RECITATION THIRD. It is difficult, indeed impossible, to describe exactly, upon paper, the position of the organs of speech in the formation of elements. But in uttering the consonants the student will easily be led to make all the necessary observations for himself by attending to the following remarks. B. P. M. If the vowel a, as it is heard in the syllable at, be placed before each of these elements, the sounds of ab, ap, and am, will be produced. Let these syllables be slowly spoken, and the positions of the organs of speech which occur in the formation of the three consonants be retained, until they have become an object of sufficient attention, and the method of giving precision and force to these elements will thus become apparent. It consists simply in the power of increasing the muscular force of the parts brought into contact in their formation, and of changing rapidly from one elementary position to another. This will be evident by uttering the sounds, ba, pa, ma, with great force and in quick succession. W. Wh. Q. The first of these elements is heard in w-o; the second in wh-at; the third in q-ueer. Let the organs be arrested upon the consonant sound, and their position will become perceptible. There is not as strong a contact of parts in the utterance of these as in that of b, p, m. D, J, L, and final R, are heard each in their turn at the end of the words ai-d geor-ge, a-ll, wa-r. The R which commences a word or syllable should be trilled (but by a single slap of the tongue only,) as in the word r-uin. The special position of the organs and the degree of force exerted by them in pronouncing the elements T, Th, Th (aspirate) Y, F, S, V, Sh, Z, Zh, K, G, H, Ng, Ch, may be ascertained by slowly pronouncing the words T-ale, Th-ou, Th-istle, Y-e F-ar, S-ir, V-ale, Sh-ave, Z-one, a-z-ure, k-ick, g-ag, H-orse si-ng Ch-urch. After slowly pronouncing all the words here put for illustration of the sounds of the consonant elements, let the elements be separated by the voice, from the rest of the word, for the particular purpose of contemplating the position of the organs of the mouth, in forming them, and of thus ascertaining the means of increasing their force. Each element is separated by a horizontal line from the rest of the word, as Th-ou, &c. Though the consonant elements cannot be uttered with as much explosive force as the vowels, they are yet capable of a considerable degree of it, and some of more than others. A distinct articulation requires a vigorous utterance of the consonants, as well as of the vowels. Many syllables are entirely composed of consonants,―the boundaries of syllables often consist of these elements,-it must be evident therefore, that their forcible pronunciation must be essential to a distinct and audible utterance, through an extensive space. Indeed students may assure themselves, that if they do not exercise their voices, they will fail in their attempts to become audible, when addressing large assemblies, and that if barely audible, their delivery will be destitute of impressive energy. On this account it will be necessary to practice the explosion of the consonant sounds alone. Let the student turn to the table and do this. The following are those on which he is to practice : b, d, g, v, z, y, w, th (as in thou,) ng, l, m, n, r trilled, r final. The consonants, with the exception of the mutes P, T, K, can all be prolonged in utterance without altering their distinguishing sounds, as vocal elements. But when they begin words or syllables, or make a part of them, (unless where they are the terminating elements of such words and syllables,) they seldom admit of prolongation. If they are prolonged improperly the pronunciation is disagreeable and affected. Many persons, nevertheless, unconsciously acquire habits of this affected articulation. They will pronounce the word man almost as if it were written umman, (giving somewhat of the feeble sound of e, as heard in the word e-rr to the u, and dwelling on the sound of the m.) Again they speak the word no, almost as if written unno: swim as if written sooim: pluck as if written pulluck, &c. We subjoin a table of the elements, most commonly mispronounced in the manner described, and recommend the pupil to sound them once in the prolonged and affected manner, which it is desirable to avoid. Students at college are apt to acquire the habit we have been describing. It is not unfrequent in the pulpit, and is often heard on the stage. Dr. Rush gives the following instance of the mispronunciation of a distinguished actor. "Canst thou not m-inister to a m-ind diseased, The effect of this mode of pronunciation will be demonstrated to the ear, by giving the true elementary sounds in the table with considerable prolongation. Some of the consonants, however, occasionally require to be lengthened when they occur as the terminating elements of words and syllables. The following is a table of those which most frequently require prolongation, in order to give a very distinct articulation and an emphatic or solemn expression to the words or syllables which they thus terminate. When two elements having the same sound come together, they cannot both be uttered without making a pause between them. Where the elements are duplicated, if they admit of it, one is prolonged as in alleviate -annihilate-immediate. If the element is a mute or necessarily short, there is a perceptible stop to be made after it, as in at-tend-ap-pear, &c. This stop is not however, to be so long as to produce affectation. To avoid this, the prolongation or pause must not be extended farther than is necessary to absolute distinctness. This may be insured in the articulation under these circumstances without pedantry. TABLE OF CONSONANTS AND VOWELS. THE CONSONANTS BEING PLACED FIRST. The following consonant sounds which are all aspirates should never be prolonged beyond what is necessary to distinct articulation, f, s, h, wh, th, sh, ch. The student should exercise himself in uttering these alone, and in putting a sudden stop to the sound of each of them, the instant it has distinctly impressed the ear. |