Page:An outline of English phonetics ... with 131 illustrations (IA cu31924027389505).pdf/33

Rh 67. The classification of consonants is made clear by arranging them in a table, horizontal rows containing sounds articulated in the same manner, and vertical columns containing sounds articulated by the same organs. The following is a table of the English consonants so arranged:

These consonants are described in detail in Chapters VIII, IX, X and XI.

68. The characteristic qualities of vowels depend on the shape of the air passage above the larynx. This passage forms what is known as a resonance chamber, which modifies the quality of tone produced by the vibration of the vocal chords. Different shapes of the passage modify the quality of tone in different ways, and consequently give rise to distinct vowel sounds.

69. Now the shape of the passage can be varied very greatly, even when the organs are limited to vowel positions (§ 54). Consequently the number of possible vowels is very large. A good ear can distinguish well over fifty distinct vowels (exclusive of nasalized vowels, vowels pronounced with cacuminal modification (§ 515), etc.). In any one language, however, the number of distinct vowels is comparatively small. In English it is not necessary for ordinary purposes to distinguish more than fifteen (see table, p. 21).

*70. The effect of a resonance chamber in modifying quality of tone may be illustrated experimentally by means of an instrument made by Messrs Spindler and Hoyer, of Göttingen (fig. 8) It consists of a cylindrical resonator A, open at one end, fitted with a piston B, the rod of which C passes out of the other end. The piston rod is hollow and the piston contains a reed D, so that by blowing down the piston through the