SUPPLEMENT TO LECTURE XVII. The Functions of the Vocal and Speech Organs in the formation of all the various letters of the English alphabet, singly and in combination-Full Tables of Exercises for Practice, as applicable to Stammerers, Stutterers, and all persons suffering from any kind of Defective or Imperfect Articulation. S an appendix to the foregoing Lecture on impediments and defects of speech, I subjoin the following series of exercises on the various consonants and vowels, singly and in combination, selected from various sources, but chiefly from the large edition (1820) of the treatise on elocution, by the late Mr. B. H. Smart, the daily practice of the pronunciation of which will be found most useful to persons labouring under defective articulation, and will contribute much to firmness and fluency of speech. PRONUNCIATION. As the following exercises are intended, not for acquiring the pronunciation of our language, but for improving it, the consonants are brought forward before the vowels, because the most usual defects of utterance may chiefly be traced to them. And as an alphabetical arrangement of the twenty-two consonants enumerated at pages 38, 39 of the Theory, would not be accompanied with any advantage; the following order, which has been found a convenient one, is preferred:, w, y, ng, s and %, sh and its correspondent vocal, f and v, th and its correspondent vocal, l, m, n, r, p and b, k and g, t and d. In reading the Praxes on these sounds, the pupil must be careful to form each consonant with strong compressive force, and those formed with the voice should be made distinct from those formed with the breath. To know what sounds are represented, these two directions should be constantly in view: 1. The letter or letters denoting the sound exemplified, are in italic. 2. When a letter or letters denote the sound exemplified and something more, they are printed in capital. The pronouncing of detached words may be so conducted, as to be a very useful, preparatory training of the ear and of the voice, for the exercises in the second and third chapters. As words unconnected in sense require no particular tone, the student will, if left to himself, sometimes adopt an upward, sometimes a downward inflection, according to the impulse of the moment; that is to say, if he reads them in quick succession, the idea of continuation will induce him to pronounce each with a conjunctive inflection; if he reads them slowly, the pause after each will probably determine him to employ the disjunctive. Let it be his object to acquire the power of uttering the one or the other of these inflections at pleasure. This will, at first, be attended with no slight difficulty: though determined, perhaps, to use the downward inflection, the idea of continuation will prevail, and cause him to use the other in spite of himself: being sensible of his failure, he will make a second trial, and probably imagine because he has pronounced the word in a lower or softer tone, that he has altered the inflection: this, however, does not necessarily follow; for the same inflection may be pitched. very high or very low, and it may be uttered very gently or very forcibly. To avoid these mistakes, he must, during some time, use the following form of a question as a test: Did I say stránge or strange? By this he will be instinctively impelled to utter the word, first, with an upward, then with a downward slide, and to know, by comparison, in which manner he had previously uttered it. After some time the ear will become familiar with the slides, and the test may be laid aside. Having them now entirely at command, he must exercise his voice in carrying them, as far as possible, from one extreme to the other, something in the manner of a singer running the gamut from low to high, and high to low. Let him also vary their motion, making them sometimes rapid and sometimes slow. Such an exercise on detached words will probably be thought a little ridiculous, but the student may rest confident of its utility. It will not only give him a clear feeling of the kind of tones he ought to use, but will add flexibility to his voice, and remove from it any unpleasant monotony for what is called a monotonous voice, is not, in fact, a voice that never gets above or below one musical key, but one which is incapable of taking a sufficient compass in its inflections. The same exercises may be made to serve another purpose; namely, the gradual training of the speaker to the due preservation of rythmus. Lists of unconnected words, in pronouncing which there can be no danger of sacrificing sense to sound, seem to offer the best introduction to systematic practice on this subject; and accordingly, the lists are arranged for this purpose among others, by keeping together, as much as possible, words of similar accentuation. In pronouncing these, the returns of accent will be regular, and the student is desired to mark each return by beating time with his hand, observing to make a pause of equal duration between each word, regulated by the beating of the hand. At the end of the Praxis on each consonant, an exercise on Interjunction is given. h. The sound denoted by this letter, consists merely in a forcible expulsion of the breath In the following exercise, it is judged advisable to intermingle words in which the sound is not required with others that demand it, that the pupil may become secure both in the use of it, and in the omission. In some words h is quite silent; namely, in heir, honest, honour, hour, and all the derivatives. These will be known by the letter not being in italic. In a few words, namely, those in which letter o follows wh, the sound generally denoted by h alone, is denoted by the two letters wh, which will be known by both letters being in italic. If the w is not in italic, it must have its proper sound, which must follow, and not precede, the forcible expulsion of breath signified by h. hall all aunt haunt who art heir hair hour hew huge whole whale wheat whig-heathen hydra honest humble human humour wholly honour whirlpool whimper hostler wholesome cohort hothouse hartshornhereout herein hereon harangue behind perhaps inert inhale abhorharmony artichoke humanise hudibras humourous hospital vehement cohobate behemoth heteroclite heterodox hospitable hydromancy horticulture- -hieroglyphical incomprehensible hypochrondriacal heliocentrical. He-had-learned-the-whole-art-of-angling by-heart. Be-honest humble and-humane hate-not-even-your-enemies. w:y. These letters, when at the beginning of words or syllables, denote consonants, the former of which consists in a forcible action of the lips when in the position to utter the vowel generally denoted by oo; and the latter in a forcible action of the under jaw when the organs are placed to sound e. Both these sounds are occasionally denoted by other characters, which the pupil will discover by the letters in italic. With the examples other words are mingled, that the reader may make the sound he is practising clearly distinct from those with which it is in danger of being confounded. W. way waft One Once who woo wain vane vine wine hood wood wolf womb wo ooze whose woos swoon suite buoy quake choir thwartwoman wolsey wooer wormwood forward froward quorum quagmire cuirass. A-wight well-versed-in-waggery. Give-me-free-air or-I-soon-shall-swoon. y. jawn yell he ye yean hear ear year yield you U Use hUge nEW duke tune--yearly youthful yew-tree Useful HUmour spaniel million genzi poniard asia nausea roseate indian odious dUty tUEsday. Ye-are-studious-to-vitiate. The-nEW-tUne sUIts-the-dUke. Youth with-ill-HUmour is-odious. Last-year I-could-not-hear with-either ear. ng. The consonant usually denoted by ng is a simple sound, quite distinct from the sound of either n or g when alone. It consists in an utterance of the voice through the nose, while the back part of the tongue gently touches the correspondent part of the palate. The common fault in sounding these letters is, pronouncing them as n alone. But in avoiding this fault, the learner must not run into the other, and articulate the g, unless custom has assigned the g to the following syllable; for then the g must be sounded, and the n in the foregoing syllable pronounced as ng. These cases will be known among the examples by the n alone being in italic. gang king spring sung young length strength bank sink conch-being nothing writing reading singer bringer hanging bringing robin robbing chopin chopping matin matting anger anguish congress concourse anxious anchor banquet- -distinguish extinguish unthinking diphthongal triphthongal anxiety. Reading-and-writing are-arts-of-striking-importance dancing drawing and-singing being-all-accomplishments are-deserving-of-less-regard. Alexander-at-a-banquet with-a-concourse-of-flatterers overcome-byanger led-by-a-concubine is-a-strong-example that-he-who-conquers-kingdoms may-have-neglected-the-more-noble-conquest-of-himself. s and z. The consonants properly denoted by these letters are formed by touching the upper gum with the tip of the tongue,—using, for the former, an utterance of breath, which forces its way at the point, and produces a hissing,—and, for the latter, an utterance of voice, which forces its way in a similar manner, and produces a buzzing noise. It should be remembered that letter s is always vocal when, in forming a plural, or the third person of a verb, it comes after a vocal sound. The other cases in which it is vocal are frequent; but they must be gathered from practice, aided by a pronouncing dictionary. S. gas mass dose mace griefs laughs months verse dupes packs laX styX hosts fists ghosts soil cell scene schism psalm--apsis thesis question tacit pincers flaccid sceptre schedule psalmist psyche- -preside desists design obese verbose rescind dissuade- -heresy poesy dyscracy chersonese vaccinate siccity scymitar scintillate. When-ajaX-strives-some-rock's-vast-weight-to-throw. The-sophists-shrewd-suggestion. Guessing-the-design-was-perceived he-desisted. See-the-snakes-that-they-rear How-they hiss in-the-air. To-have-a-thousand with-red-burning-spits-come-hissing-in-upon-them. Thou'rt-not-thyself For-thou-exist'st-on-many-thousand-grains That-issue-out-of-dust happy-thou-art-not For-what-thou-hast-not still-thou-striv'st-to-get And-what-thou-hast forget'st thou-art-not-certain 2. maze blaze as has is was ways views seas songs caves moves baths oaths bathes breathes balls domes pains bars babes plagues—commas dramas dances prices prizes houses scissors noisy brazen mizzen raisin cousin puzzle weasel--absolves observes hussars eXert eXist eXempt possess discern suffice resume- -resident metaphrase monarchise mechanism sacrifice xenophon xenocles- -disposal refusal disloyal discernmentcomplaisant complaisance- -luxuriant anxiety. He-gives as-is-his-usage-at-this-season a-series-of-sermons-on-moralduties. The-frolic-wind-that-breathes-the-spring. Zephyr with-Aurora playing And-fresh-blown-roses washed-in-dew sh, and its correspondent vocal. These sounds are formed by curling back the tongue, so as to leave a large space for. the breath or voice to pass by its sides and top. The sound we make with the breath when we require silence, affords a familiar illustration of the former consonant in an uncommon state: the latter is exemplified when the voice mixes with the breath; and the greater the quantity of voice, the better the consonant is sounded. The former of these sounds is often preceded by the sound of t, and the latter by that of d. Where this occurs in the following exercises without the proper representing mark for the t or the d, the letter or letters that denote these sounds will be in capital. The general rule which directs the pronounciation of most of the following words is principle v., page 44 of the Theory. Letter x being an equivalent for k and s, is likewise subject to the rule under the circumstances mentioned, and in these exercises, when that letter is in capital, it stands for the sounds k and sh.—It should be remembered that the rule does not extend to accented syllables, excepting only the words sure, sugar, and their compounds. sh. -assure sash shrove shrink marsh sure chaise match eaCH vouCH—-shrubby sugar censure nauseous pension ascii nation captious fluXIon fleXIon scutcheon trunCHEon CHamber righTEous venTure naTurechicane machine attaCH approaCH-showery charlatan bathsheba luxury Charity CHICHester--internecion farinaceous surreptitious adventitious crucifiXIon. The-shade-he-sought and-shunned the-sunshine. The-weak-eyed-bat Deep-echoing-groan-the-forests-brown Then-rushing crackling crashing thunder-down. Twanged-short-and-sharp like-the-shrill-swallow's-cry. |