Xref: utzoo comp.fonts:2584 soc.culture.german:4396 Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!think.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!caen!kuhub.cc.ukans.edu!665instr From: 665instr@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu (Ian) Newsgroups: comp.fonts,soc.culture.german Subject: how many vowels in English? Message-ID: <1991May26.225637.31078@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu> Date: 26 May 91 22:56:37 CDT References: <1991May22.141034.12747@pbs.org> Organization: University of Kansas Academic Computing Services Lines: 24 In article , arktik@ersys.edmonton.ab.ca (Ryan Daum) writes: > btiffany@pbs.org writes: >> FOURTEEN? Well, when I was knee high from the floor in school they taught me >> only FIVE: A E I O and U! It was mentioned that sometimes Y can act like >> a vowel, but it is still a consonant. So at most you might say English has >> 5.5 vowels. But 14?? Where did you come up with such a figure? >> >> -- Bruce Tiffany btiffany@pbs.org > > > Easy! Just include all the different ways of saying vowel > combinations... > > For example, the "au" combination is not pronounced "a-u" ... it's a > single sound therefore it's a seperate vowel? > Also, note that many vowels play multiple-roles: eg. a can be "ah" or "eh" or "er" etc. e can be "ii" "eh" etc usw. -- Ian Chai Internet: chai@cs.ukans.edu Bitnet: 665instr@ukanvax I don't believe in flaming. If I appear to be flaming, either (a) it's an illusion due to the lack of nonverbal cues or (b) my sprinkler system has suffered a momentary glitch, so just ignore me until it's fixed.