{"id":31970,"date":"2014-04-22T00:05:47","date_gmt":"2014-04-22T07:05:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/?p=31970"},"modified":"2014-04-22T12:59:31","modified_gmt":"2014-04-22T19:59:31","slug":"makes-vowel-vowel-consonant-consonant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/index.php\/2014\/04\/makes-vowel-vowel-consonant-consonant\/","title":{"rendered":"What Makes a Vowel a Vowel and a Consonant a Consonant"},"content":{"rendered":"
Mark asks: Why is “y” only sometimes a vowel? When is it a vowel and when is it a consonant?<\/div>\n

\"letters\"<\/a>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?<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cmyth\u201d or \u201chymn,\u201d the letter takes on a sound like a short \u201ci\u201d and the mouth and throat don\u2019t close when the sound is made. However, in words like \u201cbeyond,\u201d it acts as a bridge between the \u201ce\u201d and the \u201co,\u201d and there is some partial closure, making \u201cy\u201d a consonant.<\/p>\n

Another forgotten letter that has the same qualities as \u201cy\u201d is \u201cw.\u201d While \u201cw\u201d is almost always a consonant, it is considered a vowel at the end of words like \u201cwow\u201d or \u201chow.\u201d You can see for yourself when saying these words that your mouth doesn\u2019t fully close while pronouncing the letter.<\/p>\n

There are, of course, other differences between vowels and consonants. For instance, in English you can have vowels that are entire words, such as \u201ca\u201d or \u201cI.\u201d You won\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

There are strings of consonants that are sometimes written like full words, like \u201chmm.\u201d However, these are just sounds rather than actual words. You will also find that most words in English won\u2019t 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\u2014take the word \u201cstrengths\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cz\u201d 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\u2014so shouldn\u2019t it fall under the \u201cvowel\u201d category? The letter \u201cz,\u201d along with the letter \u201cs,\u201d actually fall under a subcategory of consonants called \u201cfricatives.\u201d Fricatives are sounds you make by pushing air through a small gap in your teeth.<\/p>\n

As you can see, the differences between vowels and consonants are more complex than you were probably taught in elementary school. It\u2019s less about the letters and more about how your mouth moves when you\u2019re saying them.<\/p>\n

If you liked this article, you might also enjoy our new popular podcast, The BrainFood Show (iTunes<\/a>, Spotify<\/a>, Google Play Music<\/a>, Feed<\/a>), as well as:<\/p>\n