Page:Proposals for a Uniform Missionary Alphabet.djvu/18

 described as like the English ch in church, and j in join. How this artificial distinction should be rendered in transliteration, will have to be considered under III. b. If we have once the palatal tenuis, the same modifications as described above give us the palatal media, the two aspiratæ, the nasal, the semi-vowel, and the sibilant.

The sound of the tenuis is given in the English "church;" of the media, in "to join." The semi-vowel we have in the pronunciation of "yea." The nasal again hardly exists by itself, but only if followed by palatals. We have it in "inch" and "injure." Where the Spaniards use an ñ, they write a double by a simple sound; for the sound is the nasal followed by the corresponding semi-vowel, ny. The French express the same sound in a different manner. The French "besogne," if it occurred in an African language, would have to be expressed by the missionary as beşonye.

As to the palatal flatus or sibilant, we must distinguish again between its sharp and flat sound. The sharp sound is heard in "sharp," or French "chose." The flat sound is unknown in English, but of frequent occurrence in French; such as "je," and "joli," very different from the English "jolly." It is a sound of frequent occurrence in African languages. The difference between the hard and soft palatal flatus may best be illustrated by a reference to the modern languages of Europe. A guttural tenuis in Latin becomes a palatal tenuis in English, and a palatal sibilant in French; cantus, the chant, le chant. Here the initial sibilant in French is a tenuis or asper like the English sh in "she." A guttural media in Latin becomes a palatal media in English, and a palatal sibilant in French; elegia, the elegy, l'élégie. Here the sibilant sound of the French g is the same as in "genou" or "je;" it is the soft palatal sibilant, sometimes expressed in English by s, as in erasure and pleasure.

While the pure dental is produced by bringing the tip of the tongue straight against the teeth, a peculiarly modified and rather obtuse consonantal sound is formed if the tongue is curled back till its tip is at the root, and if then the dome of the mouth is struck with its back or under-surface. The consonants produced by this