GENERAL ELEMENTS
61
single definite sound would be produced, and instead of
one uninterrupted glide from (k) to (i), we shall have two,
one from the (k) to the intermediate point, another from
there to the (i).
190. It would clearly be impossible to symbolise all the
infinitesimal intermediate positions of which a glide is
made up ; nor is it ever necessary, the general principle
being that in all cases of transition from one fixed
position to another the shortest way is taken : given, there¬
fore, the symbols of the fixed positions, the character
of the glide follows as a matter of course. Glides are
implied simply by the juxtaposition of the symbols of
the fixed positions between which they lie, as in the case
of (ki).
191. Besides these essential, implied glides, there is
another class of ‘ unessential ’ glides, which require to be
written separately. Thus, instead of passing direct from
(k) to (i), the organs can move up to the (u) position, and
without stopping there pass on to (i). Here there is a
continuous glide from (k) to (i), but it is a roundabout glide,
and not implied by the positions of the (k) and (i). These
‘ glide-sounds ’ (glide-vowel in the present case) have a
definite, though not a fixed configuration. Thus, in the
present case, there is an essential glide implied from the
(k) to the (u) position, and from there to the (i) position,
and the (u) position is therefore the distinct limit of the
glide-vowel, but it is itself no more a fixed configuration
than any one of the intermediate positions between it and
the (k) or (i) positions—like them it is simply one of a
series. These glide-sounds are symbolised by being
enclosed in brackets, thus (k[u]i), distinct from (kui), in
which the (u) position is maintained unchanged for an