what is the difference? Consonants and vowels are both letters so what's the difference?

Answer 1

Vowles and consonants are different kinds of sounds. The letters are just a way of writing them down. Vowels are sounds you can say continuously as when the doctor tells you to open your mouth and say "aaaaaaaa." You can sing a vowel. Consonants, in comparison, are momentary. If you tried to say bbbbbbbbbb, you would have to stutter and say b-b-b-b-b-b-b, continually starting over again. Vowels are usually written with the letters A, E, I, O, and U (and sometimes Y). Consonants are written with the other letters. Of course, if you listen, you will find some places where the system seems a little different. For example, you can say "sssssssssss" but if you listen, you will hear that while you can say it, you can't sing it.

Answer 2

There are two kinds of consonants and vowels: letters and sounds.

In sound, there is definitely a difference between consonants and vowels. Vowels are produced with relatively little obstruction in the mouth or other areas of the vocal tract. Consonants are produced with some kind of obstruction.

In letters, we just call the letters by different names. I suppose this started because certain letters are often used to represent certain sounds, like "a" is often used to represent vowel sounds. However, "y", which is usually called a consonant, is also sometimes used to represent vowel sounds, for example.

The spelling system of English was invented a long time ago and, at that time, it was a pretty good representation of the sounds. The pronunciation has changed since then, but the spelling hasn't.

Answer 3

Creeksong is starting to head in the right direction but is a bit off in definition.

If you get three or four terms straight, it's not too hard (and I hope I dont' make it so!)

1) "CONSONANTS" are sounds made by severly restricting or stopping the flow of air. Note that is not JUST those that stop the flow -- these sounds (like b,p, t,d, k,g), fittingly called "STOPS" [another useful term] are only ONE type of consonant. A great many consonants do not stop the flow, but they DO restrict it.

A way to remember this 'CONSonants CONStrict the air flow'.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/consonant
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consonant

2) "VOWELS" on the other hand, are characterized by how they SHAPE the sound --esp by positioning of the tongue and shape of the mouth-- without severly constricting the air flow. This is why they are so important to carrying speech and enabling us to open up our mouths and sing. Note that vowels almost always are "voiced" (sounded with the vocal chords); in many (most?) languages (English included) ALL vowels are voiced. A great many consonants --including those that don't stop the air flow-- are not voiced. This characteristic use of the voice (compare "vocal") is the origin of the term "vowel" itself.
http://www.webster.com/dictionary/vowel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vowel

So, what about consonants that DON'T stop the air flow? First, note that they DO severly restrict it, unlike vowels. But it's also helpful to recognize a third term. . .

3) "CONTINUANTS". This is another way of grouping sounds. In contrast to "stops" this includes all sounds which CONTINUE the air flow (do not stop it), so that the sound can continue to be made. This category includes ALL the vowels as well as MANY consonant-sounds. Some of the latter, like the "m"-sound, are VERY singable. (Of course, any consonant which does not use the voice -- like Creeksong's example of "s"-- cannot be sung. But this is because they do not use the voice, NOT because they are consonants.)

These include the "fricatives" (consonants formed almost the same as the stops, but letting some air slip through. For example: th (with or without the voice), f, v, the 'ch' of Scottish "loch"; the various 'sibilants' (s-sounds) -- s, z, sh, zh [the sound in "azure"]; the sounds of l,m,n and r.

http://www.webster.com/dictionary/continuant

On occasion there are sounds that sit on the vowel/consonant border, but usually within a language it is clear. (Thus, some continuants that we would consider consonants may be pronounced sligthly differently in other languages and may actually be treated as vowel-sounds. This is the case with "r" in some Slavic languages, for example.)

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So much for vowel and consonant SOUNDS. The other source of confusion has to do with LETTERS.

Notice that the letters are one step removed from speech. For the most part our "consonant"-letters match up with consonant-SOUNDS and "vowel"-letters with vowel-sounds. What causes confusion is:

1) Spoken language and written language don't always change together... so that a letter may be written that no longer matches the sound made. For example, silent letters (mostly consonants) -- lamb, knight, soften.

Most people understand this, so the real issue is. . .
2) There is a set of sounds called "semi-vowels" on the "borderline" between consonants and vowels. Based on how they combine with surrounding sounds they may become one or the other. This accounts for the letter "y" being for a consonant-sound in "yell" but for a vowel-sound in "shy" (and actually, the "y" originally marked a VOWEL sound, and still is used in English for vowel sounds much more often than for consonants). Similar is the letter "w" which at the beginning of a syllable marks a consonant-sound ("well"), but latter in a syllable marks a vowel. (In modern English this only happens in the vowel-combinations ['dipthongs'] "aw", "ew", "ow", though in words from Welsh it can stand alone [like cwm, pronounced "coom"])

Answer 4

Consonants accentuate speech, and vowels are longer sounds which shape the word and create syllables.

Answer 5

vowels are voices,
consonants are between vowels.
they are not voiced.

Answer 6

OAKLAND or
Oaktown.


THATS A BIG Difference. F.I.O!