CHAPTER III.

INFLECTIONS OF THE VOICE.

THE INFLECTIONS of the voice consist in those peculiar slides which it takes in pronouncing a letter, a syllable, or a word.

There are two of these slides, the upward and the downward. They are most apparent in the pronunciation of emphatick words, and words immediately preceding a pause, especially the closing pause at the end of a sentence.

The upward slide is called the Rising Inflection. It is sometimes indicated by the acute accent, or following mark (').

The downward slide is denominated the Falling Inflection. It is represented by the grave accent; thus (').

When both the upward and the downward slides of the voice occur in pronouncing a syllable, they are called a Circumflex or Wave.-The Circumflex is indicated thus (^).

CONCRETE SLIDES OR INFLECTIONS OF THE VOICE.

Before the learner proceeds to a perusal of the following development of the subject under consideration, he is requested to turn back to page 55, and carefully re-examine what is there said of the concrete and discrete movements of the voice, and of the radical, and concrete and discrete pitch, as such an examination will enable him more readily to comprehend the illustration which follows.

By pronouncing in a very deliberate and perfectly natural manner, the letter y, (which is a diphthong,) the unpractised student will perceive, that the sound produced, is compound, being formed, at its opening, of the obscure sound of oo as

heard in oo-ze, which sound rapidly slides into that of i, and then advances to that of ee as heard in e-ve, and on which it gradually passes off into silence.

But, at present, the attention of the student is particularly called to the lessening vanish of the voice as it dies away into silence at the close of a sound. A few experiments, therefore, on some of the vowel elements, such as o, a, e, u, or on the words man, name, joy, song, and the like, may be instructive to such as have not hitherto given this subject a separate attention, as it will enable them to perceive two important circumstances in regard to the philosophy of vocal sounds, namely, that in the delicate vanish of the voice at the close of a letter or word, the stream of sound generally takes either an ascending or a descending direction, as it dies away into silence, according to the impulse given by the organs which explode the sound, and that a little attention to this vanishing slide, will enable any one to ascertain its direction, and thus to distinguish between what is called the rising and the falling inflections of the voice. If, in slowly pronouncing the letter y, i, or o, for example, the attention of the learner be directed to the opening fulness, and the gradually diminishing volume of the voice un til it terminates in silence, he will readily perceive the propriety of Dr. Rush's giving the name of radical movement to the first part of the elementary sound, and that of vanishing movement to the second-and, also, that of designating the whole movement which has been described, a vanishing tone. "This gradually lessening volume of sound upon syllables, and exquisite vanish with which they terminate, contrasted with their opening fulness, are circumstances which show the superiority of the human voice over all musical instruments. The full manifestation of the radical and vanish in the management of the slides of long quantity, or, in other words, in the utterance of long syllables, in speaking, reading, and recitation, is, in the highest degree, captivating to the ear, and is what gives smoothness and delicacy to the tones of the voice. In short syllables, the difference of the radical and vanish is perceptible, though not so obvious."*

RISING INFLECTION.

In the first place, let the sentence, "I will try to do better," be pronounced in a very deliberate manner, but without any stress being given to the word try; and let the attention be

* Dr. Barber.

particularly directed to the sound of y. Then repeat, in the same deliberate and natural manner, that portion of the sentence which closes with try, without the remaining part of itwith precisely the intonation that would be employed were the whole sentence to be pronounced, and the letter y will be found "to have the rising slide of a second," or a tone: thus, “I will try

In the second place, let the following sentence be uttered as a simple inquiry, or as it naturally would be if the answer yes or no were expected to it, and they will take the rising slide of a third, or, in other words, its lessening vanish will rise two tones before it terminates: "Did he say he would try—to

do better?"

Again, if the question be pronounced under the emotion of surprise, and with a strong emphasis on the word try, the y will have the rising, concrete slide of a fifth; that is, from the radical portion of its sound to the terminating point of its vanish, the stream of voice will ascend four tones: Did he say he

Would TRY?"

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Lastly, if the question be asked under a still stronger excitement of surprise, with a proportionable increase of the emphasis, the sound of y will stream through the rising octave: "Did he say he would TRY?” "Children and women whose emotions are particularly lively, frequently ask a question with the intense, piercing slide of the octave."

FALLING INFLECTION.

Let the sentence, "I saw Mr. Pry," be uttered in a natural manner, without the least emphasis or expression of emotion on the last word, and closed with the ordinary fall of the voice given to simple, affirmative sentences, and the letter y will take the falling slide of a second: thus, "I saw Mr. Pry."

If, in pronouncing the sentence, such a degree of emphasis be given to the last word as merely to contrast it with the name of some one understood, it will display the falling slide of a third: "I saw Mr. Pry."

If, in uttering the sentence, we increase the emphasis on Pry so much as to express an earnest degree of positiveness, the stream of sound will fall through a concrete fifth: “It was Mr. PRY—I tell you."

But let the highest degree of dictatorial positiveness be given to the word as if uttered in anger, and the slide will reach the downward octave: " You provoke me: I said it was Mr. PRY." For the foregoing illustration of the upward and the down

ward slides of the voice, the author is mainly indebted to Dr. Rush's "Philosophy of the Human Voice," and to Dr. Barber's "Grammar of Elocution," to which works they who wish to see a more extensive development of this subject, are respectfully referred.

EXAMPLES of the Rising Inflection.

Did he say I'?
Did he say song'?

Remarks.-Let the reader who is not in the habit of attending to the inflections of the voice, pronounce the foregoing sentences deliberately and in a natural tone, and he will readily perceive, that the voice slides upward in its vanish at the close of each. If he protract the sound of the last syllable, the peculiar characteristick of the inflection will be rendered still more obvious.

EXAMPLES of both the Rising and the Falling Inflections. Did he say man', or man'?

Did he say holy', or holy'?

Should we say humour', or umour'?

Should we say supplemunt', or supplement?

Ought we to say advertise'munt', or advertisement"?
Ought we to say coaj'etor', or coadju'tur'?

Does he talk rationally', or irrationally'?

Does he speak grammatically', or ungrammatically'?
Did he do it voluntarily', or involuntarily?
Does Napoleon merit praise', or dispraise?
Does Cesar deserve fame', or blame'?

He said man', not man'.

He said holy', not holy'.

We should say umour', not humour'.

We should say supplement, not supplemunt.

We ought to say advertisement', not advertise'munt'.
We ought to say coadju'tur', not coaj'etor'.

He talks rationally', not irrationally.

He speaks grammatically', not ungrammatically.
He did it voluntarily', not involuntarily'.
Napoleon merits dispraise', rather than praise."
Cesar deserves blame', instead of fame'.

He did not say manʼ, but man`.
He did not say holy', but holy'.
We should not say humour', but umour'.

We should not say supplemunt', but supplement.
We ought not to say advertise'munt', but advertisement'.
We ought not to say coaj'etor', but coadju'tur'.
He does not talk irrationally', but rationally'.

He does not speak ungrammatically', but grammatically.
He did not act involuntarily', but voluntarily.
Napoleon does not merit praise', but dispraise'.
Cesar does not deserve fame', but blame',
We may not pronounce it eg-zibit', but egz-hibit'.
We may not spell it burthen', but burden.
The orthography is not enquirer', but inquirer'.
The spelling is not chesnut', but chestnut.
You should not spell it draft, but draught.
You should not say discrepancy', but discrepance',
We ought not to say you was', but you were.
We should not pronounce it ware', but wer`.*

Can Cesar deserve both fame` and blame'? Impossible'.
If Cesar does not deserve fame', he merits censure'.
Is Washington more worthy of fame than Napoleon'?
questionably'.

Can Bonaparte be compared with Washington'? Not justly'. With whom may Napoleon be compared? In acuteness of intellect', with Diogenes'; in ambition', with Cesar'; in arms', with Alexander'.

Was Bonaparte greater than Alexander'? Let posterity determine'. Though a great original', he sometimes took Ålex

ander as his model'.

Does Napoleon merit praise', or censure, for not committing suicide when banished to St. Helena'? Praise', unquestionably'. Was it an act of moral courage', or of cowardice', for Cato to fall on his sword'? Undoubtedly the latter'.

Was it ambition that induced Regulus to return to Carthage'? No'; but love of country', and respect for truth- -an act of the moral sublime', arising out of the firmest integrity

With whom may Washington be compared? With Cincinnatus', with Manco Capack', and with Alfred.

Wherein did Mason surpass Chalmers'? Not in argument', nor in the sublimity of his thoughts', nor yet', in the richness and splendour of his diction'; but'. . . in elocution'.

Can high attainments in elocution', immortalize a man'? In the common acceptation of the term', they can'.

For a correct list of those words often misspelled by good writers, and another of those most frequently mispronounced by good readers, see, "English Grammar in Lectures," pages 199 and 207, inclusive.