Page:The Making of Latin.djvu/33

Rh not completely stopped but rubbed between the tongue and some part of the palate. The commonest kind is that of Eng. sh in shut, which is Breathed and which corresponds to the Voiced sound of Fr. j as in jour, or of Eng. z in azure. Sansk. ç (Breathed) and j (Voiced) are similar sounds. The final consonants of such German words as ich ‘I,’ weg ‘way’ are Palatal Fricatives of a slightly different kind. There were no such sounds in Latin in the time of Cicero.

§ . Plosives are made when the current of air is stopped by pressing the tongue against the back of the upper teeth, t Breathed and d Voiced.

§ . But if the tongue is only brought near enough to the teeth to rub the current without completely stopping it, we get the Dental Fricatives, s (Breathed) as in Eng. us, nurse (often written c as in Eng. ace); z (Voiced) as in Eng. size (often written s as in Eng. is, rise).

§ . If the tongue is put below the upper teeth so that the current hisses out between the interstices of the teeth, and between the teeth and the tongue, we get what are called the Interdental Fricatives. In English these are represented, unfortunately, both by the same letters, th in thin (Breathed) and th in then (Voiced). These are properly written þ and đ respectively.

§ . The English sounds which are roughly classed as Dentals t, d, s, z are not true Dentals because the tongue is brought to touch or approach not the teeth themselves but the ridge of the palate behind the teeth and strictly these English sounds are called Alveolar.