d and zh, are
modified; but I am unable to state the exact nature of this modification.

s. 121. Ng.--The sound of the ng in _sing_, _king_, _throng_, when at the
end of a word, or of _singer_, _ringing_, &c., in the middle of a word, is
not the natural sound of the combination n and g, each letter retaining its
natural power and sound; but a simple single sound, for which the
combination ng is a conventional mode of expression.

s. 122. Compared with a in _fate_, and the o in _note_, a in _father_, and
the aw in _bawl_, are _broad_; the vowels of _note_ and _fate_ being
_slender_.

s. 123. In _fat_, the vowel is, according to common parlance, _short_; in
_fate_, it is _long_. Here we have the introduction of two fresh terms. For
the words _long_ and _short_, I substitute _independent_ and _dependent_.
If from the word _fate_ I separate the final consonantal sound, the
syllable fa remains. In this syllable the a has precisely the sound that it
had before. It remains unaltered. The removal of the consonant has in
nowise modified its sound or power. It is not so, however, with the vowel
in the word _fat_. If from this I remove the consonant following, and so
leave the a at the end of the syllable, instead of in the middle, I must do
one of two things: I must sound it either as the a in _fate_, or else as
the a in _father_. Its (so-called) short sound it cannot retain, unless it
be supported by a consonant following. For this reason it is _dependent_.
The same is the case with all the so-called short sounds, viz., the e in
_bed_, i in _fit_, u in _bull_, o in _not_, u in _but_.

s. 124. It is not every vowel that is susceptible of every modification. I
(ee) and u (oo) are incapable of becoming _broad_. The e in _bed_, although
both broad and slender, is incapable of becoming _independent_. For the u
in _but_, and for the oe of certain foreign languages, I have no
satisfactory systematic position.

s. 125. _Vowel System._

_Broad._ _Slender._
_Independent._ || _Independent._ | _Dependent._
a, in _father_ || a, in _fate_ | a, in _fat_.
|| ['e] in _ferm['e]_, | ['e], in _ferm['e]_,
|| _long_ | _short_.
e, in _meine_, Germ. || | e, in _bed_.
|| ee, in _feet_ | i, _pit_.