To this Division, in which I have had respect chiefly to the nature, and manner of pronouncing the Letters, may not impertinently be added, that those Letters are formed mostly in three Regions of the Mouth, viz. in the bottom, or Throat; in the middle, or in the Palate and Teeth; and lastly, in the utmost part thereof, or in the Lips: Hence it is, from every one of their Classes almost, are three sorts; one Guttural, another Dental, and a third Labial; but of these, more hereafter.
I will here prevent the Readers who may object to me in the following Chapter, that this my Doctrin will be always lame, because all Deaf Persons, whom we would teach by the Tongue, Lips, &c. will never by their Sight attain unto these motions: But, besides that the Sight doth not give place to the Hearing, as to a quick sensibility, I affirm, that there is no need thereof, if once they have made but any Progress; for even we our selves do very often not hear in Pronunciation those Letters which I call Consonants, but we collect them from the Vowels and Semi-vowels, commixed together with them: No Man, for Example, shall so pronounce b. g. or d. as that he may be heard at a hundred Paces distant. And this seems to me to be the principal reason why we can most rarely pronounce or repeat at the first blush, any word spoken in a foreign Language.
But before I shall unfold the nature, and manner of forming the Letters in special, I judged that it was not here to be omitted, how that as all the Letters, yea also, and the Vowels them-selves, cannot by any means be pronounced, as they are a Simple Breath, and not sonorous; for when we, for Example, do whisper somewhat to one in his Ear, so the Consonants also, excepting those which I call Explosive, may be pronounced vocally, or with the Voice conjoyned; and there are Nations which pronounce thus, as the French do their z. and their v.
I shall now treat of the Letters especially, and will examine them so, as both the absolute Simplicity of the German Letters may be manifested; and other Nations, from their Mode of Formation, may learn, how they ought to pronounce them; upon this account also, I shall add how improperly some Nations do render the same Letters in their own Language. Now in this Explication I shall observe the same order as I did in the Division of them, where readily it will appear, that Voice and Breath are according to a triple Region of the Mouth, triply figured or formed spontaneously.
Therefore the Simple and Uniform Vowels are, a. e. i. j. y. o. u. w. and are formed after the following manner.
a. is a Gutteral Vowel, and the most Simple of all; the Key of the Alphabet, and therefore is by all Nations set first of all, excepting only (as far as I know) the Abyssines, by whom, as Ludolf testifieth, it is placed as the Thirteenth Letter. True indeed it may be pronounced by various Placings of the Tongue, yet the common, and most convenient is, that the Tongue should be in its posture of rest; and then being gently stretched forth in the Mouth, it may only lightly, or not at all touch upon the utmost Border of the lower Teeth; if therefore the lower Jaw be drawn downwards, and thereby the Mouth be opened, that the Voice formed in the Throat, strikes not neither against the Teeth, nor against the Lips, than a plain open [a] is heard, e. i. j. y. are Dental Vowels, or the Voice, which in coming forth, smites more or less against the Teeth; Hence it is that Infants, although they can say Pappa, bo, &c. yet can they not pronounce these Letters until they have Teeth, especially the Cutters, or fore-Teeth; and indeed [e] is formed, when the Voice, (the Lips being gently opened), strikes against the Teeth also moderately opened; now the posture of the Tongue is such, that it somewhat presses on each side upon the Dog-Teeth of the Inferior Jaw, for so the passage of the Voice is made narrower, and the [e] much more clear.
i. j. and y. are the same Vowel, pronounced one while more short, and another more long, nor doth it stand upon any Foundation, [i] sometimes doth become a Consonant, but then is pronounced only more swiftly, so as together with the following Vowel, it can make a Diphthong; but [i] is formed after the same manner almost, as [e] except that the Teeth are for the most part, more stricken, and the Tongue put close to the Teeth, the passage of the Voice is rendred more strait, whence a more smart Sound also breaks forth, which notwithstanding, can sometimes be hardly distinguished from [e] [y,] also is [i] pronounced longer then usually, or [i] doubled. o. u. w. are Labial Vowels, that is, such as are formed by a different positure of the Lips; also [o.] and [u.] are different from one another, just as much as [e.] and [i]: But [w.] is to [u.] just as j. is to [i.] for indeed a. u. w. are formed, when the Teeth and Tongue keep the same posture; but the Lips are more or less contracted, even as the Teeth are in [e.] and [i.] and so when they are less stricken, [o.] is produced, but when a little more [u.] or [w.]; but we ought carefully to beware, whilst [o.] or [u.] are pronounced, least the Teeth should be seen; for else a certain kind of a soft e. will be mingled; and instead of ö. or ü. there will be produced o. or u. These Letters belong to the French, au and ou, when nevertheless they are nothing else but Diphthongs, also oe. of the Dutch is our u. but very improperly.
Mixt Vowels are ä. ö. ü. These Characters are peculiar to our Language, and were invented very ingeniously by our Ancients, though our Moderns mostly know not the reason thereof. Each hath its simple Character, because the Sound which they signifie, is only one, tho' mixt; for a. o. and u. are so pronounced, that the passage of the Voice, the Tongue and Teeth being conjoyned for to pronounce, e. becomes Straiter, and so e. together with the said Letters, a. o. u. doth constitute but one only, yet a mixt vowel. The French utter them by ai. eu. and u. and in good truth, badly enough, as any one may see. The Dutch want [ä]. [ö]. and express them by eu. but [ü]. by u. in no better a way than the French.
Concerning the Diphthongs composed out of these Vowels, and which may be thence compounded, I judge it needless to say much; for they are nothing else in our Language than a more then usual swift Pronunciation of the Component Vowels, yet successive; and thus they differ from the mixt Vowels, but how improper and absurd Diphthongs some Nations have, any one may easily gather from what hath been already said.
The other sort of Letters are Semi-Vowels, which are therefore so called, because that they be formed indeed out of a Sounding Breath or Voice, but such as in its progress is much broken. They are, as I said, either Nasalls, or such as are pronounced through that open passage, by which the Nose opens into the Hollow of the Mouth: Now the Voice is forced to go that way, either when it flows to the Lips shut close, and rebounding from thence, is formed into [m;] or when the Tip of the Tongue is so applied to the roof of the Mouth, and to the upper Teeth, the Voice is made to rebound through the Nostrils, and so [n] becomes formed; or lastly, when together with the hinder part of the Tongue, the Voice being applied to the Roof, is so straitned that there is no Egress left open for it, but through the Nose, and so [n] is formed; which is a Sound, which hath no peculiar Character in any Language, as I know of, yet it differs no less from the rest of the Nasals, (k) is divers from (t) or (p,) if any one desires to try this by himself, let him endeavour to pronounce; having his Nose held close with his Fingers, one of these three Letters, and he will not be able to do it.