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42 THE VOWEL SOUNDS.
56. Phonetic Signs.—The phonetic signs given to the chief vowel sounds are as follows:—
00 as in Noon—phonetic sign u: (the colon after the vowel signifies that it is long). Its subordinate 00 as in nook—phonetic sign v.
OH as in No—phonetic sign o: In speech OH is a diphthong ohoo, but in song it is given the Northern pronunciation of oh as in boat. Its subordinate is said to be the sound heard in the word Nut—phonetic sign A.
AW as in Naught—phonetic sign o: Its subordinate 0 as in Not—phonetic sign o.
AH as in Ah—phonetic sign a: Its subordinate A as in Gnat — phonetic sign ae. Phoneticians introduce another sound and sign a, which represents the Northern pronunciation of the word, fat; it is the sound heard in the French word " Chat," as distinguished from the sound of the Persian title " Shah " (which gives the sound of a :).
AY as in Nay—phonetic sign e: In speech a diphthong CI, in song a sound as in the word nay. Its subordinate E as in Net—phonetic sign e.
EE as in Knee—phonetic sign i: Its subordinate I as in Knit—phonetic sign I.
ER as in Her—phonetic sign a:
57. Narrowing of Vowel Sounds.—It will be noticed that of these sounds the signs u, o, and i represent so-called long and short sounds and the dots are added to show the difference; the other sounds possess different signs for their subordinates. A very common fault noticeable in speech is that of narrowing the vowel sounds, and consequently losing tone by making the opening for the breath too small, it sounds often as if the subordinates were substituted for the more important sounds, |
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