subtonics

Then, distinctly obtaining the subtonics, unite them severally with the sound of _ä_, first forcibly, then more gently, producing such syllables as _bä_, _dä_, etc., which may be rendered with upward and downward intervals, and with different degrees of initial pitch.

The Ontario Readers: The High School Reader, 1886 Ontario. Ministry of Education

Proceed in a similar manner with the other subtonics.

The Ontario Readers: The High School Reader, 1886 Ontario. Ministry of Education

The = Atonics = correspond with the first eleven of the subtonics as given above, from which they differ almost alone in having _no_ vocality.

The Ontario Readers: The High School Reader, 1886 Ontario. Ministry of Education

= Indefinite Syllables = are capable of almost indefinite prolongation; they are those which terminate in a tonic, or any subtonic except one of the three abrupt subtonics, _b_, _d_, _g_; for example, _awe_, _fudge_,

The Ontario Readers: The High School Reader, 1886 Ontario. Ministry of Education

If the terminal element be one of the abrupt subtonics the vocal murmur is difficult to produce, and in this case, and also when the terminal element is an abrupt atonic, there is a suspension of the voice for a time equal to that occupied by the murmuring prolongation in the other cases; but the organs keep the position which they have in finishing the one word until they relax to take position for the utterance, with renewed exertion, of the opening sound of the next.

The Ontario Readers: The High School Reader, 1886 Ontario. Ministry of Education