Vowel-Less words?

Question

Are there any words in the ENGLISH language that don't have a vowel? My husband is trying to tell me that in words where there is a y as the vowel that it's a vowel less word.. I said " NO.. Y is the vowel, therefore it's not a vowel-less word." Help me out here. Is it or isn't it.

Answer 1

Vowels are, strictly speaking, sounds, not letters of the alphabet.
The letters of the alphabet used to represent vowel sounds are a, e, i, o, u, w, and y.

The sound of "w" in "water" and of "y" in "yes" are called semi-vowels or glides; however, these glide sounds are not the only sounds which "w" and "y" represent. They can represent full vowels as well, as in "crwth" and "cyst" and "sky".

Furthermore, "w" is associated with "u" and "y" is associated with "i", so that "u" and "i" also represent the glide sounds in "water" and "yes", as in "quite" and "onion". Had history gone a little differently, we might now be spelling these last two as "qwite" and "onyon"!

So the little clause "and sometimes 'y'" is really a misleading little clause. It presupposes that the glide sound in "yes" is to be considered a consonant. Otherwise, the "y" would be considered a vowel the same as "a, e, i, o, u", i.e., always a vowel. And if "y" is not a vowel when a glide, then neither is "i", and there should be another clause saying that "i" is "only sometimes a vowel", it not being so when it represents a glide (as in "onion").

In summary, "i", "u", "y", and "w" are all used to represent both glides (semi-vowels) and full vowels.

By the way, there are a few "words", if we can truly call them that, which have no vowels:
Shhhh!!! Pssst!!! Sssss! Pff! Hmm. Mmm.

Answer 2

Bruce was correct in the fact that some words do not have vowels, such as "mmm," "grrr," etc. These words are called onomatopoeias. They are written ways to represent sounds. So although technically not a word.

Answer 3

All english words have vowels. Abbreviations can be vowel-less, but they're not words. And in words like "why" and "sky," the "y" is the vowel. Do you want the zip-code for Atlantis while you're at it?

Answer 4

rhythm



What I had always learned was that its a,e,i,o,u and sometimes Y which in that case would mean there is going to be a vowel in all words...

Answer 5

Words with y are vowel- less words. e.g. rhythm, cyst, lynx, etc.

Answer 6

The rule is aeiou and sometimes y.

Answer 7

is "mmmmmmmmmmmm" a word?

Whenever I have soup that's the sound I make.

Answer 8

gypsy .... vowels are A,E,I,O and U .... Y isn't

Answer 9

the english rule is: a,e,i,o,u and sometimes y and w.

Answer 10

sky,fly