...with the tongue a hissing sound, just as it is the custom for some nations to pronounce the letter 's' with a rustic and foaming mouth.

BOOK

CONCERNING THE SOUNDS

n Now let us set our hand to the second part of the elements, which we have identified as sounds original: "voces" - here Reuchlin distinguishes between the written letter and the actual sound or vowel point. According to Aristotle in the second book of On the Soul original: "De Anima", a sound is a striking of air, breathed by the soul, against the windpipe within the vocal organs. This occurs in five ways among the Latins, but in ten ways among the Hebrews. The Latins have the markers for sounds inserted along with the other letters. The Hebrews, however, have only the potential for vowel letters within the alphabet. They placed the actual sounds outside the sequence of the alphabet.

Therefore, among the Hebrews, a "vowel" original: "vocalis" is one thing, and a "sound" original: "vox" is another. A vowel is a letter that is first suited to emerge as a sound from the windpipe once the various positions of its "dwellings" original: "domiciliorum" - this refers to the five anatomical points of articulation: the throat, palate, tongue, teeth, and lips are applied. But the "sounds" are the points attached to the letters. These points open the gap of the mouth according to the specific nature of the letters. To help you understand the Hebrew sounds more clearly, I will proceed according to the Latin vowels: A, E, I, O, and U. Each of these...