The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.

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THE SOUNDS OF SPOKEN ENGLISH

All rights reserved

THE ORGANS OF SPEECH.

Plate III. in A. v. Luschka's 'Der Schlundkopf des Menschen,' reproduced by permission of the Publishers, Messrs H. Laupp & Co., Tübingen.

[THE SOUNDS OF SPOKEN ENGLISH]
A MANUAL OF EAR TRAINING FOR ENGLISH STUDENTS

BY

WALTER RIPPMANN

LONDON: J. M. DENT & SONS, LTD.
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SPECIMENS OF ENGLISH

Spoken, Read and Recited

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Translated and Adapted by Walter Rippmann from Professor Viëtor's "Kleine Phonetik"

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By B. Dumville, B.A.

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NOTE

As the title of this book is ambitious, and the sub-title may not suffice to indicate its limitations, it is well to warn the reader that he will find no exhaustive treatment of English speech sounds. That would have required knowledge greater than mine, and more space than was at my disposal. The little book is an attempt to gain fellow-workers in a field which is unduly neglected, yet full of promise. Fascinating indeed are the problems afforded by the speech of those around us; perplexing often, stimulating to further inquiry.

It was in teaching the pronunciation of foreign languages that I first realised how important it is to acquire a knowledge of the sounds of the mother tongue. Before the learner can acquire the fresh habits of speech peculiar to the foreign language, his teacher must know clearly what distinguishes the new sounds from those familiar in the mother tongue, for only then can the foreign pronunciation be imparted in a methodical way. It has been shown convincingly that it is vain to trust altogether to imitation, however correct and clear may be the pronunciation of the teacher.

The book may therefore be useful to the teacher of foreign languages; but it is intended also for a larger circle. In our Training Colleges, noted for earnest work, the importance of the spoken language has long been felt, and much attention has been devoted to the cultivation of the voice. My object has not been to write on voice production, though occasional reference to the subject has been made. It has not been my aim to say how the language ought to be spoken, to improve upon the ordinary speech of our day, but to represent it to the best of my ability, and to enable others to distinguish speech sounds when they hear them. If it be desirable to improve upon our speech, its present condition and tendencies must first be determined.

The difficulties of the undertaking have been considerable; I confess that I have often given my impressions rather than the well-substantiated results of observation. I am confident that particularly those who have had no phonetic training will regard as slipshod some of the pronunciations which I state to be usual. I can only ask them to put aside all preconceived notions of what is "correct," and to listen carefully to the unconstrained speech of their friends. If they still find that the facts do not bear out what is here stated, they will do me a service by sending me their corrections.

The learned critic who chances to take up this book may feel offended that I should have treated phonetics in so conversational a tone, and disappointed at finding little or nothing with which he is not well acquainted. My endeavour has been to put things very simply, and to make the beginner in phonetics hear for himself. It is only a first step; but I am not without hope that some will be induced to take a second step and a third, until the number of students is far larger than at present. The teachers in our schools have had scant opportunities for ear-training, and the mother tongue has sadly suffered.

I have been much encouraged in my work by the generous help of friends; to Prof. A. T. Baker, Mr W. Osborne Brigstocke, Principal A. Burrell, Dr E. R. Edwards, Miss E. Fogerty, Mr W. W. Greg, Dr H. F. Heath, Dr R. J. Lloyd, Mr R. B. McKerrow, and Prof. G. C. Moore Smith, I am much indebted for useful and suggestive criticisms.

WALTER RIPPMANN

London
1st November 1905

I am glad to say that it has not been necessary to make any far-reaching changes in the later editions. That the book has aroused interest is evident; and if its readers have not agreed with it in every detail, that is what I fully anticipated and even desired, for its object was to render students more critical in their consideration of the spoken language. To make a dogmatic pronouncement on all points would have been misleading.

This book has now been supplemented by a volume of Specimens of English, in which I have given, in the phonetic transcription, a number of passages ranging in style from the careful and elevated to the colloquial and familiar.

W. R.

December 1910.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

1. That a book dealing with English pronunciation in quite a simple way should yet be intended for English readers rather than for foreigners may seem to require some explanation. "Have I not been talking English all my life?" the reader may ask; "why should I concern myself with the pronunciation of my mother tongue?" If he is quite satisfied with the way in which he speaks, and needs no help in teaching others to speak, then this little book is indeed superfluous—for him; but experience has shown that there are many who are groping about in darkness, anxious for light on the subject. It is above all the teacher who is constantly brought face to face with some difficulty on the part of a pupil. He realises that something is wrong in the pronunciation of a word, but he cannot clearly tell where the fault lies; he trusts that improvement will follow if he repeatedly utters the word correctly pronounced and gets the pupil to say it after him. To his distress the pupil still says the word in the old way, and at last the teacher gives up in despair. When a foreign language is attempted, the difficulties become even more apparent; but these we do not propose to consider here, except in so far as they throw light on our immediate subject, the pronunciation of English.

2. There are several ways of approaching the question. We may turn our attention mainly to the requirements of the public speaker—clergyman, actor, singer, lecturer, reciter, or politician; this is the province of the teachers of elocution. It must be confessed that these have rarely had a scientific training; in many cases they base their teaching on their own experience as reciters and on what their powers of observation have enabled them to learn from their pupils; and they frequently hand on traditions obtained from their own teachers, which may have nothing but old age to recommend them. It is to be feared that the majority of those professing to teach elocution are little better than quacks; and by no one is this more readily acknowledged than by the few who have made an earnest study of the art of public speaking and singing.

The physicist considers the production of sounds from another point of view; he measures the waves of sound with delicate instruments. The physiologist, again, studies the organs of speech in a state of health and sickness.

From all these the phonetician derives assistance. His concern is the spoken language generally. He seeks to ascertain how sounds are produced, and how they are represented in writing; he traces the changes which sounds undergo according to time and place; he attempts to determine the standard of speech for his own time and his own surroundings; he considers how the pronunciation is best imparted to the young and to foreigners.

When the reader has come to the end of this little book, he will see how complicated these problems are, and how much yet awaits solution; he may also have acquired some interest in these problems and desire to give his help. Such help is urgently needed; the number of serious students is distressingly small, and real progress can only be made if their number grows considerably.

3. Reference has been made to the question of standard speech; it is convenient to discuss this at once, as the standard selected naturally affects the way in which the subject of English pronunciation is treated.

It is generally agreed that there are two principal types of English speech: Southern English, of which Dr H. Sweet is the best known exponent; and Northern English, which Dr R. J. Lloyd has described in an excellent book. Southern English may be defined as the English spoken in London. The definition will at once strike the reader as requiring some modification—for what form of English is not spoken in London? and the dialect (or rather set of dialects) peculiar to London and known as "cockney" is certainly not to be set up as the standard.

The object of speech is to communicate what is in the mind of the speaker to others; the more adequately it attains this end, the better it is. If there is anything in the manner of speech which attracts attention to itself (for example, "talkin'" in place of "talking," or "'ot" for "hot"), then our attention is distracted from the subject discussed; we say that such faulty speech "jars" upon us. The same is true if the pronunciation is indistinct, or the voice pitched too high, or if the speaker stammers; we then suffer from the strain of listening, and again the object of speech, to communicate thought, is not attained with the least amount of effort. It follows naturally from what has been said that it is our duty towards our fellows to speak in such a way that nothing jars on their ear, nothing strains their attention. To retain certain peculiarities of speech which we know to differ from general usage is nothing short of rudeness. In a great man we may overlook it, in acknowledgment of the services he has rendered to mankind; but we who are in a humbler position must endeavour to render it as easy and pleasant as possible for others to follow what we say.

We are now able to give a better definition of standard speech as considered in this book: it is that form of spoken English which will appear to the majority of educated Londoners as entirely free from unusual features. This speech will be acceptable not only in London, but throughout the south of England; there is reason to believe that it is spreading and nowhere will it be unintelligible or even objectionable.

It must be confessed that on some points there is uncertainty,[1] and these will be discussed later. Language is always changing, and the younger generation does not speak exactly as the older generation does. The standard of to-day will no longer be the standard a hundred years hence. Nevertheless, it is well to inquire what may be regarded as the best speech of our own day, with a view to conforming to this speech and teaching its use to our pupils.

The question may here be raised whether we are to rest content with the standard speech as here defined, or should strive to improve it, for instance by aiming at simple vowels instead of diphthongs, or by carefully uttering consonants which are now commonly dropped. Even if it be desirable, it may well be doubted whether it is possible, so subtle are the changes in our pronunciation, and so unconsciously are they performed. There is a deep-seated tendency to economy of effort, which it would be idle to ignore.

It must always be remembered that the phonetician is primarily concerned with the question how people actually speak; the determination of this must needs precede any attempt to decide how people ought to speak.

In the following pages we shall consider the organs of speech, the various classes of sounds, and how these are produced. Then we inquire into their combination to form words, and the combination of words in sentences. Incidentally we notice colloquial tendencies, the requirements of public speaking, and other topics arising naturally from our subject.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] It might be thought that reference to a dictionary would be sufficient to settle disputed points. However, it may be said that no dictionary—not even the familiar Webster or the great Oxford English dictionary, now in course of publication—can be implicitly trusted in matters of pronunciation.

THE ORGANS OF SPEECH

4. For speaking we need breath.

In ordinary breathing we take about the same time to draw the breath into the lungs as to let it out. In English speech we use only the breath which is let out; and when we are speaking we accordingly draw it in quickly and let it out slowly. This requires careful adjustment; if we are not careful, our breath gives out in the middle of a sentence. This is one of the things that jar, and must be avoided.

The more breath we can draw in (or inhale) at once, the longer we can use it for speech as we let it out (or exhale it). It is therefore to our advantage to grow accustomed to taking deep breaths, and thus to increase the capacity of the lungs.

"Deep breaths" expresses exactly what is wanted. The lungs are like two elastic bellows. We may expand them only a little; we can expand them a great deal. The student should make himself familiar with the shape of the lungs. They occupy the chest, which is a kind of box with elastic sides and bottom. The sides are held out by the ribs, and when the two sets of ribs are drawn apart, the sides of the box are made larger. The bottom of the box (called the diaphragm) is not flat, but rounded, bulging upwards when the lungs are empty. When, however, the diaphragm contracts so that breath is drawn into the lungs to their full capacity, it becomes practically flat. If at the same time we extend the ribs, then we have a considerably increased space for the lungs. Often, however, there is the less satisfactory kind of breathing in which the ribs are not sufficiently active. The descending diaphragm then presses on the soft parts underneath, and this in turn leads to a pushing forward of the abdomen.[2]

Good breathing is essential not only for the singer or the public speaker; it is essential for every teacher and for every pupil. It is necessary for good speech, and it is necessary for good health. The teacher should ascertain as soon as possible whether his pupils are breathing well; a simple test is to determine how long they can hold their breath. They should certainly all be able to do so for forty seconds, and should gradually learn to emit a vowel sound for at least thirty seconds without a pause, and with uniform pitch and volume. Breathing exercises should form a regular part of the pupils' physical training, and the teacher should make a point of drawing the instructor's special attention to pupils whose breathing appears defective.

5. The teacher should also make sure that the air breathed is the best procurable under the conditions; he must never relax in his care that the ventilation is good. The results of recent research have not yet been sufficiently taken to heart, and much weariness and ill-health are still due to quite avoidable causes. It may be laid down as an absolute necessity that there should be a pause of at least five minutes in the winter, and at least ten in the summer between consecutive periods of teaching, the periods themselves not exceeding fifty minutes, even in the case of the oldest pupils of school age. During the interval the doors and windows should be thrown wide open, and the room flushed with fresh air. The floor should be either of hard wood treated with "dustless oil" or of cork linoleum. The blackboard should be wiped with a damp cloth, in order to prevent the chalk from vitiating the air. In this way the microbes and particles of dust will be sensibly reduced in number, and the proportion of oxygen in the air will remain satisfactory.

The seats and desks must be of such a kind that the pupils will naturally assume positions favourable for good breathing. They must be graduated in size; the seats must have suitably curved backs; and there must be some adjustment by which the edge of the desk will overhang the edge of the seat when the pupils are writing, whereas there is a clear space between them when the pupil stands. This may be obtained either by making the desk as a whole, or the lid of it, move forward and backward; or by making the seat movable. It is not the place here to enter into further details with regard to these important matters; it must suffice to remind the teacher that unceasing perseverance is required. Gently, but firmly, he must insist that his pupils hold themselves well; not stiffly, of course, nor without variety of position. To sit rigidly means a great strain for a child[3]; and it is very desirable that pupils should have frequent opportunities of changing their posture, and especially of resting against the back of the seat.

6. It will often be found that a few minutes given to breathing exercises in the middle of a lesson will serve to freshen the pupils. An excellent set of exercises is given in Dr Hulbert's Breathing for Voice Production (publ. by Novello), which teachers will do well to read and to put into practice.[4] Many of the throat troubles of which teachers complain are directly due to bad breathing and bad ventilation.

Singing and speaking in chorus, if heartily done by all, may be regarded as admirable breathing exercises, apart from their use in other respects.

A few words with regard to chorus work may be useful to the teacher. If well carried out, it can be of great service. The individual is encouraged to speak up well; it is often found that the class speaking in chorus is better in pronunciation than the majority of those composing it. When a child speaks alone, self-consciousness may make it hesitate or prevent it from raising its voice. But the chorus work must be guided with care and used with moderation. Nothing could surely be more objectionable than the monotonous sing-song into which the reading of a class is almost sure to degenerate if all or nearly all their reading is in chorus. The teacher will guard against this by making the pupils feel what they read, and thus insisting on expressive and therefore interesting speech.

This diagram represents a vertical section through the larynx, the hinder part of which is removed, showing the narrowing through which the breath has to pass.

Epiglottis.

Left vocal chord.

Right vocal chord.

Cases of mouth-breathing, usually due to adenoid growths, cannot be cured by the teacher; but it is his duty to take the earliest possible notice of such a case, and to ensure that those in charge of the child are warned of the danger incurred by delay in consulting a medical man.

The breath on leaving the lungs passes through the windpipe—and in ordinary breathing there is nothing in its way. In speaking, however, there is often something in its way: a beautiful contrivance, capable of the most varied and delicate adjustment, and known as the vocal chords. They are situated where, in a man, we see the "Adam's apple."

View of the vocal chords opened to their widest extent, showing the windpipe to its bifurcation.

The accompanying illustration will serve to explain their nature. It will be seen that the vocal chords spring from both sides of the windpipe. They are really rather of the nature of flexible ridges or shallow flaps than cords. By means of muscles acting on certain cartilages they can be brought closely or lightly together. They consist of a soft fleshy part at one end, and a harder cartilaginous part at the other.

The position of the vocal chords, in other words the nature of the glottis (i.e. the opening between the vocal chords), modifies the breath in many ways.

When they are apart, in what we may call the rest position, the breath passes through unhindered. When we want a particularly large supply of breath, as in blowing, we keep them still more apart. When we wish to "hold our breath," we close them firmly. When we wish to "clear our throat," we press them together and then let the breath come out in jerks; if this is done violently and (as a rule) unintentionally, a cough is produced; sometimes we do it slightly before the opening vowel of a word spoken emphatically (this is commonly the case in German, and is known as the "glottal stop").

We may also close only the fleshy ends, and leave the cartilaginous ends open; then we speak in a whisper.

7. If we neither leave the vocal chords apart nor bring them together quite closely, but let them touch lightly, then the air as it passes out will make them vibrate; and breath accompanied by this vibration is voice[5] in the narrower application of the word. In ordinary speech this vibration is an essential part of all vowels and of many consonants. They are accordingly called voiced[6] sounds; those produced without vibration of the vocal chords are voiceless.[7]

The vibration can be felt in several ways. Utter a long s and then a long z (the sounds at the beginning of seal and zeal respectively), again long s, again long z, and so on; at the same time put your fingers to your throat, or put your hands to both ears, or lay your hand on the top of your head, and you cannot fail to notice the vibration every time you utter z. Try it also with f v f v f v, etc., and with the sounds written s in sure and z in azure, and the sounds written th in thistle and th in this. Then proceed to p and b, t and d, k and g (as in go). Lastly, utter a long ah with full voice, and then whisper the same sound softly. Ascertain in each case which sound is accompanied by vibration of the vocal chords.

Utter a long f and suddenly separate the lower lip from the upper teeth, and nothing more will be heard; but utter a long v and again suddenly separate the lip from the teeth, and you will hear the "voice," with a sound like the [ə] described in § 38. (It is the sound uttered when we hesitate in our speech, and is usually represented in writing by "er ... er.")

It is important that the vibration should be good. If it is slow, the pitch will be low; if it is quick, the pitch will be high. But whatever the pitch, the vibration must be uniform. To practise this, dwell on various voiced sounds for a long time, emitting the breath slowly and regularly.

Only the voiced sounds can be produced with varying pitch; they are musical, the rest are noises. Notice, in church for instance, how the tune is carried by the voiced sounds; the voiceless ones seem to break the course of the tune.

When the vocal chords are short they vibrate more quickly than when they are long, and quicker vibrations give a higher pitch. This explains why the average pitch of a woman's voice is higher than that of a man. When a boy's voice "breaks," this is due to certain changes affecting his vocal chords; it is important that the voice should not be subjected to any excessive strain when it is in this stage.

Certain affections of the throat interfere with the action of the vocal chords, and they become incapable of vibrating; then we "lose our voice." When we "lower the voice," we make the vibrations slower, and lower the pitch. When we "drop the voice to a whisper," we are intentionally preventing them from vibrating. This much diminishes the carrying power of the voice, and we thereby ensure that our words are heard only by those who are quite close. A peculiar variety is the "stage aside," when the actor tries to convey the impression that his words are not heard by those near him, yet desires them to be heard by the spectators, many of whom are much farther away. This is a very loud whisper; it naturally requires a considerable effort and is very tiring.

8. The breath which has passed between the vocal chords and issues from the windpipe passes through the mouth, or through the nose, or through both. This is rendered possible by a soft movable flap which can at will be made to close the way through the nose, or—hanging loosely—to leave both passages open. Take a small mirror and look at the inside of your mouth, standing so that as much light as possible falls into it; you will see this flap, the velum, hanging down with a kind of ᐯ in the centre, the lower extremity of which is known as the uvula. Still watching your mouth, inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth; see how the velum moves as you do this. After a little while try to move the velum, closing and opening the nose passage, without uttering a sound and without breathing.

In French there are four nasal vowels (occurring in un bon vin blanc) in which the velum hangs loose, and breath passes through nose and mouth. In standard English such vowels do not exist, but another form of nasal vowel, producing a "twang," is sometimes heard in many forms of what may be called dialect speech. The Londoner is often careless about closing the nose passage, and some breath is allowed to pass out by that way so as to be perceptible to the ear in the form of friction, and to impair the quality of the vowels. The "nasal twang" is very noticeable in some forms of American English.

The nasalising tendency may also be observed in untrained singers and public speakers; it is undoubtedly a means of increasing the carrying power of the voice, and of reducing the effort of making oneself understood by a large audience. The same effect can, however, be produced by training the muscles of the chest by means of breathing exercises, and with more agreeable results to the ear.

Pupils who show a tendency to nasalising can be cured by frequent exercises in uttering the mouth (or oral) vowels.

It is, however, maintained by some teachers of voice production that the best vowel sounds are produced when the velum does not quite prevent the passage of air through the nose.

In producing a nasal consonant (such as m), we stop the breath somewhere in the mouth (e.g. at the lips when we utter m), and let it pass out through the nose.

A cold in the nose often prevents the breath from passing through it; and this renders it impossible to produce the nasal consonants m, n, and ng (as in sing), the kindred sounds b, d, and g being substituted for them. A similar difficulty is experienced by children with adenoid growths. This is commonly called "speaking through the nose"; it is just the reverse.

9. In speaking, as a rule, the passage to the nose is closed and the breath finds its passage through the mouth. The shape of this passage can be modified in many ways, because several organs of speech are movable.

The lower jaw can be moved up and down.

The lips can be closed, or kept lightly touching, or the lower lip may touch the upper teeth; or the lips may be apart, assuming various shapes, from a narrow slit to a large or small circle. They may also be thrust forward, protruded.

The tongue is capable of an even greater variety of position. Again watch the inside of your mouth by means of your little mirror. Say e (as in he), a (as in father), o (as in who), and observe the movements of your tongue; then make the same movements, but without uttering the sounds. You will soon feel how your tongue moves, without needing to look at it. This consciousness of the muscular action of your tongue is valuable, and you must take pains to develop it. Watch the movements of your tongue as you utter other vowel sounds; they will be treated systematically in due course.

By means of these movable organs of speech the mouth passage assumes various forms; it may still be wide enough to leave a free course for the breath, or it may be quite narrow, or it may be closed at some point.

If the passage is free, the result is a vowel; if not, it is a consonant.[8]

10. If the passage is so narrow at some point that the breath cannot pass through without rubbing or brushing, we have a continuant (sometimes called a fricative). Thus when we say f or v, the breath passes out through the teeth; the only difference between the two sounds being that in saying v, the breath is also engaged in setting the vocal chords vibrating. Say e (as in he) and gradually raise the tongue still further, thus narrowing the passage; you will reach a point when you no longer produce a vowel, but a continuant, namely the sound heard at the beginning of yes. These sounds are called continuants, because we can prolong them at will; indeed, we can dwell on them until no more breath is left in the lungs.

11. If the passage is closed altogether at some point, we have a stop; the breath is stopped. Say hope or wit or luck and notice how in each case there is a closure at the end. Stops consist of two parts: the closing of the passage, and the subsequent opening of it; this opening resembles a little explosion, and stops are accordingly sometimes called plosives or explosives. Observe that the ear does not require to perceive both the closure and the opening; one is enough to give the impression of the sound. When you say hope or wit or luck, you need only hear the closing of the passage; you can leave your mouth shut, yet to the ear the word will seem complete. (The sound will, however, carry further if you open the passage again; and in public speaking it is therefore to be recommended.) Similarly, in uttering the words pain, tell, come, only the opening of the passage is audible; yet the ear is satisfied. In the middle of a word like night-time, carefully pronounced, we hear both the closure and the opening; and the interval between the two gives our ear the impression that there are two t's.[9] In quick speech, however, the closure is usually inaudible in such words or, more correctly, the sounds overlap.

12. The narrowing or closing of the passage may be effected at various points. The lips may be partially or completely closed; the lower lip may be pressed against the upper teeth; different parts of the tongue may be pressed against the teeth, or the gums, or the palate. Pass your finger along the roof of your mouth, and notice that only the front of it is hard; we distinguish the hard palate and the soft palate.

13. When we are eating or drinking, the food passes down the gullet, behind the windpipe. To prevent food entering the windpipe, which causes a choking sensation and coughing, there is the epiglottis (see the diagram on p. [10]), a cartilaginous flap which covers the top of it; this flap is raised when we are breathing. Hence the wisdom of the rule, not to speak while you are eating.

14. In order that speech may have its full effect, it is necessary that the hearer should hear well; this is by no means so common as is generally supposed. The importance of testing the eyesight is now recognised; but the hearing is usually neglected. Attention must be drawn to this matter, as teachers often regard pupils as inattentive and dull and reprimand them, when they are really hard of hearing. The teacher's mistake is to some extent pardonable, because the defect is easily overlooked, especially as a pupil may hear badly in one ear and not in the other, and thus seem inattentive only when the teacher happens to be standing on the side of his defective ear. Further, it is a defect which often varies in intensity from day to day, according to the pupil's general condition of health. These considerations point to the urgent necessity of instituting an inspection of the hearing in our schools. The teacher can himself apply the simple test of seeing at what distance the pupil is able to hear whispered double numbers, such as 35, 81; each ear should be tested separately, a cloth being pressed against the other. The teacher will note down the two distances for each pupil, and will probably be surprised at the variations observed. It is clear that defective hearing should constitute a strong claim for a front seat in the class-room, more so than defective eyesight, which can usually be rectified by the use of suitable spectacles.

It is hardly necessary to point out that lack of cleanliness in the ears may interfere with the hearing, and that carelessness with regard to the teeth may lead to their loss and to defects of speech, apart from other unpleasant consequences. It is clear that anything in the nature of tight-lacing renders good breathing impossible; and the fashion of letting the hair cover the ears is also to be discouraged, as rendering the hearing more difficult. In men, tight collars and belts often interfere with the breathing.

15. Lastly, teachers (particularly male teachers) require to be warned against shouting; this only tires them and irritates the nerves of their pupils, while the same object can be achieved by careful articulation. Where it is used "to keep the class in order," the teacher should earnestly consider how it is that others can keep order without shouting; usually his difficulties in maintaining discipline are due to ill-health, overstrain, or general incapacity.

When the throat is relaxed, a gargle with some astringent will be found a simple remedy; a solution of alum in water may be recommended for this purpose, or a bit of borax may be held in the cheek.

16. From a very early time the attempt has been made to represent the spoken language by means of signs. Picture writing is a primitive and clumsy expedient. It was a great step forward when signs were used to represent syllables, a still further improvement when a separate sign was used for each separate sound.

At first writing was roughly phonetic, in other words, one sign was intended to represent one sound (or set of sounds), and one only; and this is still what is required of an ideal alphabet. It is a commonplace remark that the English alphabet largely fails to fulfil this requirement. The same sign represents different sounds (sign, sure, easy); the same sound is represented by different signs (catch, kill, queen, lack). Some signs are superfluous (c, x); sometimes a sound is written, but not pronounced (lamb, knee); sometimes two signs, which separately express two sounds, when used together designate a third sound altogether different from these two (ch in chat and rich).

17. How are we to explain this bewildering state of things?

It is due to two causes—the natural development of the language, and the pedantic interference of the learned.

Language is constantly changing. The rate of change is not perhaps always the same, but change there always is. As we have seen above, the older generation and the younger do not speak exactly alike. Now the changes in the spoken language are gradual, and quite unconscious; but a change in the recognised spelling of words is something tangible. It conflicts with a habit we have acquired.

In mediæval times, when there was no printing, no daily paper, no universal compulsory education, there was a good deal of freedom in the spelling, and people wrote very much as they pleased—phonetically, if they were not spoilt by "a little knowledge." But the invention of printing and the dissemination of learning changed all this. A uniform spelling came to be recognised; the nation acquired the habit of regarding it as correct, and would tolerate no deviation from it. Though it represents the pronunciation of a former age, we still use it; and we are quite upset when we read the spellings labor, center, therefor, nay even when two words are, contrary to our usage, run together, as in forever.

When our spelling received its present form not only was the language very differently pronounced, but the pedantic had already been able to wreak their wicked will on it. Thus the "learned" men of mediæval France spelled parfaict, though the c of Latin perfectum had developed into the i of parfait, and they did not pronounce the c which they introduced into the spelling. The word passed into English, and here also the c was at first only written; later on it came to be pronounced. The "learned" similarly introduced a b into the French words douter and dette (because of the Latin dubitare and debita), but had the good sense to drop it; we have it still in doubt and debt, though we leave it unpronounced. In later times we find something similar: the learned force us to spell philosophy with ph and not f. The word comes from Greek through Latin; the Greeks pronounced the ph actually as p plus h at the time when the Romans took to spelling Greek words in their language, and these continued to spell ph even when the Greeks no longer pronounced p plus h, but f, as we do now.

18. The subject of spelling reform is not within the scope of this book; but it presents itself naturally to all who take an intelligent interest in the language. It seems probable that much good will be achieved by the Simplified Spelling Society (44 Great Russell Street, London, W.C.; annual subscription from 1s.), which has been recently established and will undoubtedly profit by the experience of the sister society in the United States. Such spellings as wel, ful, tho, thoro, bred, plesure, will surely commend themselves as soon as the eye of the man in the street has been made familiar with them and the etymological sentimentalist has realised the astounding weakness of his arguments.

However distant may be a complete reform, it is certainly helpful to be conscious of the evil; only thus can we neutralize some of its bad effects. The most obvious of these is the lack of ear training in our schools, where the mother tongue has been learnt on the basis of the written and not the spoken language. The only method for teaching English reading and writing which can commend itself to the student of the language no less than to the student of childhood is the method identified with the name of Miss Dale. Apart from the sympathy and love of children pervading all her work, it is of unusual importance because she has solved the problem of starting from the spoken language, while avoiding all phonetic symbols.

19. It is, however, convenient for the student of phonetics to have a set of generally accepted signs; otherwise he would be unable to express in writing the pronunciation in such a way that other students could understand what he meant. Without phonetic symbols the designation of sounds becomes awkward. It was one of Miss Dale's many happy thoughts to connect sounds and their written form with definite words, for instance the "moon oo" and the "fern er"; but however suitable that is for the little ones, it is inconvenient for the grown-up student.

There are many phonetic alphabets; all else being equal, the one most widely used is clearly the most valuable. We have therefore chosen for this book the alphabet of the Association phonétique internationale, which is already well known in England owing to its use in a number of books for elementary instruction in French, German, and even Latin. It will commend itself to the student by its great simplicity. What will really present difficulty is rather the determination of the actual nature of the spoken word, than the representation of the sounds when once determined.

20. We now give the sounds occurring normally in standard English, and their phonetic signs; the signs for consonants which are likely to be unfamiliar are enclosed.

Consonants.

Vowels.

Attention should be paid to the signs for these, as many are unfamiliar. The examples given will convey only a general idea of the sounds, which are discussed in detail in § 36 and foll. The sign ː indicates length, and ˑ half length.

The following sentences written in the conventional and the phonetic spelling will give some idea of the use of this alphabet for representing connected speech as spoken (a) very carefully, (b) quite colloquially.

For purposes of convenience the ɪ and ᴜ are not used in ordinary transcript, as there is no danger of confusion.

FOOTNOTES:

[2] Another defective method of breathing consists in raising the shoulders for the purpose of increasing the capacity of the lungs. The shoulders should, however, not be moved at all in breathing.

[3] The custom of insisting on tightly-folded arms is not to be encouraged.

[4] The exercises suggested by Mr Burrell in Clear Speaking and Good Reading (p. [16] and foll.) are also recommended.

[5] Also called tone.

[6] Or, toned.

[7] Or, untoned, breathed.

[8] This definition has its drawbacks, as will be seen later.

[9] Consider what happens in the case of such words as vintner, lampman.

[10] It is doubtful whether this can be called a sound of standard English; see § 31.

[11] It is most important that you should not confuse sound with letter. Thus in bead we have the letters e and a, which represent vowels in bed and bad; but the e in bead has quite a different value from the e in bed. The two letters ea in bead together represent two sounds which are described in § 42.

[12] In the Specimens of English the diphthongs here represented by [uw] and [ij] are simply printed [uː] and [iː].

[13] Observe that the accent [´] precedes the stressed syllable. In the Specimens of English the vowel of the stressed syllable is printed in this type.

THE SOUNDS CONSIDERED SEPARATELY

Consonants—stops.

21. The sounds which present least difficulty to the student are the stops, in producing which the flow of breath is completely checked. We have already seen in § 11 that every stop, strictly speaking, consists of three parts, the closing and the opening of the passage and the pause between, and that only the closing or only the opening need be heard for the ear to distinguish the sound. The interval between the closure and the opening may be noticeable, in which case we call the consonant double.

Stops may be voiced or voiceless, that is, they may be produced with or without vibration of the vocal chords (see § 7).

Stops may be produced by stopping the breath at some point in the mouth and then letting it burst through the obstacle; these are oral stops.

The breath, stopped at some point in the mouth, may be allowed to pass out through the nose; the sounds thus produced are called nasal.[14]

Utter the following sounds, and determine whether they are voiced or voiceless, oral or nasal:

[p, g, n, t, b, k, m, d, ŋ.][15]

According to the place of articulation we distinguish lip[16] stops, point[17] stops, front (palate)[18] stops and back (palate)[19] stops.

22. Lip stops.—When the breath is stopped at the lips, three different sounds may be produced.

1. [p], when there has been no vibration of the vocal chords.

In precise or emphatic speech, sufficient breath escapes after the opening of the passage to give the effect of [h][20]; thus Pay, pay![21] [pͪei, pͪei]. This occurs mostly before accented vowels, and sometimes finally[22]: I hope [ai houpͪ].[23]

[p] is written p or pp; rarely ph (as in a common pronunciation of diphtheria [dipθiːᵊriə], for which see § 27).

Notice the spelling of hiccough [hikʌp].

2. , when there has been vibration of the vocal chords.

is written b or bb.

3. [m], when the velum is lowered and part of the breath passes out through the nose. (Generally speaking, this sound is voiced; but when it is immediately followed by a voiceless sound, it may be partly voiced, then voiceless (phonetic sign: mˑ). Then lamp is strictly [læmmˑp]. We may say: [m] is unvoiced or devocalized before a voiceless stop.) Notice the difference in length of [m] in lamb, hammer, glum, moon; in which of these words is it short?

In comfort, triumph the [m] is often labiodental: the breath is stopped by the upper teeth and lower lip, not by both lips.

In prism, schism the m may have syllabic value; it then does the work usually performed by a vowel. We say [prizəm] or [prizm̩], where [m̩] is the sign for syllabic m.

[m] is written m or mm.

23. In the production of the lip stops the tongue plays no part, except by leaving a free passage; but it is active in the production of the stops we next have to consider. This is therefore the right place to give the names by which we designate the various parts of the tongue. We distinguish

the point,

the blade (above and behind the point when the tongue lies flat),

the front (yet further behind), and

the back; also

the ridge or dorsum (an imaginary line drawn along the middle of the top of the tongue from end to end), and

the rim (running all round the edge of the tongue when it lies flat).

When the narrowing or closure of the passage is made by the front rim of the tongue, we say it is of apical formation; when it is made by the surface of the tongue behind the front rim, we say it is of dorsal formation.

24. Point stops.[24]—The breath is stopped by the action of the point of the tongue touching the teeth (in which case we have true dentals) or the upper gums (this is known as alveolar articulation, "alveoli" being the learned word for the gums). In English the point of the tongue rarely touches the teeth; usually it touches the upper gums, sometimes the hard palate (this should be avoided), in which case it approaches [k]. See the diagram on p. [126].

Hence in careless speech at last sometimes becomes [ə´klɑːst].[25] Little children are heard to say [ikl] for little; compare also the change from Latin tremere to French craindre.

Three different sounds may be produced with this stoppage:

1. [t], when there has been no vibration of the vocal chords.

In precise or emphatic speech, sufficient breath escapes after the opening of the passage to give the effect of [h]; thus take it! [tʰeik it]. This occurs mostly before accented vowels, and sometimes finally; he sent me such a charming note [hi sent mi sʌtʃ ə tʃɑːmiŋ noutʰ].[26]

In certain kinds of uneducated southern English speech [t] is occasionally dropped between vowels, in such words as water, butter.

[t] is written t or tt; d in the ed of verbs after voiceless sounds, as in stopped [stɔpt]; rarely th, in words of foreign origin.

2. [d], when there has been vibration of the vocal chords.

[d] is written d or dd.

3. [n], when the velum is lowered and the breath passes out through the nose. (Generally speaking, this sound is voiced; but when it is immediately preceded or followed by a voiceless sound, it may become voiceless (n̥) in part. Then sneer is strictly [sn̥niə], hint [hinn̥t].) Notice the difference in length of [n] in mine, own, manner, an, name; in which of these words is it long?

In month, anthem the [n] is a true dental: the tongue touches the teeth.

In listen, open we may have syllabic n [n̩]. Compare what was said about syllabic m in § 22.

[n] is written n or nn.

25. Front and back stops.—The breath is stopped by some part of the ridge of the tongue meeting

the front or hard palate, giving front stops; or
the back or soft palate, giving back stops.

Say [ku] and then [ki]; now whisper them. In which case is the closure more forward in the mouth? Compare with these the place of closure when you say [kɑ].

From these examples it will be seen that the effect for the ear is very much the same, and we shall here make use of the same signs for front and back stops.

In cockney speech there is a distinct tendency to make the closure so far forward that the [k, g] are perceptibly modified. (This pronunciation is suggested by the spelling gyarden, kyind, employed by those who try to represent cockney speech.) The "palatalizing" tendency is not to be encouraged; a more effective [k] is produced by distinctly backward articulation. Slight variations in the place of closure due to the place of articulation of neighbouring sounds in a word are inevitable.

Three different sounds may be produced with this stoppage.

1. [k], when there has been no vibration of the vocal chords.

In precise or emphatic speech, sufficient breath escapes after the opening of the passage to give the effect of [h]; thus come, come! [kʰʌm, kʰʌm]. This occurs mostly before accented vowels, sometimes finally, give him a good shake! [giv im ə gud ʃeikʰ].[27]

[k] is written c, k, ck, cc (as in accuse [ə´kjuwz]), ch (as in chord [kɔːd]), q (as in queen [kwijn]); [ks] as ks, cc, x, xc.

2. [g], when there has been vibration of the vocal chords.

Sometimes [g] is pronounced with the tip of the tongue so that it sounds like [d]; thus glory becomes dlory [dlɔːri]. The way in which [l] is produced (see § 33) explains this.

[g] is written g and gg; rarely gh (as in ghost [goust]). For [ks] and [gz] written x see § 30.

3. [ŋ], when the velum is lowered and the breath passes out through the nose. (Generally speaking, this sound is voiced; but when it is immediately followed by a voiceless sound, it may be at first voiced, then voiceless [̇ŋ̇]; the [ŋ] may be unvoiced (see § 23, 3) before a voiceless stop. Then length is strictly [leŋŋ̇θ] or [leŋŋ̇kθ].) Notice the difference in length of [ŋ] in sing, singer, drink, bang; in which of these words is it short?

[ŋ] is written ng, as in long [lɔŋ], and n before g, k, or x, as in longer [lɔŋgə], lank [læŋk], lynx [liŋks]. What does ng represent in singer? in finger? in English?

The "dropping of g" is really an incorrect term. There is no [g] in the ending-ing [iŋ];[28] what does take place is the substitution of [n] for [ŋ]. This occurs in baby speech, in vulgar speech, and in the speech of some sections of society. It is on no account to be tolerated.

The opposite mistake is made only by the uneducated, who pronounce kitchen as [kitʃiŋ], chicken as [tʃikiŋ], and sudden as [sʌdiŋ].

Notice the substitution of this sound by the uneducated for the unfamiliar palatal nasal [ɲ] in Boulogne [bulɔɲ], the uneducated [bulɔŋ],[29] and for the equally unfamiliar nasal vowel [ɑ̃] in the French word continent [kɔ̃tinɑ̃], the uneducated [kɔntinɔŋ].

For [n] becoming [m] or [ŋ] by assimilation, see § 49.

26. Consonants—continuants.

It will be seen that the articulations of these sounds are more difficult to analyse than those of the stops. There is, roughly speaking, only one way of closing a passage entirely; but there are various ways of closing it partially.

The continuants usually go in pairs, one being voiceless, the other voiced.