Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site decwrl.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxl!ihnp4!zehntel!dual!amd!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-akov68!boyajian From: boyajian@akov68.DEC (Jerry Boyajian) Newsgroups: net.nlang Subject: re: vowels Message-ID: <2930@decwrl.UUCP> Date: Sat, 28-Jul-84 13:04:34 EDT Article-I.D.: decwrl.2930 Posted: Sat Jul 28 13:04:34 1984 Date-Received: Mon, 30-Jul-84 01:09:06 EDT Sender: daemon@decwrl.UUCP Organization: DEC Engineering Network Lines: 22 > Unless you don't count "r" phonetically as a vowel. I mean like > the vowel sound in words like "fern", "bird", "worm", and "urn". > Phonetically, that's a vowel though. > > On another subject, I have a housemate who claims that 'w' > is never a vowel in non-welsh words, whereas I claim that the > 'w' in "down" is a vowel. Any linguistics experts willing to > settle this one? > > -Glenn You are only half-right. The "ow" in "down" is a diphthong, which makes the "w" a semi-vowel. A semi-vowel is a consonant that sometimes behaves like a vowel when it is combined with a true vowel in a diphthong. The "r" in your above ex- amples is also a semi-vowel, because like the "w" in "down", it carries on the sound of the vowel that precedes it. "Y" is also a semi-vowel, though of course it is occasionally used as a true vowel, as in "gypsy" or "yclept". --- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Maynard, MA) UUCP: {decvax|ihnp4|allegra|ucbvax|...}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-akov68!boyajian ARPA: boyajian%akov68.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA