From this vowel basis all other sounds may be deduced, and by the use of diacritics to indicate the movement of the organs of speech, the consonant elements may be easily expressed.
A single parenthesis, with the concave side to the left, will represent the initial sound of "W," which seldom, but sometimes, occurs in the sounds of animals. When used, it is placed on the left side of the leading symbol, thus,)(), and this symbol, as it stands, should be pronounced nearly like "U-O," but with the first letter suppressed, and almost inaudible. Turning the concave side to the right, and placing it on the right side of the symbol, it represents the vanishing sound of "W," thus, ()(. This symbol reads "O-U," with the "O" long, and the "W" depressed into the short sound of "U." The apostrophe placed before or after the symbol will represent "F" or "V." The grave accent, thus, (`), represents the breathing sound of "H," whether placed before or after the symbol, and the acute accent, thus, (´), will represent the aspirate sound of that letter in the same way.
When the symbol is written with a numeral exponent, it indicates the degree of loudness. If there is no figure, the sound is such as would be made by the human voice in ordinary speech. The letter "X" will indicate a repetition of the sound, and the numeral placed after it will show the number of times repeated, instead of the degree of loudness. For example, we will write the sound (.), which is equivalent to long "U," made in a normal tone, the same symbol written thus (.)2 indicates the sound, made with greater energy, and about twice as loud. To write it thus, (.)X2, indicates that the sound was repeated, and so on.
One peculiar sound made by these animals, which is described in connection with the gorilla, appears to be the result of inhalation, but I know of no other animal that makes a sound in this manner.
As an example of the use of this method, we will write the French word "feu," which Moses mastered, thus, '('), which is equivalent to "vû" with the "U" sounded short, the other word "wie," in German, thus,)('), which is pronounced almost like "wû," giving "u" the short sound again.
I shall not lead the reader through the long and painful task by giving the entire system as far as I have gone, but what has been given will convey an idea of a system, by means of which it will be possible to represent the sounds of all animals, so that the student of phonetics will recognise at once the character of the sound, even if he cannot reproduce it by natural means.
It would be tedious and of no avail to the casual reader to reduce to writing here the sounds made by the chimpanzee; but it may be of interest to mention and describe the character and use of some of them.
Perhaps the most frequent sound made by all animals, appears to be that referring to food, and therefore it may claim the first place in our attention. This word in the language of the chimpanzee begins with the short sound of the vowel "u" which blends into a strong breathing sound of "h," the lips are compressed at the sides, and the aperture of the mouth is nearly round. It is not difficult to imitate, and the ape readily understands it even when poorly made.
Another sound of frequent use among them is that used for calling. The vowel element is nearly the same, though slightly sharpened, and merges into a distinct vanishing "w." The food sound is often repeated two or three times in succession, but the call is rarely ever repeated, except at long intervals.
One sound is particularly soft and musical, the vowel element is that of long "u" as in the German. This blends into a "w," followed by the slightest suggestion of the short sound of "a." It appears to express affection or love. This sound is also the first of the series of sounds attributed to the gorilla.