73. EXPLOSIVES. Consonants which are formed by stopping the breath in
the oral cavity and then suddenly removing the obstruction are called
_explosives_. They cannot be prolonged in sound. They are: #c#, #k#,
#q#, #g#; #t#, #d#; #p#, #b#. These are often called _mutes_.
74. CONTINUANTS. Consonants which may be prolonged in sound are called
_continuants_. They are: unsyllabic (83) #i# (59) and #u# (66); #l#
(60), #r#; #l#, #s#, #f#; #n# (62), #m#.
75. VOICED and UNVOICED. If during the emission of breath the vocal
chords vibrate (32), the consonant is said to be _voiced_ or _sonant_:
#g#; #d#; #b#; #n# (62), #m#; #l# (60), #r#; unsyllabic (83) #i# (59)
and #u# (69); otherwise it is said to be _unvoiced_ or _surd_: #c#, #k#,
#q#; #t#; #p#; #h#, #s#, #f#.
76. NASALS. In the majority of consonants, the breath escapes through
the cavity of the mouth, and the cavity of the nose is closed in the
rear by means of the raised soft palate. Those consonants in which the
breath escapes through the nose, while the oral cavity is closed, are
called _nasals_: as, #n#, #m#, #n adulterīnum# (see 62).
77. CLASSIFICATION ACCORDING TO PLACE OF FORMATION. Consonants are
further divided according to the place where the breath is stopped or
squeezed. (1.) If the breath is stopped by the lips, as in #p#, #b#,
#m#, or squeezed through the lips, as in #v# (English _w_), we speak of
_labials_. (2.) If the breath is forced through an opening between the
upper teeth and the lower lip, as in #f#, we speak of a _labiodental_.
(3.) Sounds which are produced by the point of the tongue touching the
upper gums and teeth, as #t#, #d#, #n#, #r#, or by the formation of a
narrow median channel in the same place, like #s#, or of a lateral
channel, like #l# (60), are called _dentals_. (4.) _Palatals_ are formed
by an elevation of the front part of the tongue against the forward
section of the palate, like #i# consonant (English _y_). (5.) If the
back of the tongue touches or approaches the rear part of the palate as
in #k#, #q#, #c#, #g#, #n adulterīnum# (English _ng_ in _sing_), and #l#
(60), we speak of _gutturals_ (_velars_); see 44.
78. SPIRANTS. Sounds which are produced by friction of the breath are
called _spirants_: as, #s#, #f#, and #h#.
79. SIBILANTS. On account of its hissing sound, #s# is called a
sibilant. English _s_, _z_, _th_ are sibilants.
80. DOUBLING OF CONSONANTS. In English, double consonants as the _tt_,
_nn_, _pp_, _mm_ in _motto_, _Anna_, _tapping_, _grammar_, are sounded
exactly like the corresponding single consonants in _cot_, _pan_, _tap_,
_ram_. In Latin, on the other hand, double consonants (#geminātae#) were
pronounced as they are in modern Italian. In the case of explosives
(73), as in #mitto#, after the tongue had come in contact with the roof
of the mouth (= first #t#) a short pause ensued before the explosion
took place (= second #t#). In the case of continuants (74), as in
#summus#, #Apollo#, the #mm# or #ll# was sounded appreciably longer than
a single #m# or #l#, and at the beginning of the second half of the long
continuant there was a slight increase of force.
81. Consonants were not doubled in writing till after 200 B.C.: as,
FVISE for #fuisse#, _to have been_, and for more than a century
afterward the usage is variable: as, in the same inscription, ESSENT,
_they might be_, by the side of SVPERASES, _thou mayest have conquered_;
but it must not be inferred that they were pronounced as single
consonants.
[Errata:
77. CLASSIFICATION ACCORDING TO PLACE OF FORMATION.
final . invisible
77 ... (5.) If the back of the tongue
. invisible]