Consonant

“ For instance: 'A consonant is a letter that cannot be perfectly sounded without the help of a vowel.' Kirkham's Grammar, p. 19. Again: 'A consonant is not only capable of being perfectly sounded without the help of a vowel, but, moreover, of forming, like a vowel, a separate syllable.' Kirkham's Elocution, p. ”

“ V. He treats consonants as the backbone of the language, and hence, as the essential feature in a rhyme; and never allows the repetition of a consonant in a rhyme to be modified by a change in the preceding vowel, or by the recurrence of the rhyming syllable in a different word—or the repetition of a consonant in blank verse to create a half-consonance resembling a rhyme: though other poets do not shrink from doing so. ”

“ Double and triple consonant endings present difficulties of articulation:—Robbed, bragged, divulged, mends, breathed, gossips, casques, barracks, depths, heights, lengths, breadths, lists, aspects, seethes, thirsteth, breathest, sheath'st, melt'st, search'st, sixths, twelfths, tests.
Read with special reference to the articulation of the final consonants:
You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things! ”

“ Give several illustrations from the above paragraphs of the principle that we have a double consonant (in an accented penultimate syllable) after a short vowel. Give illustrations of the single consonant after a long vowel. Make a list of the words containing silent letters, including all digraphs. What letter does true have which truly does not? Is whole pronounced like hole? wholly like holy? What is the difference between clothes and cloths? What sound has a in any? How do you remember that i follows e in their? What rule applies in the formation of dying? ”

“ The vowel sound is so intimately linked with the consonant—the con-sonant, implying this intimate relation in its very name—that it seemed extremely difficult to give it individual recognition. To set off the mere labial beginning of the sound by itself, and to recognize it as an all-essential element of phonation, was the feat at which human intelligence so long balked. The germ of great things lay in that analysis. It was a process of simplification, and all art development is from the complex to the simple. ”

“ We can hardly exaggerate the effect of a consonant, unless it be "s" or "f," and such diphthongs as "ch" and "sh." Nevertheless, the final consonant of a word or syllable must never be heard unless the very end of the value of the note is reached on the vowel-sound. ”

“ The consonant S has a sharp, hissing, or hard sound; as in sad, sister, thus: and a flat, buzzing, or soft sound, like that of z; as in rose, dismal, bosom, husband. S, at the beginning of words, or after any of the sharp consonants, is always sharp; as in see, steps, cliffs, sits, stocks, smiths. S, after any of the flat mutes, or at the end of words when not preceded by a sharp consonant, is generally flat; as in eyes, trees, beds, bags, calves. But in the English termination ous, or in the Latin us, it is sharp; as joyous, vigorous, hiatus. Ss is generally sharp ”

“ Y follows the same rule.
A consonant is an articulate sound; but, like an old bachelor, if it exist alone it exists to no [Pg 22] purpose. It cannot be perfectly uttered without the aid of a vowel; and even then the vowel has the greatest share in the production of the sound. Thus a vowel joined to a consonant becomes, so to speak, a “better half:” or at all events very strongly resembles one.
Consonants are divided into mutes and semi-vowels.
The mutes cannot be sounded at all without the aid of a vowel. Like young ladies just “come out,” they are silent as long as you let them alone. ”

“ D. If the tongue be placed as above described, and a sound be previously produced in the mouth, the semisonant consonant D is formed, which may begin or terminate a syllable. N. If in the above situation of the tongue and palate a sound be produced through the nostrils, the nasal letter N is formed, the sound of which may be elongated like those of the vowels. ”

“ If any vowel sound is to be called the open sound because the letter ends a syllable, or is not shut by a consonant, it is, undoubtedly, the primal and most usual sound, as found in the letter when accented, and not some other of rare occurrence. ”

“ Every lover of poetry is aware of the large share which the mere sound of the words contributes to its beauty. This is true even when we abstract from rhythm, which we shall neglect for the time being, and think only of euphony, alliteration, assonance, and rime. There is a joy truly surprising in the mere repetition of vowels and consonants. For myself, I find a pleasure in the mere repetition of vowels and consonants all out of proportion to what, a priori, I should be led to expect from so slight a cause. ”

“ Portentous attributes are also given to the consonants, and the initial consonant is pronounced to be of more significance than the terminal. Most of this is merely fantastic. Words, especially in the hands of a poet, are not simply clothed vowel sounds; they are entities with a marvellous life of their own. ”

“ Every language is composed of consonants and vowels. These consonants and vowels are gestures. The value of the consonant is the gesture of the thing expressed. But as gesture is always the expression of a moral fact, each consonant has the intrinsic character of a movement of the heart. It is easy to prove that the consonant is a gesture. ”

“ Every consonant but n shortens every vowel but a, when soft g and e silent succeed; as, bilge, badge, hinge, spunge, etc.
75. Hence we may establish this general rule: A has the long, open, slender sound, when followed by a single consonant, and e mute, as lade, made, fade, etc. The only exceptions seem to be, have, are, gape, and bade, the past time of to bid.
76. A has the same sound, when ending an accented syllable, as pa-per, ta-per, spec-ta-tor. The only exceptions are, fa-ther, ma-ster, wa-ter. ”

“ The representative figure of the consonant will indicate it.
Usually, the first consonant of every word is radical. Still there might be other radical consonants in the same word. But the first would rise above the others.
The radical designates the substance of being, and the last consonant the manner.
The whole secret of expression lies in the time we delay the articulation of the initial consonant. This space arrests the attention and prevents our catching the sound at a disadvantage.
Latin Prosody.
1. The final of a word of several syllables is usually short. ”

“ Before a Lingual or a Palatal, not quiescent, the a frequently loses its sound, and only qualifies that of the following consonant; hence,
2. Like (1) e, long: as, dean do; short, as, fear a man, bean a woman.
3. Like (2) e, long: as, easlan sick; short, as, fead whistle.
After a Lingual or a Palatal, not quiescent, the e loses its sound, and only qualifies that of the preceding consonant ”

“ But in every language, there must be a B or a P, a C or an S, a K or a Q, a D or a T, an F or a V consonant, a G or a J consonant; an L or an R, and in the most contracted of all alphabets, there cannot be less than six or seven consonants, for of that number there are simple sounds, which have all a very sensible difference from each other. ”

“ That i has a liquid sound, like y, in many words in our language, is not disputed; but the classes of words which will admit this sound, ought to be ascertained. It appears to me that common practice has determined this point. If we attend to the pronunciation of the body of people, who are led by their own ease rather than by a nice regard to fashion, we shall find that they [Pg 143] make i liquid, or give it the sound of y consonant, after those consonants only, which admit that sound without any change of their own powers. ”

“ Toneless syllables consist of consonant followed by a neutral vowel which we write as a without a tone mark. A toneless syllable never stands alone and is never final in a group.
Consonants, 8–15
8. Stop, affricate, and sibilant consonants occur in five positions: velar stop, prepalatal affricate, normal sibilant, alveolar stop, and labial stop; and in three orders: plain voiceless, aspirated voiceless, and plain voiced.
Examples:
9. ”

“ When e or i is followed by another vowel in the same syllable, c is sh, as in oceanic. In a few words c is z, as in sacrifice. C before a, o, u or a consonant represents the k sound, as in call, cold, culminate, climax. ”

“ They are consonants at the beginning of words in English, because their sounds take the article a, and not an, before them; as, a wall, a yard, and not, an wall, an yard. But oo or the sound of e, requires an, and not a; as, an eel, an oozy bog. [94] At the end of a syllable we know they are vowels; but at the beginning, they are so squeezed in their pronunciation, as to follow a vowel without any hiatus, or difficulty of utterance; as, "O worthy youth! so young, so wise!" ”

“ A short vowel sound followed by a double consonantal sound, usually makes a long quantity; [24] so also does a long vowel like y in beauty, before a consonant. The metrical accents, which often differ from the prosaic, mostly fall upon the heavy sounds; which must also be prolonged in reading, and never slurred or lightened, unless to help out a bad verse. In our language the groupings of the consonants furnish a great number of spondaic feet, and give the language, especially its more ancient forms, as in the verse of Milton and the prose of Lord Bacon, a grand and solemn character. ”

“ The sound of a consonant may be ascertained by pronouncing a word containing it in a slow and forcible manner.
Vocal Consonants are those uttered with a slight degree of vocality, but less than that of a vowel. They are formed with a vibration of the vocal chords.
Aspirate Consonants are those in which the pure breath alone is heard. They are formed without any vibration of the vocal chords.
[12]
Q has the sound of k, and is always followed by u, which, in this position, commonly has the sound of w, but is sometimes silent. ”

“ The consonant R, called also a semivowel and a liquid, has usually, at the beginning of a word, or before a vowel, a rough or pretty strong sound; as in roll, rose, roam, proudly, prorogue. "In other positions," it is said by many to be "smooth" or "soft;" "as in hard, ford, word."--W. Allen.
OBSERVATIONS.
OBS. 1.--The letter R turns the tip of the tongue up against or towards the roof of the mouth, where the sound may be lengthened, roughened, trilled, or quavered. ”

“ If a vowel in a monosyllable is simple its quantity is determined by the final consonant or consonants, the main principle being that it is long before one consonant, short before two, or before a consonant originally double ”

“ The human speaking voice is full of changes; unlike the notes from a musical instrument, there is no uniformity in it; the rise and fall of inflection, the varying sound of the vowels and consonants, the combinations of words and syllables—each produces a different vibration and different tone. ”

“ All other consonants are semivowels, and are pronounced with a continuous sound. The sound may be continued so long as the breath lasts; but in the case of mutes the sound must stop with the explosive utterance. ”

“ In a class by themselves are the really enormous number of words, many of them sound-imitative or contemptuous in psychological tone, that consist of duplications with either change of the vowel or change of the initial consonant—words of the type sing-song, riff-raff, wishy-washy, harum-skarum, roly-poly. ”

“ We flirt with and pirouette around them constantly. If it were not so, English would be found full of beauty and harmony of sound. Familiar with the maxim, "Take care of the vowels and the consonants will take care of themselves,"—a maxim that when put into practise has frequently led to the breaking-down of vowel values—the writer feels that the common custom of allowing "the consonants to take care of themselves" is pernicious. ”

“ But the effect is certain; we have a simple sound without a proper character, which is always an imperfection. [33]
We have therefore in English the two sounds of th, the aspirate in think, and the vocal in this, both of which are simple consonant [Pg 74] sounds, peculiar to the language, and derived from two single characters. Each ought still to be represented by a distinct single letter. Sh, on the other hand, express a simple sound, derived from two separate Saxon consonants, which must have been originally pronounced as two letters. ”

“ Listings for J J is a consonant in English, but some nations use it as a vowel -- than which nothing could be more absurd. ”

“ The pitches of the breath consonants are absolutely fixed in each individual pronunciation, while those of spoken vowels can be varied indefinitely within the compass of each voice by tightening the vocal chords in various ways and shortening their vibrating portions· the tighter and shorter the vibrating body, the quicker its vibrations, and the higher the tone. But when a vowel is whispered or breathed nothing is heard but the resonance of the con figurative passages, especially in the mouth, and the pitches of these resonant cavities are as fixed as those of the breath consonants ”

“ D (dē) , the fourth letter, is a vocal consonant. It is classed as a dental or hard palate sonant, because made by the point of the tongue against that palate or the front teeth, as in day, fixedness, old. ”

“ In our language there are so many silent letters in words, so many sounds for each vowel, and the alphabetic sound of the consonants is so different from their sound in words, that I do not care how late the analysis is put off. ”

“ Rime is, in its most general signification, the repetition, usually at regulated intervals, [166] of identical or closely similar sounds. According to the circumstances of the identical or similar sounds, four varieties are distinguishable: (1) alliteration, or initial rime, when the sounds at the beginning of accented syllables agree, as tale, attune; (2) consonance, when the vowel sounds differ and the final consonantal sounds agree, as tale, pull; (3) assonance, when the vowel sounds agree and the consonants differ, as tale, pain ”