The account, however, being recognised, we have in the current natural sound of p two elements:—
1. That formed by the current of air and the closure of the lips, as in āp. This may be called the sound of breath arrested.
2. That formed by the current of air and the opening of the lips, as in pā. This may be called the sound of breath escaping.
Now what may be said of p may be said of all the other consonants, the words tongue, teeth, &c. being used instead of lips, according to the case.
Let the sound of breath arrested be expressed by π, and that of breath escaping be expressed by ϖ, the two together form the current natural sound p (π+ϖ=p).
Thus āp (as quoted above) is p - ϖ, or π; whilst pa (sounded similarly) is p - π, or ϖ.
In the formation of syllables, I consider that the sound of breath arrested belongs to the first, and the sound of breath escaping to the second syllable; that each sound being expressed by a separate sign, the word happy is divided thus, haπ-ϖy; and that such is the case with all consonants between two syllables. The whole consonant belongs neither to one syllable nor the other. Half of it belongs to each. The reduplication of the p in happy, the t in pitted, &c, is a mere point of spelling, of which more will be said in the chapter on orthography.