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Primary sourceDocument1872

Visible Speech Chart of English Sounds

Alexander Graham Bell · 1872

A printed chart of Bell's phonetic system Visible Speech, which he used to teach deaf pupils and which shaped his early career.

A chart from Bell's own book showing the phonetic system he taught to deaf pupils before inventing the telephone.

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Printed chart titled 'The following are the Physiological Symbols for the English elements of Speech.' It lists consonants, vowels, glides and diphthongs in Visible Speech symbols, each with an English example word. Below is a note about an 1876 award to Melville Bell of Brantford, Ontario, written in the same symbols.
Chart of English sounds in Visible Speech, from A. G. Bell, On the Nature and Use of Visible Speech, 1872.

About this source

What it is

This is a printed chart from Alexander Graham Bell's 1872 work on Visible Speech, a system of phonetic symbols. It lists consonants, vowels and diphthongs of English, each paired with an example word, and includes a note about an 1876 award given to Bell's father, Melville Bell.

Why it matters

Visible Speech was invented by Bell's father and taught by Alexander Graham Bell to deaf pupils in Boston. This work with speech and sound was the foundation of his career before he turned to the telephone — it shows how his interest in transmitting and representing sound began with teaching, not technology.

Look closer

  • Why would someone need a written system to show exactly how sounds are spoken?
  • How might teaching deaf pupils to produce sounds connect to later inventing a machine that transmits sound?
  • What does the family connection (father and son) suggest about where Bell's ideas came from?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Alexander Graham on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Scan of the first page of U.S. Patent No. 174,465, titled 'United States Patent Office,' naming Alexander Graham Bell of Salem, Massachusetts, and 'Improvement in Telegraphy.' Dense printed text in two columns follows.Document

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U.S. Patent No. 174,465, Improvement in Telegraphy

Alexander Graham Bell · 7 March 1876

Artifact

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Recording of the Voice of Alexander Graham Bell

Alexander Graham Bell · 1885

Handwritten pen sketch labeled 'Fig 4' in a notebook showing a liquid transmitter: a diaphragm labeled B, a cup labeled C in a container, a point labeled P, a battery symbol, and a switch labeled S, with partial handwritten text below.Painting

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Drawing of a Liquid Transmitter, 8 March 1876

Alexander Graham Bell · 8 March 1876

Book

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Memoir Upon the Formation of a Deaf Variety of the Human Race

Alexander Graham Bell · 1884

Black-and-white studio portrait of an elderly man with white hair and a full white beard, wearing a dark suit, vest, and tie, looking toward the camera against a soft gray backdrop.Photograph

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Portrait of Alexander Graham Bell

Moffett Studio

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