What Makes a Vowel a Vowel and a Consonant a Consonant
You already know that vowels in the English alphabet are a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes
y, while the rest of the letters are called consonants.
But did you ever ask yourself why the letters were divided into two separate groups?
Basically, a vowel is a sound that is made with the mouth and throat not closing at any
point.
In contrast, a consonant is a sound that is made with the air stopping once or more during
the vocalization.
That means that at some point, the sound is stopped by your teeth, tongue, lips, or constriction
of the vocal cords.
The difference explains why “y” is only “sometimes” a vowel.
Depending on which word “y” is being used in, it can represent different sounds.
In words like “myth” or “hymn,” the letter takes on a sound like a short “i”
and the mouth and throat don’t close when the sound is made.
However, in words like “beyond,” it acts as a bridge between the “e” and the “o,”
and there is some partial closure, making “y” a consonant.
Another forgotten letter that has the same qualities as “y” is “w.”
While “w” is almost always a consonant, it is considered a vowel at the end of words
like “wow” or “how.”
You can see for yourself when saying these words that your mouth doesn’t fully close
while pronouncing the letter.
There are, of course, other differences between vowels and consonants.
For instance, in English you can have vowels that are entire words, such as “a” or
“I.” You won’t see a consonant that is a word by itself, however.
Words in English need vowels to break up the sounds that consonants make.
So, while every word has to have a vowel, not every word has to have a consonant.
There are strings of consonants that are sometimes written like full words, like “hmm.”
However, these are just sounds rather than actual words.
You will also find that most words in English won’t have more than three consonants in
a row, because otherwise it gets to be too difficult for English-speakers to say it.
There are exceptions, of course—take the word “strengths” for example, which has
a string of five consonants (though it only has three consonant sounds in a row: ng, th,
and s).
In other languages, like Polish, long strings of consonants are more common.
Of course, there are also sounds made by consonants that can be repeated over and over without
a vowel sound.
If you were to repeat “z” over and over, like the sound of a buzzing bee, you would
find that your mouth remains slightly open and the sound is seemingly unobstructed—so
shouldn’t it fall under the “vowel” category?
The letter “z,” along with the letter “s,” actually fall under a subcategory
of consonants called “fricatives.”
Fricatives are sounds you make by pushing air through a small gap in your teeth.
As you can see, the differences between vowels and consonants are more complex than you were
probably taught in elementary school.
It’s less about the letters and more about how your mouth moves when you’re saying
them.
Ever wonder why “w” is pronounced “double-u” and not “double-v?”
The Roman Latin alphabet was adapted to be used for Old English.
Old English had a “w” sound, but back then the alphabet didn’t have a “w.”
Instead, the “v” sound was pretty close, so words that required a “w” were often
represented by a “v” instead.
In the 7th century, scribes started using “uu” to represent the “w” sound, which
is how it got its name.
However, printers used to use “vv” to represent the sound, which is how it got its
shape.
There are very few words in the English language that have two u’s in a row, and the only
two that are used frequently are “vacuum” and “continuum.”
Nearly all of the “double u” words were adapted from Latin, such as “duumvir,”
meaning “each of a pair of magistrates holding joint office in ancient Rome.”
A few are adapted from other languages, such as “muumuu,” a loose dress that is traditionally
worn
in Hawaii.