are the same though the vowels vary greatly. But in considering the interchange of consonants with one another, we may not only compare words which are radically the same in different languages, but we may also get much assistance from a study of the regular inflectional changes to which any one language is subject. For this purpose, Euglish, however, is of little use. Such a thing as the change of one consonant into another in the inflection of a word is to it almost unknown. Hence the very contracted ideas which mere English scholars have of this whole subject. Other languages are richer in this respect. The euphonic changes in Greek will occur to many as a good illustration of what I mean. The inflections of nouns in Welsh is a still better. The following examples are from Prichard's Celtic Nations: Tad, thad, dad, or nhad. Bread, 2. Aspirates of different orders are frequently changed for one another; 3. Semivowels also pass into one another. III. Mutes of one order cannot pass directly into mutes of a different order on any mere phonetic principle. Canon I. This is a well-known law. It lies at the foundation of philological researches. Grimm, the great German philologer, has discovered that, in comparing different languages, these interchanges of consonants of the same order are not arbitrary, but follow a fixed law which is known by his name. A sharp mute tends to become an aspirate, an aspirate to become a flat mute, and a flat to become a sharp mute, and so on. Thus, pater becomes father; frater, brother; duo, two. Here we have the sharp mutes p and t changed to the aspirates fand th; the aspirate ƒ becomes the flat mute b, and the flat mute d becomes the sharp t. It is not meant, that in the words which I have here given as an illustration of the law, the English have been derived from the corresponding Latin words; but that both have, previous to the historical period, been derived from a common source, and that the circling change which the law describes has proceeded one step farther in the English than in the Latin words. This is but natural, as Latin is the older language. But my paper is on the consonants, not on philology, and I am digressing. 1. The simplest change is, I think, that of a Inflectional changes like these are generally far sharp into its corresponding flat, or the contrary. better proofs of the connection and immediate We have an example of this change in our final interchangeability of consonants than the com-s, which is pronounced sharp or flat to suit the parison of cognate words in different languages; for here the change is directly from the one to the other, while in the latter case there may be a number of steps between. The following are the chief phonetic principles on which the interchange of consonants depends: preceding letter. It is sharp after sharps, flat like z after all other letters. So the d of the past tense and participle of verbs is pronounced, and often spelt, t after sharps. The past participle in Latin ends in t, sometimes s, corresponding to our d. Another instance of sharps and flats interchanging, is in such words as loaf, loaves; Referring to the tabular scheme of classification breath, breathe; cloth, clothe. Highlanders and given in Part I. of this paper,* the Welsh are apt to pronounce the flats sharp, I. Any consonant may be changed into any as if the b's, d's, and g's were p's, t's, and ks. In other consonant of the same order. Thus, 1. Any labial may change into any other labial; 2. Any lingual into any other lingual; 3. Any guttural into any other guttural. Also a consonant may pass into a combination of consonants of the same order, and vice versa. German, the flats have the sound of their corresponding sharps at the end of words, but resume their own power if a termination is added. Thus d is pronounced t in kind, a child, though not in the plural, kinder. 2. The next change in point of facility is that of a mute into its corresponding aspirate. In Gaelic this is a mere inflectional change. Thus, II. Nasals, aspirates, and semivowels of dif if a verb begins with a mute, its past tense begins ferent orders are interchangeable. Thus, with the corresponding aspirate. The same change 1. Any nasal may pass into any other nasal; is frequent in nouns and adjectives. A table is February No. of Museum. bord, and my is mo, but my table is not mo bord, Grab. think, denken. halm, thou, du. hound, calamus. In German z is pronounced ts. We see here, again, that s bears the same relation to t that ƒ bears to p. 3d. The interchange of nasals with other consonants of the same order is not so common. The change is nevertheless immediate and quite natural. If the reader will look back to the Welsh words given above, he will see that it is a mere inflectional change in Welsh. In Gaelic, the aspirate m is pronounced as a sort of v. Other examples of this interchange are ever, immer; never, nimmer: Bλwoxw, μchoùμai; væros, somnus. grave, knave, Knabe. Looking at this list in the light of Grimm's law, it will be seen that German is the younger of the two languages. The sharp mute in English always corresponds to the aspirate in German, and the aspirate in English to the flat mute in German, but not vice versa. Observe also, that s in German holds the very same relation to t in English, that fand ch respectively hold to p and k. This is important as a confirmation of the propriety of ranking s as the true aspirate of t. The common doctrine is, that s, z, sh, and zh form a class by themselves, usually called sibilants, and that sh bears the same relation to s that th bears tot. This classification is, I think, quite a mis-order are complementary. Thus, a mute is often take, and productive of nothing but confusion. I consider th, which is rather a rare sound, to be the aspirate of the thick t, made by protruding the tongue to touch the teeth, while s is the proper aspirate corresponding to the pure English t, and sh corresponds to a t formed by turning up the point of the tongue and making it touch the palate farther back than in pronouncing our English t. The same will, of course, be true of the varieties of d and its corresponding flat aspirates. Very frequently a nasal and mute of the same added to a nasal for some euphonic reason. Examples are, vng, avogós; camera, chambre; tonitru, Donner, thunder; Schlummer, slumber; Henry, Scottice Hendry; young, younger, pronounced young-ger, &c. On the other hand, before a mute, the nasal corresponding is often inserted. Thus, frango, rumpo, tundo, scindo, cumbo, &c., are strengthened forms of the stems, frag, rup, tud, scid, cub, &c. This practice seems to arise from an attempt to get a more appropriate sound to express continuation and effort. It seems to be natural, especially for people in a low state of civilization, to think much of present efforts, but soon to forget past toils. It is said that the females formerly employed in coal mines might have been often seen bringing up their loads crying, and returning singing the next minute. Accordingly, we find these strengthened forms in the present, but not in the perfect tense. On the same principle, we have step (Scottice, stap), stamp; tap, Gr. TUT, thump; click, clink; trip, tramp; nubes, a cloud, but nimbus, the dark rain cloud. Latham says, "The Welsh language changes p into m. Here the connection in phonetics and the connection in language do not closely coincide." I humbly think the connection in phonetics is pretty close. A cold in the head will effect the change. I heard a story illustrative of this the other day. In a theatre in a provincial town an actor in the play of "Douglas," labouring under cold, began," Mby dame is Dorbal," &c.; when a voice from the gallery shouted, "Blow your dose, Dorval!" 4th. The softest state in which a consonant is found is when it has been worn down to a semiVowel. It seems then to be in the last stage of decay. In English, w, y, and I are often silent, and final r is scarcely pronounced at all. The process of change is not, however, all in the way of waning. It is well known that there was for merly but one character, V, for both u and v. It is pretty evident that in Latin this letter was once pronounced either as u or w. Thus volvo had been pronounced wolwo, our wallow. This would make the supines volutum and solutum natural and in analogy with other verbs in uo. But in the modern languages derived from Latin the sound of w has been quite superseded by that of v. In harmony with this, we find English words beginning with w radically the same in German, and spelled also with w, which is pronounced as . Thus water is in German wasser, pronounced vasser. Again, in modern Greek is pronounced f, where there can be no doubt but it was a vowel in the ancient language. The interchange of y with the other gutturals is quite as common as that of w into v. Words such as day, way, lay, where I imagine the y was not very long ago slightly heard in pronounciation, ended in Anglo-Saxon in g. In German, also, these words have a g. ν Prichard, “that d and r, consonants which appear in sound sufficiently remote from each other, were in the Oscan language easily confounded." There is no reason for being surprised at this. The organs with which both letters are pronounced are the same, and very nearly in the same position. Nor does there seem to my ear to be a greater difference between the sounds of d and r than between the sounds of p and f. So we have meridies for medidies, auris and audio, aes aeris and aeneus, donum and dãgov, λigns and plenus, lacryma and dazgvua, satis and äλ5, Ulysses and Oduorus. In Latin, r often usurped the place of what was formerly s, as in arbor for the older arbos. Similarly we have generis the genitive of genus, yevos. In the Mpongwe language (mouth of the Gaboon), t passes into r, and d into l, as a regular inflectional change. As inflectional changes of consonants are the surest proofs of their affinity, I submit the following illustrations : 1. EUPHONIC INFLECTIONAL CHANGES IN GREEK. With the become P δ 9 во дя σ II. IN MPONGWE (from Du Chaillu). As a mere inflectional change, P, b, f, t, d, s, sh, j, k, become v, vorw, v, r, 1, z, zy, y, g. א 9 III-INFLECTIONAL CHANGES IN GAELIC Plain form, m, p, b, f, t, s, d, c, g. Aspirate, mh, ph, bh, fh, th, sh, dh, ch, gh. Pronounced v, f, v, silent, h, h, gh, ch, gh. With the exception of the aspirate linguals in Gaelic, almost all these changes are illustrations of the great law that consonants of the same order are interchangeable. Canon II.-1st. Nasals are interchangeable. Thus the prefix in becomes im before m, p, and b. The same is true of 8, which also before gutturals becomes 7=eng. 2d. Of the interchange of aspirates of different orders, I may give the following examples : 9 in Greek becomes fin Latin, as Jigw, fervio; Suga, fores; Sng, fera; igugós, rufus; also iw, volo. So Thursday is in Scotch Foorsday. Initial passes into h. Examples are Spanish words beginning with h, representing what was formerly an f in the older language, and in the Latin words from which they are derived. The aspirate fh in Gaelic in some few words is pronounced h, and probably was so once in every case, though now commonly silent. B In English, gh having the sound of f, represents the guttural aspirate in Scotch and German. Laugh, enough, sough, slough, trough, rough, tough, are in Scotch lach, eneuch, souch, sloch, troch, roch, teuch. The dislike of English to aspirate gutturals is shewn in their being sometimes changed into ƒ as in these words; sometimes into the softer labial sound of w, as in plough, bough, slough; sometimes omitted altogether in pronounciation, though a y or gh still remains a silent witness to the former existence of a guttural, as in low, Sc. laigh; bought, Sc. bocht; though, Ger. doch, &c. Latin has the same dislike to aspirate gutturals. Thus we have nix nivis for nixs nixis, the root nich being mutilated for snich, Gaelic sneachd, snow. Vivo, as shewn by the perfect and supine, must have had originally a guttural for its last consonant. It is the same as our word quick, which retains its original meaning in the phrase, "the quick and the dead." The original verb QVIGO had first lost the initial q, a common occurrence. This would give VIGO vixi victum conjugated like rego. Hence spring other formsvigeo, vigor, vigil. Then vigo got softened down, perhaps first into vigho and then into viho, which passes into vivo precisely in the same way as Hesperus passes into Vesperus. The connection between the assumed vigo, viho, and vivo is similar to that between drag, traho, draw, and draught=❘ draft. In the same way I would explain the connection between conniveo, connixi, fluvius, and fluo fluxi, juro and jucundus, &c. Thus, then, I think I have shewn the existence of interchange between the aspirate labials on the one hand, and the aspirate gutturals on the other. Of the aspirate linguals, I am not aware that any interchange with the labials except th, which stands nearest them. into sh. This is a sort of compromise, s being the intermediate of the three linguals, and y being a guttural, instead of being at the trouble to bring both sets of organs into play, we use the organs between, and say sh. This is the general result of a y after s. A similar change occurs when y follows t or d. Thus righteous may be pronounced right-yous or right-shus. If India be contracted into Indya, it will have a great tendency not to rest there, but to become Inja, that is, Ind-zha. In all such cases, it is the y that passes into sh or zh, in conformity with the second canon given above. True y is not an aspirate, but a semivowel; but in many languages, the sounds of ch and gh are unknown, and y is the nearest approximation. At any rate, the guttural semi-vowel y passes regularly into the lingual aspirate sh or zh no less than ch does. J in French has the sound I have symbolized by zh, and represents the Latin j, which, there can be little doubt, was once pronounced as y. As instances of the aspirate ch passing into sh, we have many words like ship which is in Dutch, schip, where the ch has its own guttural sound, and represents k in the Icelandic skip, and our skipper. Another instance of the interchange of guttural and lingual aspirates is the well known fact that the rough breathing in Greek often represents an s in Latin. There is the same relation between words in Gaelic beginning with s and the corresponding words in Welsh which begin with h. But the change of s into h is a common inflectional one in Gaelic. How are we to explain the very common change of k into ch soft, or even into the sounds of sh or s? For example, c hard in Anglo-Saxon, or k in German, often becomes ch soft in English. In Latin, c must have once been always hard, but in Italian, before e and i, it is pronounced as ch in English, while in French it is pronounced as s, or has been changed into ch, pronounced sh. I believe in all these cases k passed into ch=t,sh in the first place. This t,sh passed into sh by the first canon, and sh into s by the second. In this case, then, Italian is nearer to the original Latin than French is. Latham has, I have no doubt, given the true explanation of the transition from k to t,sh. It is this: It is hardly worth while shewing that the three pairs of lingual aspirates are interchangeable. Many people say th for s from a difficulty in pronouncing the latter. The eth of the English third person singular is only another form of es, which has nearly supplanted it. Cerf in French is cervo in Spanish, where c is pronounced th. S passes as naturally into sh. The words passion and nation are pronounced in French pa-si-on, na-si-on; and so with all other similar words. As we have taken these words from the French, there is no doubt that it is the s which has passed into sh, note, the sh sound into s. The way in which this has taken place is apparent enough. First, we have contracted a word of three syllables into two, Secondly, This small vowel is squeezed into a y. making the i lose its full vocal power, and become Thirdly, This y passes into sh. Canon II. Thus the semi-vowel y, as nasyon, passyon. Secondly, A. Saxon ceorl = kyorl = kshorl, charta = carte it is not, then, the s alone, but the sy that passes = kyart =kshart. First, The k sound is followed by a small vowel, or i, or y; if not, the first step is to insert one. This is no uncommon thing. For example, Walker sanctions the pronouncing of garden as if gyarden. Fourthly, In this combination, k is supplanted by t, as being easier of pronunciation, along with the following linguals:-Thus kshorl became tshorl or churl, and kshart became t,shart or chart. I must refer to Latham's English Language for the evidence in support of this explanation. It will be observed that the change of k into t given above is at variance with Canon III. It does not, however, stand alone as an exception to that rule. P shares the same fate. Thus pipio pipionis must have become the French pigeon through the Italian piggione, where g has the sound of d,zh, or the English j. The steps of the process must have been, 1st, pipione; 2d, pipyone; 3d, pipzhone; 4th, pidzhone; 5th, pizhon pigeon. Other instances of the same are prope, proximus; nubes, nuage; cavea; It. gaggia, Fr. cage; apium, ache, &c. The exception, then, to Canon III. may be thus stated:-A mute labial or guttural may change into the corresponding mute lingual when followed by a lingual aspirate. 3d. Semi-vowels are interchangeable. In many words where seems to be silent, it has passed into the sound of ôô, or w. Thus there is no ôô sound in the German representatives of wood, would, should but there is an 1. Bolster, solder, boll, poll, &c., become in Scotch bowster, sowder, bow, pow, &c. So from dole we have dowie. Again, pl and cl in Latin become pi and chi in Italian. Thus clamare, chiamare; plumbum, piombo. Canon III. Mutes of different orders, with the exception above mentioned, are not interchangeable. An objection often taken to this law is the fact that qu in Latin often corresponds to in Greek, and k in Gaelic to p in Welsh. I must refer to Donaldson's new Cratylus and his Thesaurus for a full discussion of this question. Suffice it here to say that qu is equal to kw, and that the represents the labial w, not the k, which has been altogether lost. We have a similar case in regard to our wh. Take the word when as an example. In the mouth of a Scotchman, it is pronounced hwen, or rather chwen. An Englishman softens down the guttural element very much, or perhaps omits it altogether, and says wen, a German says ven, and an Aberdonian fan. What is peculiarly noticeable here is the fact that the extremes fan and chwan are found side by side in different Scotch dialects. In this particular instance, English and German are much nearer each other than the Scotch of Fife is to that of Aberdeen. So also, though ixxos is but a dialect variety of izmos, it is farther removed from it than is the Latin equus. It is true that quum is often written cum, and that quoque was pronounced coque, but this is merely an absorption of the sound w into the nearly related vowel sound following, just as wood and wool are vulgarly pronounced ood and ool. There is no evidence, that I am aware of, that quam was pronounced cam. I do not deny that there may be real exceptions to this canon, but as yet, the more such exceptions have been examined, the fewer they have become. It must be remembered that this paper is not a philological one. My task is the humbler one of tracing the phonetic relations of the consonants with one another. Changes may be made on words from many causes, which may be quite inexplicable on any of the principles stated above. Immediately is often vulgarly pronounced immedantly. This is evidently not a phonetic change of any kind, but a mistake founded on the analogy of such words as instantly, urgently, &c. But of the omission or insertion of consonants; of their metathesis; of the history of languages; of the many questions as to how language is influenced by education, or the want of it; by civilization, literature, and the printing press; by the character and habits of a people; by conquests and the mingling of races, of these and other such topics I have studiously refrained from speaking. |