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Anonymous Posted 20 years ago
Linguistics Studies
W is a vowel
I was recently thinking to myself, though I cant remember why, about the letter 'w' and its sound both alone and in conjunstion with other letters. It was then that I came to the conclusion that w is infact a vowel, or at least a semi-vowel or sub-vowel (and I do notmean in refference to the word 'cwm'). A vowel is defined as any sound produed with an open vocal tract, and when pronouncing lower case 'w' I could concience of no other sound being created than a "oo-uh" A combination of two vowels.
I then moved on to thinking about words containing 'w':
Why - oo-ie
When - oo-eh-n
well- oo-e-ll
(the oo as created by a 'w' is a fast sound and is not held as would be expected by looking at the phoenetic words.)
Hence I concluded that 'w' is not infact a conssonant but is a vowel along with AEIO and U. I have similar thought on the letter 'y'.
Tell me what you think
Chris Ovenden
I then moved on to thinking about words containing 'w':
Why - oo-ie
When - oo-eh-n
well- oo-e-ll
(the oo as created by a 'w' is a fast sound and is not held as would be expected by looking at the phoenetic words.)
Hence I concluded that 'w' is not infact a conssonant but is a vowel along with AEIO and U. I have similar thought on the letter 'y'.
Tell me what you think
Chris Ovenden
Top answer
The problem with any category is that once you have established it you will always find something that doesn't quite fit. The Letters W and Y both have something of a vowel and something of a consonant about them. Fittingly they are known as semi-vowels.
- The problem with any category is that once you have established it you will always find something that doesn't quite fit.
- The Letters W and Y both have something of a vowel and something of a consonant about them.
- Fittingly they are known as semi-vowels.
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55 Answers
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The problem with any category is that once you have established it you will always find something that doesn't quite fit. The Letters W and Y both have something of a vowel and something of a consonant about them. Fittingly they are known as semi-vowels.
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Well, I have heard that Y is a vowel. I'm not so sure about W. Like other consonants, W can't produce a sound on its own; it needs to be next to a vowel in order to be pronounced. Of course, there are exceptions, like S and Z. But all vowels can be pronounced without any consonants. W clearly cannot.
The W sound isn't actually the "oo" sound, though. It's the sound that's created when you
The W sound isn't actually the "oo" sound, though. It's the sound that's created when you
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I don't know why this is in the controversial section!
Categories are man-made (OK, letters are too!); as soon as we set them up we find things that don't fit. The letters W and Y have characteristics of both vowels and consonants; that's why they are sometimes known as semi-vowels.
Categories are man-made (OK, letters are too!); as soon as we set them up we find things that don't fit. The letters W and Y have characteristics of both vowels and consonants; that's why they are sometimes known as semi-vowels.
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Sorry about the repetition above, the first time it didn't seem to have been posted.
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Agreed. I didn't see your post until after I posted mine. But yeah, there isn't much to debate about here.
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0 W: I am addressing the nature of the consonance/vowel controversy in the teaching of poetry. In most cases, assonance has a tendency to slow a line down. Try to say Poe's ". . . weary, way-worn wanderer . . ." fast. So often, assonance holds the tone and holds the sound. Consonnance and alliteration tend to kick the sound away and move quickly to the next. 02 br
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0 >> Well, I have heard that Y is a vowel. 02 <<
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00 The reason you have heard that "y" is a vowel, is because it sometimes functions completely as a vowel: for example in the word easy /izi/ , it is simply pronounced /i/. In words such as "yet", it functions as a semivowel: /jEt/. "w" (except for perhaps words of Welsh origin) always functions as a semivowel. 0-
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00 The reason you have heard that "y" is a vowel, is because it sometimes functions completely as a vowel: for example in the word easy /izi/ , it is simply pronounced /i/. In words such as "yet", it functions as a semivowel: /jEt/. "w" (except for perhaps words of Welsh origin) always functions as a semivowel. 0-
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0 There is a lot of confusion here. 02 br
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00 First, we can say that when writing the symbol <y> may function as a vowel, as in words such as 'my'. <w> does not have this function in writing in English, although it does in Welsh. 02 br
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00 When the sounds /j/ (the IPA symbol for the sound of <y> in 01 i 00 yam 02 i 00 )
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00 First, we can say that when writing the symbol <y> may function as a vowel, as in words such as 'my'. <w> does not have this function in writing in English, although it does in Welsh. 02 br
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00 When the sounds /j/ (the IPA symbol for the sound of <y> in 01 i 00 yam 02 i 00 )
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0 It's so funny to see "when" transcribed as "oo-eh-n". I used to think that everyone pronounced "when" like I do--like "win". It's interesting that the predominant pronunciation seems to be [ wEn ] . 0-
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0 Most linguists believe "<w>, like <y>, is a semivowel (a glide if you will). It functions as consonant but phonetically or articulatory a moving vowel because it moves rapidly from one vowel position to another. Some call it a phonetic vowel, semi-consonant or a vowel in disguise. It is considered as intermediate between a vowel and a consonant in speech sound. 02 br
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