11/1/2022 0 Comments Www psst 2015Slavic languages, such as Czech, are famous for the long strings of consonants their languages allow, like this Czech tongue-twister: strč prst skrz krk (“stick a finger down your throat”). Cwm and crwth are very rare words in English-and all the rarer for the way they showcase W as a vowel. In both words, W stands for the same sound that oo represents in boom or booth. A cwm, pronounced or, is “a steep-walled semicircular basin in a mountain, sometimes containing a lake a cirque.” A crwth, pronounced and also spelled crowd, refers to ancient Celtic musical instrument. And, it is perfectly happy using W ( and Y, along with the other usual suspects) as a vowel.Įnglish has borrowed a precious few words from Welsh that feature W as a vowel. The Welsh language is a Celtic language still spoken in Wales-and, fun fact, in a settlement in Argentina. Want to know more about the story between U and W? Read about it here. It was gradually replaced by the Norman (French) double U, which was literally two U‘s back to back, uu, hence its shape … and name, double-u! #Www psst 2015 plusIt can also behave this way as part of a diphthong (which is a vowel plus a glide), as in How now, brown cow?īack in Old English, W was represented by an altogether different symbol: Ƿ/ƿ, called wynn. In English, W can behave this way at the beginning of a syllable, where it’s followed by a full-fledged vowel (e.g., wonderful). Nope, this ain’t your spelling teacher’s alphabet, folks. Linguists call it a semivowel or glide, “a speech sound having the characteristics of both a consonant and vowel, especially W in wore and Y in your and, in some analyses, R in road and L in load.” To put it simply, it’s a little bit of both, vowel and consonant. K sounds are produced by bringing the back of the tongue up to your soft palate ( velars). B sounds are produced by bringing the lips together, for instance ( bilabials). Where that restriction or closure occurs in your vocal tract determines what consonants you are making. If you do restrict or close your airflow in a significant way, you’re making a consonant. Vowels can vary in pitch and loudness, too. In making vowels, the tongue can be at various heights in the mouth (e.g., high, mid, or low) and at various positions (front, central, or back). They are symbols (letters) that represent a special type of speech sound called a vowel.Īccording to phoneticians, a vowel is a speech sound that is made without significant constriction of the flow of air from the lungs. First, what is a vowel?Ī, E, I, O, U, Y, and, as we’ll see, W, are called vowels, but let’s get technical. And, to all our grade-school peeps out there, get ready to knock the socks off your spelling teacher. It’s time to level up your Scrabble game, people. A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y … and W? Yes, the letter W can behave as a vowel.
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