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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxl!ihnp4!fortune!grw
From: grw@fortune.UUCP (Glenn Wichman)
Newsgroups: net.nlang
Subject: Re: Words without vowels?
Message-ID: <3883@fortune.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 27-Jul-84 15:06:50 EDT
Article-I.D.: fortune.3883
Posted: Fri Jul 27 15:06:50 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 28-Jul-84 10:47:06 EDT
References: <3009@rabbit.UUCP>, <3871@fortune.UUCP>, <3875@fortune.UUCP>
Organization: Fortune Systems, Redwood City, CA
Lines: 24

bip
    >In general and simplistically: 
    >The word "vowel" refers to:
    >1....
    >
    >2. A class of sounds, generally a sound that can be "held" as
    >long as there is breath going out...
By this definition, all non-stops are vowels, including 'm', 'l', 'th'.
A better definition would probably include distance from tongue to palate, etc.

    >About "down":  "ow" is a way to spell a vowel.  Whether you want
    >to consider  the letter "w" as a vowel in such words seems to be a
    >matter of taste.
Actually, a diphthong.  At least in most American pronounciations, "ow"
is pronounced /au/.

	Ignoring whatever traditions may exist, I have always considered:
    a, e, i, o, and u to always be vowels in English [American];
    w, y, and r to sometimes be vowels and sometimes be semi-vowels
    (vowels within a word, semi-vowels at the beginning of a word).

					No cute signoff,

						-Glenn