the soft palate to fall, and the breath sent directly from the throat to and through the nostrils, an ugly twang is the result; especially if the nostrils are narrowed and tense.

Sometimes a slight, or even a decided, prelusive m is heard before b, initial, after a pause; as, 'm-But, ah! m-beware! m-beware!' It is, of course, a speech deformity, to be scrupulously avoided.

M is a continuous labionasal consonant; and is a liquid,like n, ng, and 1,--because it flows smoothly from preceding and into following consonants and vowels.

The vocule of the liquids, as already remarked, is usually suppressed, or, rather, omitted entirely, the syllable vanishing while the organs are still in the subtonic adjustment.

OBSTRUCTION AT LIP AND TEETH.

F is a continuous labiodental fricative surd; the breath being forced between the upper front teeth and between the ends of those teeth and the closely pressed lower lip. The same sound may be produced between the lips alone, tense and near together; or between the lower front teeth and the tense upper lip.

F connects with a vowel or a liquid, before or after, with an abruptness similar to that of p, but not so decided; since the occlusion is only partial, as in all the fricatives. The vocule is enforced, when f is final to the emphatic word preceding a pause.

V is the subtonic cognate of f. The lip is not so tense, the contact of lip and teeth is slight, and the vibration of the lip is felt. The element is a buzzing sound, with a considerable degree of aspiration, owing to the friction of the breath at the place of obstruction. In strong emphasis, the vocule of v is distinctly heard, when the element is final before a pause.

OBSTRUCTION BETWEEN TONGUE AND TEETH.

Th aspirate, as in thin, is a continuous lingua-dental fricative surd. It is rightly made by pressing closely the tense tongue-tip against the inner surface of the upper front teeth, and forcing the breath between the teeth and between the point of the tongue and the teeth. Sometimes it is produced by inserting the slightly tense tongue-tip between the ends of the upper and lower front teeth; but this mode of adjustment is uncouth and unnecessary. In the absence of upper front teeth, this element may be perfectly made, by adjusting the tongue-tip to the inner surface of the upper front gum. The principle of vocule re-enforcement is the same as in the case of f and v.

Th sonant, as in thou, is the subtonic cognate of th aspirate. The tension and pressure of the tongue are less than for the atonic. Like v, the vocal buzz of this element is considerably aspirated, on account of the extreme friction at the place of obstruction. The vibration of the tongue is slightly felt.

OBSTRUCTION BETWEEN THE TONGUE AND
THE FRONT HARD PALATE.

T is formed by occlusion, implosion, and explosion, through the action of the tense tip and blade edge of the tongue at the inner ridge of the upper gum. It is in the same class of surd mutes as p, and affects contiguous sounds in the same way.

T often follows p or k in the same syllable, as in act, apt, hoped, expect. Here p and k are heard only as a check of the vowel and the mute hold. In this case, the vocule of the t must be heard, to secure clear enunciation.

D is the cognate sonant of t, bearing the same relation to that element as b bears to p. Much practice is necessary, to give resonance and quantity to the murmur; and it cannot

be prolonged so much as b, since the storage cavity of the mouth is considerably diminished. In the isolated practice of d, the vocule should result from suddenly dropping the tongue-tip, and so releasing the compressed air in the mouth: there should be no least tinge of vocal resonance in the vocule. During the murmur, the vibration of the tongue-tip and the front hard palate is plainly felt.

In gd, bd, dz, and similar final subtonic successions, as in begged, orbed, glides, etc.,-the murmur, only, of the first subtonic is heard; and it should be heard. The suppression of the vocule is essential to the monosyllabic impression, in such cases.

A prelusive n is sometimes heard before d and th sonant, initial, after a pause; as, 'n-This is to do; n-do it!'-a fault to be carefully avoided.

N is the nasal cognate of t and d, as m is of p and b, and is one of the liquids. The front edge of the tongue has the same adjustment as for t and d, but without tension or special pressure, except in strongly energetic enunciation. The voice should vibrate in the mouth, as well as in the pharynx and nose, and the vibration of the tongue and nostrils should be felt, that of the tongue slightly. The nostrils should not be pinched or stiffened.

S has its point of contact at or near the t position. The front edge of the tongue, on either side of the median line, is pressed more or less firmly against the inner rim of the upper gum, leaving a narrow channel between the tip of the tongue and the palate, through which the breath is forced with a hiss. S is a continuous surd fricative.

Z is the sonant cognate of s. The tongue is a little more tense, and the pressure against the palate a little firmer than for s. The tongue vibration is distinctly felt. Care should. be taken to develop vocality in the buzzing sound of the element; as, with many speakers, it is liable to be too much aspi

rated, and so to degenerate into the hiss of its cognate, s. When final, z vanishes into s.

R, initial, is properly made by a trill, or slap, of the lateral borders of the tongue-tip against the rim of the upper gum. Clearness and beauty of utterance demand the cultivation of this so-called hard form of r, initial, at least in public address. In practice for development and discipline, it should frequently be prolonged in a roll; but in the current of speech, should be limited to one or two vibrations.

'Don't, like a lecturer or dramatic star,
Try overhard to roll the British R,'

unless you have courage to offend the taste of American audiences.

The readiest way to secure the light, elastic action of the tongue necessary for this articulate, is the frequent and careful practice of words and syllables beginning with the combination, thr; since the tongue movement, in shifting from the th position to that of a following vowel, with r intervening, will, almost unavoidably, produce the hard, or trilled, r. The list below can be considerably extended.

Thrall, Thrace, three, thread, threat, thrum, thresh, threnody, threshold, thrill, thrive, through, thrice, throw, throne, throng, thrust, thrush.

Practice also words in which r is the articulation between two vowels, the first short; interposing the r by means of a quick, light lifting of the tongue-tip almost to the rim of the gum, so that a brief and just perceptible trill is made, and an instant dropping to the succeeding vowel position. The following list is only exemplary; it can be enlarged to hundreds of words.

Mirror, horror, terror, miracle, interest, error, temporary, direct, heroic, paroxysm, erroneous, perilous, variety, coura

geous, apparently, terrible, lyric, morality, perennial, territory.

The so-called soft r-r after a long vowel, r before an articulate, and r final-is not an articulate, but a vowel,-already discussed, as the ĕr-glide. It is voice, modified by raising the blade of the tongue, without tension, toward the front arch of the upper gum. Properly produced, the element is but a glide; when final, a delicate vanish-a musical murmur, which goes far to repel the arraignment of English as a harsh, unmusical tongue.

Partly, perhaps principally, on account of its brief, faint, elusive character, it seems probable, however much to be regretted, that soft r will ere long be altogether lost as an element of spoken language. In southern England and in our own Southern, Middle, and Eastern states, it is habitually omitted, or nearly so, by the educated and the illiterate alike; and by the former the omission is regarded as a refinement! Why the 'Southern accent' should be called 'sweet', and why the New England pronunciation of 'Hahv'd', for Harvard, should be esteemed a sign of 'culchŭ', are insoluble mysteries to me. In Scotland the tongue-tip trill is used for both r initial and soft r. In our Western states the r that should be soft is often produced with the blade of the tongue more or less tense, and the sound is prolonged; it is obtrusive and uncouth, and an articulate.

I quote from Alexander Melville Bell's valuable little tract, 'The Sounds of R':

This vowelized r is a vestige of the stronger element which was undoubtedly prominent in our speech at an carlier stage; and-rather than eliminate this vestige,we should conserve it and strengthen it, for the sake of its energetic influence on our national speech. In fact, we find, even now, that r refuses to be entirely vowelized in the current of fervid oratory. The tongue unwitting