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23 Dec 17
I remember being taught that in English, the vowels are “a, e, i, o, and u, and sometimes w and y.”
Can you think of words in which w and y are consonants? Can you think of words in which they are vowels? What is the rule for deciding? What are examples of how they are treated differently depending on which they are? No fair googling.
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23 Dec 17
Originally posted by @js357"W" a vowel? That's a new one for me.
I remember being taught that in English, the vowels are “a, e, i, o, and u, and sometimes w and y.”
Can you think of words in which w and y are consonants? Can you think of words in which they are vowels? What is the rule for deciding? What are examples of how they are treated differently depending on which they are? No fair googling.
23 Dec 17
1 edit
Originally posted by @js357Why ?
I remember being taught that in English, the vowels are “a, e, i, o, and u, and sometimes w and y.”
Can you think of words in which w and y are consonants? Can you think of words in which they are vowels? What is the rule for deciding? What are examples of how they are treated differently depending on which they are? No fair googling.
23 Dec 17
Originally posted by @great-big-steesI didn't know that either. What words can that be?
"W" a vowel? That's a new one for me.
23 Dec 17
1 edit
Originally posted by @js357No fair saying no fair googling...I am older than you and probably more forgetful but my memory is that only the y is sometimes a vowel.
I remember being taught that in English, the vowels are “a, e, i, o, and u, and sometimes w and y.”
Can you think of words in which w and y are consonants? Can you think of words in which they are vowels? What is the rule for deciding? What are examples of how they are treated differently depending on which they are? No fair googling.
Never saw anybody buy a Y
On Wheel Of Fortune
I wonder why
Oh, on Wheel Of Fortune
Y oh Y
23 Dec 17
Originally posted by @leurWe have no problem with 'y' - it's the vowel 'w' we are wondering about.
No fair saying no fair googling...I am older than you and probably more forgetful but my memory is that only the y is [b]sometimes a vowel. Never saw anybody buy a Y
On Wheel Of Fortune
I wonder why
Oh, on Wheel Of Fortune
Y oh Y[/b]
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23 Dec 17
Originally posted by @torunnNow this is just "a shot in the dark" (no not the movie with Audrey Hepburn 🙁) but, back in the day in the English language, like in Shakeseare's time, could a "w" have indeed been a vowel?
We have no problem with 'y' - it's the vowel 'w' we are wondering about.
23 Dec 17
2 edits
Originally posted by @great-big-steesI suppose it might have. There were vowel shifts during that period, I believe. I will have a look.
Now this is just "a shot in the dark" (no not the movie with Audrey Hepburn 🙁) but, back in the day in the English language, like in Shakeseare's time, could a "w" have indeed been a vowel?
23 Dec 17
Originally posted by @torunnLow, Bow come to mind.
I didn't know that either. What words can that be?
From Dictionary.com:
“Cwm” (a steep-walled semicircular basin in a mountain, sometimes containing a lake; a cirque) and “crwth” (an ancient Celtic musical instrument), both from the Welsh, use w as a vowel – standing for the same sound that oo stands for in boom and booth. “Crwth” is also spelled “crowd.”
However, in words like “low” and “bow,” one can make a good case that the letter w represents a vowel. Both of these words end with one or another of the diphthongs of modern English. In each case, the second part of the diphthong is represented by w.
By the way, l, m, n, and r may also sometimes represent vowels; that is, in English there are vowels that are routinely represented by these letters. They show up at the ends of the words “bottle,” “bottom,” “button,” and “butter.”
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23 Dec 17
Originally posted by @torunnOk, google away, but only if you were born at least 3 weeks prior to V-E day.
We have no problem with 'y' - it's the vowel 'w' we are wondering about.
Pre-google thoughts. I’m skipping these ‘marks.’
Y as in lucky, pronounced as long e or ee, as in rehab, meet. Usually at the end of words, but how is yttrium pronounced?
I too, am puzzled by w. Is it as in who?
As for usage, we speak of a young man, not an young man, treating the y as a consonant. But some speak of an historian, not a historian, so is that h a vowel to those folks?
We speak of a wedding, not an wedding. I can’t come up with a w word wherein the w is treated as a vowel. What is it in howl, bowel etc? For that matter, in vowel?🙂 We speak of an owl, but that’s for the o.
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23 Dec 17
Originally posted by @coquetteOK, now we're getting way too far into "words/letters" 😉
Never heard that w could be a vowel.
j started as the fourth i in roman numerals. As in iiij for iiii.
Ius are the first three letters of Jesus. Iusus.
23 Dec 17
Originally posted by @great-big-steesAre you the thread monitor?
OK, now we're getting way too far into "words/letters" 😉
23 Dec 17
Originally posted by @handyandyHey man, nice threads you got there.....
Are you the thread monitor?