Читать книгу The Etymology and Syntax of the English Language Explained and Illustrated онлайн

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If we raise the middle of the tongue to the palate gently, so as to permit part of the voice to issue through the mouth, forcing the remainder back through the nose, keeping at the same time the tongue in the same position as in pronouncing eg, we shall have the articulating sound of ing, for which we have no simple character.

The only remaining letter h is the note of aspiration, formed in various positions, according to the vowel with which it is combined.

The characters of the several letters may be seen in the following table:

Perfect Mutes. Sounded,or Imperfect. Imperfect Consonants. Perfect. P B M F V tħ th the T D S Z R L N K G Sh J French ng

What effect the compression of the larynx has in articulation may be seen by comparing these pairs of consonants:

Withcompression. Withoutcompression. B P G K D T Z S Th Tħ V F J Sh

These, as Mr. Tooke observes, differ, each from its partner, by a certain unnoticed and almost imperceptible motion or compression of or near the larynx. This compression, he remarks, the Welsh never use. For instead of

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