Vowel

“ With one or two exceptions, therefore, it appears to me that each of the pure vowel sounds is of such a nature, that it may be readily recognized by its own peculiar quality or tone, though it be made as long or as short as it is possible for any sound of the human voice to be. It is manifest that each of the vowel sounds heard in ate, at, arm, all, eel, old, ooze, us, may be protracted to the entire extent of a full breath slowly expended, and still be precisely the same one simple sound ”

“ A VOWEL sound is a free and uninterrupted sound of the voice. The vowel sounds are formed by the voice modified, but not interrupted, by the various positions of the tongue and lips.
A CONSONANT sound is an articulate sound made by the obstructed voice, and which in utterance is usually combined with a vowel sound. ”

“ Elegance and refinement of speech depend largely on the correct pronunciation of the vowel sounds. The vowel a, which is sounded in seven different ways in the English language, presents the greatest difficulty. Many people recognize at most, only the sound of a in at, ate, all, far, and mortal respectively. They ignore the sound as in air, and the shorter quantity of the Italian a in ask, giving the sound of a in ate to the former and of a in at or a in all or a in far to the latter. ”

“ 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. ”

“ And thereupon I must tell you letters are divided into vowels, called vowels because they express the voice; and into consonants because they sound with the vowels and only mark the diverse articulations of the voice. There are five vowels or voices: A, E, I, O, U.
MONSIEUR JOURDAIN: I understand all that.
PHILOSOPHY MASTER: The vowel A is formed by opening the mouth widely : A. Its vowels are to be given the sounds used in vocalizing: Ah-aye-ee-o-ou.
MONSIEUR JOURDAIN: A, A. Yes. ”

“ A vowel is a Letter having an audible sound without the addition of another Letter. A semivowel, one having an audible sound by the addition of another Letter; e.g. S and R. A mute, one having no sound at all by itself, but becoming audible by an addition, that of one of the Letters which have a sound of some sort of their own ”

“ The first sound of a vowel [,] as [that of a in] fate [,] may be called open, because it is the sound which the vowel generally has when it ends a syllable; the second sound as [that of a in] fat, may be called close, because it is the sound which the vowel generally has when it is joined with a consonant following in the same syllable, as fat-ten; when there are more than two sounds of any vowel [,] they may be numbered onward; as 3 far, 4 fall."--Perley's Gram., p. 73.
OBS. 5.--Walker thought a long or short vowel sound essential to a long or short quantity in any syllable. ”

“ It has been already pointed out in § 12 that there is no single character to represent the first or low caol vowel. The long sound of this vowel is heard in the words “father” “rather” “farther” as pronounced by country people. The position and shape of the tongue necessary for the production of this vowel have been already described. The digraphs ea and ai denote the short sound of this vowel when there are no disturbing influences due to the consonants. Ea is preceded by a slender consonant and followed by a broad one, whilst ai is preceded by a broad consonant and followed by a slender one. ”

“ All the vowels do not equally well exemplify in their utterance a distinction of sound in their radical and vanishing movements, because some vowel sounds are less diphthongal than others, and some, again, are pure monophthongs; but these two movements and the concrete variation of pitch, the result of one impulse of the voice, are the essential structure of every syllable, and are characteristic of speech-notes as contradistinguished from those of song. ”

“ When the vowel in question is in that mood, if you like airy gayety and tender gushing benevolence—if you want to be satisfied with yourself and the rest of your fellow-beings; I recommend you, my dear creature, to go to some other shop in Cornhill, or turn to some other article. There are moods in the mind of the vowel of which we are speaking, when it is ill-conditioned and captious. Who always keeps good health, and good humor? Do not philosophers grumble? Are not sages sometimes out of temper? ”

“ The long vowels are marked by means of an acute accent ( ́) placed over the vowel, as mór (big) pronounced like the English word more; a short vowel has no accent, as mol (praise) , pronounced like mul in the English word mulberry. Carefully distinguish between the terms "broad vowel" and "long vowel." The broad vowels (a, o, u) are not always long vowels, neither are the slender vowels (e, i) always short. ”

“ There is no cause, save custom and imperfect audition, why only the last vowel and consonant should be echoed. The ear recognises the echo of the initial letter, or of initial consonant and vowel, in concord or alliteration. Readers of Spanish dramas and of Irish street ballads notice also the chime of the accented vowel, the vowel-rhyme, or assonante, although the consonants differ. ”

“ The letters a, e, i, o, u, w, y represent vowel sounds. The following diagram shows the approximate relative positions of the vowels at the present day. ɥ and ỿ denote the two sounds of y. Vowels pronounced with rounded lips are enclosed in brackets. The more open the sound the less the rounding. ”

“ The vowels i and y have, in general, exactly the same sound under similar circumstances, and, in forming derivatives, we often change one for the other: as in city, cities; tie, tying; easy, easily.
Y, before a vowel heard in the same syllable, is reckoned a consonant; we have, therefore, no diphthongs or triphthongs commencing with this letter. ”

“ I tell the pupil, the beginner, at the first lesson, to sing the vowel Ah as loudly and as deeply as possible, thinking constantly of relaxed lips and loose lower jaw.{261} Ah is the most natural vowel and was used exclusively in the old Italian school of Bel Canto. Long sustained tones are too difficult. One should sing medium fast scales at first. If we begin with the long sustained tone, the young singer is sure to hold the voice in his throat, or if he lets go, a tremolo will result. Either a throaty, stiff tone or a tremolo will result from practicing the single sustained tone. ”

“ Of course the character of a vowel-sound is materially affected by its position in a word, or by the consonants with which it is associated; the pronunciation of the same vowel varies in a closed or an open syllable. Long and short vowels, too, differ not only quantitatively, but qualitatively also. Every vowel has both its own peculiar pitch and a pitch dependent on the length of the vocal chords. The peculiar pitch is the result of the resonance-chamber in which the vowel is formed. ”

“ Simple points.
VOWEL EXPRESSION (B) BY OTHER SIGNS.
§ 6. This insufficient representation of vowel sounds was gradually made up for by new signs. At first, in some words which might be pronounced in various ways, a point over the letter concerned was employed to signify the fuller, stronger pronunciation, and a point under it to denote the finer, weaker vocalisation, or even the absence of vowel sound. Thus there was written (and is written) ܥܒ̇ܕܐ‎ ʿe̊vāδā "a work", set over against ܥܒ̣ܕܐ‎ ʿavdā "a servant"; ܡ̇ܢ‎ mān "what?" and man "who?", ܡ̣ܢ‎ men "from"; ܩ̇ܛܠ‎ qāṭel "he kills" (part.) ”

“ Without a vowel there is no syllable and sometimes the vowel itself is a syllable. Therefore all the other letters are called consonants, because they don’t constitute sounds by themselves unless a vowel is joined to them. They have some imperfect, maimed (mancum) sound, e.g. b, c, d, g, which without e cannot be sounded. Out of syllables we get words, and from words connected speech, which all beasts lack. And you would not be different from the beasts, if you could not converse properly. Be watchful and perform your work diligently. Go out with your fellow-pupils and learn what I have set. ”

“ In the old vowel letters the principal rule was to use each one to represent that sound which it most frequently represented in the common spelling. Then each letter must always represent one and the same sound, and each sound he invariably represented by the same letter. ”

“ An Articulate Sound is the sound of the human voice, formed by the organs of speech.
A Vowel is a simple articulate sound, formed by the impulse of the voice, and by the opening only of the mouth in a particular manner.
A Consonant cannot be perfectly sounded by itself; but joined with [3] a vowel forms a compound articulate sound, by a particular motion or contact of the parts of the mouth.
A Diphthong, or Double Vowel, is the union of two or more vowels pronounced by a single impulse of the voice. ”

“ PROF. PHIL. The vowel e is formed by drawing the lower jaw a little nearer to the upper; a, e.
MR. JOUR. A, e; a, e; to be sure. Ah! how beautiful that is!
PROF. PHIL. And the vowel i by bringing the jaws still closer to one another, and stretching the two corners of the mouth towards the ears; a, e, i.
MR. JOUR. A, e, i, i, i, i. Quite true. Long live science!
PROF. PHIL. The vowel o is formed by opening the jaws, and drawing in the lips at the two corners, the upper and the lower; o.
MR. JOUR. O, o. Nothing can be more correct; a, e, i, o, i, o. It is admirable! ”

“ The Vowel-Sound E (a, in mate) is, therefore, the Analogue or Corresponding Representative or Equivalent in the Domain of Sound of that Fundamental Conception which, in respect to Thought, is denominated Relation, in respect to Position Collaterality or Sideness, and in respect to Dimension Breadth or Width.
The Sound A (a in father) is made farther back in the mouth, with the mouth stretched quite open, and is the richest and most harmonious of the Vowel Sounds—the Queen of the Vowels. ”

“ Exercise VIII TO ENLARGE THE THROAT AND FOCUS THE VOWELS
Open the mouth well and be sure that the vowel sounds are delivered as in the previous exercises; this will insure largeness with proper resonance.
When practising this exercise, be careful, as with the others, that each vowel sound in its order is correctly given before passing to the next. Only in this way can rapid progress be made.
The words bing, sing, ting, fling, swing are excellent to use for further practice. ”

“ We find by tracing the process of phonetic change in different languages, that when one vowel passes into another, it is the pure a-sound which thus assumes other forms, whereas other vowels do not pass into the a-sound, though sometimes the new sound may have this symbol. ”

“ All vowels in combination with consonants are naturally short unless the long sound is given by combination with other vowels, by accent, or by position in the syllable with reference to consonants.
2. Law: Words derived from other words by the addition of prefixes or suffixes always retain the original form as far as possible.
1. We are likely to suppose that the natural or original sound of a vowel is the long sound, because that is the sound we give it when naming it in the alphabet. ”

“ A vowel is voice freely emitted through the throat and mouth without interruption, and modified only by the different positions assumed by the tongue. The essence of a vowel is the quality or timbre of the voiced breath, and this quality, as we have already seen, is due to the varying forms taken by the vibrating vocal chords when played upon by the breath. Necessarily, however, the quality of the voice as it leaves the throat must be always the same, since the throat is a musical instrument which possesses its own peculiar tone. ”

“ Third, the vowel a in such syllables as those found in command, chant, chance, graft, staff, pass, clasp, etc., should not have the flat sound heard in as, gas, etc., nor should it have the broad Italian sound heard in father, but rather a sound between. Americans should avoid making their a's too flat in words ending in ff, ft, ss, st, sk, and sp preceded by a, and in some words in which a is followed by nce and nt, and even nd, and Englishmen should avoid making them too broad. ”

“ For the singing voice it is always best to simplify, hence we divide the consonantal sounds into two general divisions: the aspirates, those which are the result of complete obstruction and explosion, or of partial obstruction only, breath and vowel sound; the sub-vocals, those which are the result of partial obstruction and explosion, or of partial obstruction only, sub-vocal and vowel sound. The sub-vocals, as ending or final consonants, are the most difficult of all to give their proper value and effect. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Let us begin with the vowel sounds. For the word exercises we shall take words often mispronounced as well as poorly enunciated. Thus we shall be doing two important things: cultivating the ear, and improving word production.
Exercise One
The vowels are either long, short, or diphthongal. The resonances [87] of the long vowels begin at the back, passing through the middle, to the front of the mouth. Thus ”

“ There is a river in Macedon and a river in Monmouth: in like manner there are positions in dancing and positions in Prosody.
The following vowels are long by position.
1. A vowel before two consonants, or before a double consonant in the same word—as pīnguis, fat, īngens, great, Ājax, the name of a hero.
2. A vowel coming before one consonant at the end of a word, and another at the beginning of the next, as
Majōr sūm quām cui possīt tua virga nocere:
I’m a bigger boy than your rod is able to hurt.
The syllables jor, sum, quam, and sit, are long by position. ”