When is w vowel

K sounds are produced by bringing the back of the tongue up to your soft palate velars. W is a rebel: it defies categories. It can also behave this way as part of a diphthong which is a vowel plus a glide , as in How now , brown cow? Want to know more about the story between U and W? Read about it here.

The Welsh language is a Celtic language still spoken in Wales—and, fun fact, in a settlement in Argentina. And, it is perfectly happy using W and Y , along with the other usual suspects as a vowel. English has borrowed a precious few words from Welsh that feature W as a vowel. In both words, W stands for the same sound that oo represents in boom or booth. Cwm and crwth are very rare words in English—and all the rarer for the way they showcase W as a vowel. In Slavic languages, a certain articulation of R can behave as a syllable all on its own.

This can called be a syllabic consonant, which can fill the vowel slot in a syllable. Is the w in cow a vowel or a consonant? Assuming it is considered a vowel, would it likewise be so in how? I learned that the vowels are " a , e , i , o , u , and sometimes y. If w can be a vowel, what other letters can be vowels? What is the definition of a vowel?

By the way, I know w can be a vowel, for example in the word cwm , described in the OED as:. A valley; in Physical Geogr. See Semivowels in English and When is Y a vowel? The sounds represented by the letter 'w' in English spelling are somewhat intermediate between consonants and vowels. Sometimes it is closer to a consonant namely a semivowel or glide because even though 'w' doesn't result in a substantive occlusion in the airstream, there is a restriction of airflow as with the similar glide y.

This occurs when the sound with corresponding letter appears at the beginning or middle of a word or syllable. But the letter can also represent a sound that is closer to a vowel when it is part of a diphthong a double vowel or a vowel followed by a glide, like in the word 'brown'.

As to 'cwm', it is a borrowing like the 'll' in 'Lloyd' that represents a non-native to English sound and the non-native spelling. It helped students memorize the five vowels and the two dependents. W is also a vowel in words like fallow , mellow , and hollow where it is silent, similar to the e in tube. And, of course, that rule follows for the y in turkey , monkey, and their ilk.

I don't have any research per se; I'm just really old and remember my elementary teachers. Sadly, you're right, students aren't taught anymore where their language came from and why grammar or spelling rules exist.

It's a diphthong. A diphthong is two vowel sounds in one syllable. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. But I can't think of a single word where W is used as a vowel. Are there any? Ou and ow are diphthongs — that is, two vowel sounds that kind of slide together when you say them.

W and Y are often called semivowels because they go both ways, as it were, depending on the company they keep within the word. Low morals are obviously a problem at every level of our society. In cow, for instance, W is a vowel, but make the word coward and you can hear W working as a consonant.

Similarly with Y become I in copy and copier. Regarding your column on the use of W as a vowel, the word Mr. There are of course others.