A Latin Grammar for Schools and Colleges

by George Martin Lane

[CLASSIFICATION OF CONSONANTS.]

[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.