s_, to _fulness_
and _fatness_, as of the good condition of an Animal in flesh, or of
rich and productive soils. And these ideas are again related to _wealth_
or to _riches_ generally; and, hence, again to SUBSTANCE. The objects of
wealth are called _goods_, and a wealthy man is said to be a '_man of
substance_.' A (ah) is the representative or pivotal Vowel; that one
which embodies most completely the _Vowel Idea_. Its inherent meaning is
especially, therefore, that of SUBSTANCE or REALITY, which, is, in a
more general way, as we have seen, the meaning of all the Vowels. The
most real, tangible, sensible substance from an ordinary point of view
being. Matter, this Vowel-Sound allies itself also with _Matter_ or
_Materiality_ as contrasted with _Spiritual_ Substance.

There is, it must now be observed, a flattened variety of A (ah), which
will here be represented by the same letter italicized, thus, _A_, _a_,
which is the so-called flat sound of A (ah) as when heard prolonged in
m_a_re, pe_a_r, etc., or when stopped, in m_a_n, m_a_t, etc. This sound
is intermediate in position between E and A (ah). That is to say, it is
produced farther back in the mouth and with the mouth somewhat more open
than when we say E, and not so far back as when we say A (ah); and with
the mouth less open. As contrasted with the A (ah), it is a thin, flat,
and slightly unsatisfactory and disagreeable sound, analogically related
to the natural semitone _fa_ of the Diatonic Scale of Musical Tones.
This Sound signifies accordingly, THINNESS, ATTENUATED MATTER, the Ghost
or Spirit of Nature, related to Odic Force, Magnetisms, Electricity,
etc.; still not, however, Spirit in the sense of Mind, or in the
Religio-Spiritual sense of the word. This is the exceptional or bastard
Vowel-Sound which has but an imperfect or half claim to be inserted in
the Leading Vowel Scale. When inserted, its natural position is between
the E and the A (ah), although for certain reasons it sometimes changes
position with the A (ah), following instead of preceding it.

The next two Vowel-Sounds, _o_ (_aw_ in _aw_ful), and _u_ (_u_ in
c_u_rd), are somewhat like the _a_ (_a_ in m_a_re), exceptional or
bastard Sounds. They are unheard in many Languages, and unrecognized as
distinct sounds in many Languages where they are, in fact, heard. Very
few Languages have distinct Letter-Signs for them. In using the Roman
Alphabet, I am compelled to adopt a contrivance to represent the