Читать книгу The Grammar of English Grammars - Goold Brown - Страница 57

The consonants are divided, with respect to their powers, into semivowels and mutes.

A semivowel is a consonant which can be imperfectly sounded without a vowel, so that at the end of a syllable its sound may be protracted; as, l, n, z, in al, an, az.

A mute is a consonant which cannot be sounded at all without a vowel, and which at the end of a syllable suddenly stops the breath; as, k, p, t, in ak, ap, at.

The semivowels are, f, h, j, l, m, n, r, s, v, w, x, y, z, and c and g soft: but w or y at the end of a syllable, is a vowel; and the sound of c, f, g, h, j, s, or x, can be protracted only as an aspirate, or strong breath.

Four of the semivowels—l, m, n, and r—are termed liquids, on account of the fluency of their sounds; and four others—v, w, y, and z—are likewise more vocal than the aspirates.