hi! iam raina could U plz tell me why a,e,i,o,u are called as vowels.
and why not other alphabets are called as vowels
2006-08-10 16:51:21 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
Here's the scoop on vowels!
This is from Dictionary.com:
vowel
c.1308, from O.Fr. vouel, from L. vocalis, in littera vocalis, lit. "vocal letter," from vox (gen. vocis) "voice" (see voice). Vowel shift in ref. to the pronunciation change between M.E. and Mod.Eng. is attested from 1909. The Hawaiian word hooiaioia, meaning "certified," has the most consecutive vowels of any word in current human speech; the English record-holder is queueing.
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary Online, vowels are:
1 : one of a class of speech sounds in the articulation of which the oral part of the breath channel is not blocked and is not constricted enough to cause audible friction; broadly : the one most prominent sound in a syllable
And Wikipedia has an excellent article on vowels that'll tell you more than you ever wanted to know:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vowel
2006-08-10 17:22:17 · answer #1 · answered by Snance 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
If you realize the vowels are used in all words in english the make the pronounce of the words. The vowels a e i o u and of course sometimes y
Example: Why
2006-08-11 03:14:03 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hi! Raina, vowels are independent sound syllables. Without vowels, consonants cannot be pronounced. For example: Can you pronounce 'pr'? Try, you cannot. With the help of vowels, you can. Now try these: poor, pure, pan, pen,pin, pot, pun etc. I hope you can understand now the importance of the vowels. Vowels are life and blood of a language. Without them, the consonants have no independent existence. Please refer English Pronouncing Dictionary by Daniel Jones. Good Luck!
2006-08-11 00:19:43 · answer #3 · answered by SRIRANGAM G 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Vowels are very important letter that allow you to say consonants properly. Oh, and there is sometimes "Y." As in cherry but not yellow.
2006-08-10 23:57:34 · answer #4 · answered by BigPappa 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The other LETTERS are called consonants and together, the consonants and vowels are called the ALPHABET.
2006-08-11 09:55:30 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because, they are not consonants & they (or their sounds) are needed to make most of the words in English.
2006-08-11 00:44:31 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
cuz they wanna be vowels
2006-08-10 23:56:29 · answer #7 · answered by A 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Bcoz when we pronounce this word our tounge not touches anywhere.
2006-08-11 00:02:12 · answer #8 · answered by aaryan 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i dont know either honey...
2006-08-10 23:57:50 · answer #9 · answered by angel r 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋