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Show 6 INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OP INDIAN LANGUAGES. double sound, precisely that of you, and can never be written with one character in any phonetic alphabet; its proper representative is yu. We have then, finally, the diphthongs- ai au di mine, down, boil. A little careful practice will give ready command of this scheme of vowel signs. It is proposed as a basis, a model which is to be adhered to as closely as circumstances shall allow, in representing the strange sounds that may be met with in practice. Its use will not take away the necessity for careful description, nor will it answer all purposes. A language may, for example ( like French and German), distinguish two e- sounds, a closer ( French £) and an opener ( French h or $), akin respectively with our e ( they) and £ ( then), but, unlike the latter, not differing in quantity, as long and short In such a case it will be best to use S for the opener sound, and we may also need an 6 for an opener o, and even an i for an opener i ( akin to our short i of pick). And there may be varieties of the " neutral vowel" for which the German 6 will be a convenient sign. CONSONANTS. There can be no question as to the proper method of representing some of the consonant sounds, because widespread usage has fixed certain sounds to certain characters; but in others there has been great variety of usage, and still other of the sounds with which the student will have to deal in Indian languages are unknown to the languages of civilization. MUTES. The three letters p, t, and k represent the sounds heard in the following words : prop, trot, creak. The last example shows that we use c as well as k with this value; that must be avoided in a systematic alphabet; k only should be used. The t and k of other languages often do not precisely agree in character with ours; one should be on the lookout here ( as, indeed, everywhere else) for differences, and should note and describe them, if possible. Of these three, the p is called a " labial" mute, because made with the lips; the t a " lingual" ( or " dental"), because made with the tongue- tip |
