Page:The student's spelling-book, designed to teach the orthography and orthoepy of the English languages, as contained in Webster's American dictionary.djvu/11

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medium by which persons and animals express their ideas, thoughts, feelings and emotions, is termed language. Language consists of sounds and signs.

The language of sounds is addressed to the ear, and is termed vocal language. The vocal language of man is termed articulate; that of brutes inarticulate.

The language of signs is addressed to the eye, and is named in accordance with the nature of the signs. When used in writing and printing it is called written language.

The vocal English language contains about elementary sounds, which are represented in the written language by the  characters or letters constituting.

The sounds in the English language are divided into three classes, termed vocal,, and aspirate sounds; and the letters which represent them are called vocals, (or vowels,) and aspirates.

The vocal sounds proceed from the larynx and are uttered with open organs; the come from the larynx, but in uttering them the organs are either closed or nearly closed, and the sounds are essentially modified by the organs of speech—the palate, tongue, teeth and lips. The aspirate sounds are formed by a forcible exhalation, modified by the organs of speech.

There are fourteen vocal sounds numbering from first to