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26. Accuracy requires the articulation to be formed by contact of the proper organs.

Inaccuracies:

(i) Some speakers do not pronounce the hard g.
but sound d in its stead, as dlove for glove.
(ii) The palatal n is sometimes (alas! how com-
monly!) substituted for the guttural simple
sound ng (bringin for bringing).

(iii) Through not keeping the nasal passage open,
ng, m, and n are severally converted into g,
b, and d.

(iv) A more obvious fault sometimes obtains in the
pronunciation of s, constituting what is termed
lisping. The tongue is allowed to hang
feebly in the mouth, and to strike against the
upper teeth, instead of against the palate just
above the inner gums of the upper teeth.
(v) The sound is sometimes wholly omitted;
London being pronounced something like
y-ondon.

(vi) The trilled r is by some speakers wrongly pro-
duced by a vibration of the uvula, or of the
base of the tongue, or even of the lips; or by
a protrusion of the lips a sound is substituted
not unlike w. While the correct sound can
be produced only by a vibration of the tip of
the tongue against the palate just above the
inner gums of the upper teeth.

(vii) The sound ƒ or v is sometimes substituted for th or dh; mother being sounded as if written muvver, and smith, smiff.

By similar misuse of the organs indeed, almost every

element is liable to maltreatment. The pupil must, as has been already pointed out, endeavour to comprehend fully the articulative mechanism of each consonant. By watching the process of formation of each consonant, particularly the point at which the organs come in contact, almost all faults may be avoided or corrected. 27. Distinctness.-Articulation may be accurate, and yet not be distinct. While accuracy results from contact of the proper organs, distinctness is due to the neatness of that contact. Careful speakers finish each consonant with defined sharpness, and bring into play no other organs than those necessary for the production of each specific sound. Careless speakers, on the other hand, blurr their consonants, first, by a slovenly use of the organs; secondly, by adding to the movements required others that are quite useless, e.g. projecting the lips in order to pronounce the purely lingual sound sh in shout. An equally potent cause of indistinctness may be traced to the depriving of the vocal consonants of the share of voice due to them, whereby b, d, g, v, z, &c. are converted into their corresponding aspirates. A speaker guilty of this fault will say supstance for substance, secont for second, and so on with all the other cognate sounds.

The cure for indistinctness, as for inaccuracy, lies in a careful study of the articulative mechanism, and in frequent practice on its several unalloyed sounds.

28. Firmness consists in the power with which sounds are formed. It does not result from mere vociferation, but from natural or acquired organic strength. A general want of power constitutes the opposite defect of feebleness. As an exercise for developing firmness, the pupil should produce each consonant sound with the utmost exertion of which his organs are capable, and

give to such as are vocal as full a body of voice as their peculiar formation will admit.

Firmness of articulation may be greatly induced by an active but easy pronunciation of the final consonants. The organs should completely finish the articulation, and the ear be made sensible of a kind of rebound, as in reading the following examples :

One and two, and three, and four.

'Hark to the mingled din,

Of fife, and steed, and trump, and drum, and

r. aring culverin.'

'Four and twenty blackbirds

Baked in a pie.'

This rule, however, must be followed with discretion, lest the final consonant be so pronounced as to form a distinct syllable.

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29. Fluency is the easy transition from one articulation to another without a break in the syllabic impulse, and, unless the sense demand it, without any perceptible pause between syllables. And each syllable must be well defined. We must not say, 'you an di,' nor 'you an I,' but 'you and I;' nor once upon a rore and gusty day.' Fluency, which is quite independent of rapidity, results from pliability of the organs, want of which prevents their passing readily from one position to another, and leads to 'Henery's buying an umberella.' From this further ensues the inability of speakers to deal with final consonants preceding vowels, and the meeting of the same or cognate sounds. He who has not obtained fluency confounds 'the same arrow' with 'the same marrow,' and accuses 'a sad angler' of being 'a sad dangler.' The remedy lies in persistent practice of the Tables Nos. IV.-VII. in the Appendix. Moreover, every one is liable to find himself stopped by a

word or phrase which is to him hard to articulate fluently: let him note such carefully, and practise it till it is mastered.

30. Deliberation cannot be regarded positively as a constituent of articulation, since the rate of the voice must change in accordance with the nature of the subject matter, but negatively as a preventive of precipitation, the grand cause of almost all faults in enunciation. The tyro should speak very slowly, analysing his pronunciation as he proceeds. Not till he has gained accuracy, distinctness, firmness and fluency, should he attempt to speak with rapidity. Mrs. Siddons used to say to her pupils, over and over again, 'Take time,' and her brief precept is the stepping stone to excellence.

'Learn to read slowly; other graces
Will follow in their proper places.'

SECTION II.

SYLLABIFICATION.

31. The various Combinations of the Consonantal Elements in English are exemplified in the lists in the Appendix (No. IV.). The particular element exemplified is still to be made the subject of undivided attention, so that it may receive a strength of organic effort as compared with the rest of the constituents of the syllable of which it forms a part.

A few remaining difficulties of articulation will arise in the course of the combination of syllables in certain words and phrases.

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32. An hiatus, owing to the tendency to bridge it with a w ('no-w-oaths' for 'no oaths'), or a y ('the-y-ear for the ear'), or, still worse, with an r ('the idear of it!') will often occasion inelegance of articulation. Examples of the meeting of vowel sounds should be carefully practised, and the tendency to insert an intervening sound checked. Lists for practice will be found in the Appendix (No. V.).

33. Reduplicated Consonants require more than usual care to make their separate articulations apparent. Thus, it is not unusual to hear 'her broth' for 'herb broth,' 'look on this pot' for 'look on this spot,' and all will acknowledge the difficulty of pronouncing accurately 'nutmeg-grater.'

34. Allied Consonant Sounds will, in like manner, in careless articulation often be confounded. Thus t is

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