2892. The larynx represents the ribs and arms, which all move in order to form a sound. The tongue is, so to speak, the head upon this thorax.
2893. The nose imparts euphony to the sounds. It tests their fragrancy. The tongue gives them a special quality, their chemical character or taste; the teeth and lips furnish the cadence as a kind of joint to the sounds, or in other terms the words.
2894. Four organs of sense belong to speech, viz:
Touch in the Jaws.
Taste in the Tongue.
Smell in the Nose.
Hearing in the Ear.
2895. The ear receives the products of the three vegetative organs of sense. It is a synthetic sense.
2896. The tongue gives the vowels; the jaws the consonants.
2897. In accordance with this the vowels are the body of speech, and the consonants the limbs or members, whereby it effects its movements.
2898. Vowels express time, consonants space; the one the chemical import, the other the form.
2899. The vowel E expresses the present, A that which has just past, O that which has quite passed, U that which has passed long ago, I the future.
2900. The more consonants there are in the words, so much the richer is the language; the more vowels, the poorer it is. Such is the speech of savages or wild men.