_Continuous and explosive._--Isolate the sounds of _b_, _p_, _t_, _d_, _k_, _g_. Pronounce them. You have no power of prolonging the sounds, or of resting upon them. They escape with the breath, and they escape at once. It is not so with _f_, _v_, _sh_, _zh_. Here the breath is transmitted by degrees, and the sound can be drawn out and prolonged for an indefinite space of time. Now _b_, _p_, _t_, &c. are explosive _f_, _v_, &c. continuous. s. 200. Concerning the vowels, we may predicate _a_) that they are all continuous, _b_) that they are all flat. Concerning the liquids, we may predicate _a_) that they are all continuous, _b_) that they are all flat. Concerning the mutes, we may predicate _a_) that one half of them is flat, and the other half sharp, and _b_) that some are continuous, and that others are explosive. s. 201.--The letter _h_ is no articulate sound, but only a breathing. For the semivowels and the diphthongs, see the sequel. * * * * * {145} CHAPTER II. SYSTEM OF ARTICULATE SOUNDS. s. 202.--The attention of the reader is now directed to the following _foreign_ vowel sounds. 1. _['e] ferm['e]_, of the French.--This is a sound allied to, but different from, the _a_ in _fate_, and the _ee_ in _feet_. It is intermediate to the two. 2. _u_ of the French, _ue_ of the Germans, _y_ of the Danes.--This sound is intermediate to the _ee_ in _feet_, and the _oo_ in _book_. 3. _o chiuso_, of the Italians.--Intermediate to the _o_ in _note_, and the _oo_ in _book_. For these sounds we have the following sequences: _a_ in _fate_, _['e] ferm['e]_, _ee_ in _feet_, _ue_ in _uebel_ (German), _oo_ in _book_, _o chiuso_, _o_ in _note_. And this is the true order of alliance among the vowels; _a_ in _fate_, and _o_ in _note_, being the extremes; the other sounds being transitional or intermediate. As the English orthography is at once singular and faulty, it exhibits the relationship but imperfectly. s. 203. _The system of the mutes._--Preliminary to the consideration of the system of the mutes, let it be observed:-- 1. that the _th_ in _thin_ is a simple single sound, different from the _th_ in _thine_, and that it may be expressed by the sign th. 2. That the _th_ in _thine_ is a simple single sound, different from the _th_ in _thin_, and that it may be expressed by the sign dh. 3. That the _sh_ in _shine_ is a simple single sound, and that it may be expressed by the sign [sigma] (Greek [Greek: sigma]). 4. That the _z_ in _azure_, _glazier_ (French _j_), is a simple single sound, and that it may be expressed by the sign [zeta] (Greek [Greek: zeta]). {146} 5. That in the Laplandic, and possibly in many other languages, there are two peculiar sounds, different from any in English, German, and French, &c., and that they may respectively be expressed by the sign _[kappa]_ and the sign _[gamma]_ (Greek [Greek: kappa] and [Greek: gamma]).