All Questions
Tagged with vowels consonants
16 questions
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Should 'a' or 'an' be used when referring to a mathematical usage of a parameter *n*? [duplicate]
I would like to state, in a different way, a sentence with the meaning:
Consider a matrix whose dimensions are n×n ....
For a quick context, the letter n simply represents a mathematical value (a ...
- 101
2
votes
2
answers
94
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Why does "pontoon" sound so uncommon or foreign? [closed]
Yes, I know "cartoon" sounds like normal English.
But why does "pontoon", which rhymes with it, sound somewhat odd?: Somehow the accent on which syllable combined with choice of ...
- 167
0
votes
1
answer
351
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Why does the diphthong /aʊ/ not occur before /k/, /m/, /p/, /b/, /g/ etc?
I have noticed that the diphthong /aʊ/ occurs before certain consonants. We have:
/aʊd/ in loud
/aʊt/ in out
/aʊs/ in house
/aʊn/ in town
/aʊtʃ/ in pouch
/aʊl/ in owl
BUT, we don't have /aʊp/, /aʊb/,...
user387044
11
votes
3
answers
2k
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Why doesn't English employ an H in front of Ares?
While watching the movie The Martian, a question arose regarding the name Ares:
Greek Gods were metaphrased into Latin when Romans took over. Ares (from the Greek Άρης) was now named Mars, and so on. ...
- 515
2
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2
answers
1k
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Pronunciation: vowels before dark L (Any accent)
To native speakers of English, how do you compare a vowel before a dark L and one without a dark L. Example words:
gold, goal, sold, soul, hole, hold, bowl, bold
go, so, ho, bow(noun)
.
pool, ...
- 165
7
votes
1
answer
1k
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Yod coalescence across words - only with "you(r(s))"?
I'm asking specifically about Yod* coalescence when connecting two words together.
Some very (neat) phenomenon in American English is to "fuse" you/r/s when the word ends in t/d/z:
I was thinking ...
- 906
4
votes
1
answer
1k
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Name for letter U in words like 'suede' and 'penguin'
What is the letter U called when it says the /w/ sound in words like suede and penguin? I've read that y and w are semivowels but the U in suede and penguin doesn't really conform to the definition of ...
- 47
2
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3
answers
14k
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Examples of lenition and fortition usage
The latest XKCD comic is titled Intervocalic Fortition. The latest Explain XKCD says:
The linguistic processes of lenition ("weakening") and fortition ("strengthening") refer to a sound becoming, ...
user182372
3
votes
0
answers
320
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Why is w considered a consonant? [duplicate]
I've always been taught that the character "w" in English was a consonant, except in very specific cases. However, on a recent trip to Wales, I learned that in Welsh it was considered a vowel. And ...
- 31
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2
answers
1k
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"Hwyl" - Is the letter "Y" counted as a vowel in this case?
While reading the answers and comments of When is "Y" a vowel? I thought of a few other words that seem to have "w" as a vowel but am not sure. In addition to "cwm" there is also "crwth" and ...
- 945
-1
votes
0
answers
64
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Using 'an' before a consonant [duplicate]
Depending on the word, using an before a consonant is not right.
What about in this phrase, "David has just gotten an SX250". To me, it does sound a lot better than "David has just gotten a SX250".
...
- 101
6
votes
1
answer
15k
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Name for words with same consonant sounds but different vowel sounds
Is there a name for words with the same consonant sounds, but different vowel sounds? For example:
talk, take
sit, site
taught, tote
bough, bow
My son has been mixing up these sets of words. I'd ...
- 253
5
votes
3
answers
16k
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Why was it necessary to divide alphabets into vowels and consonants?
This may be an extremely simple question. I know pretty much what do we do when we see any vowel but I am curious why were these two classes created in the first place.
I beg pardon for another ...
- 379
2
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2
answers
40k
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What are the most common letters used in pairs after others in the English alphabet? [closed]
I have a question which is somewhat similar to What are the most common consonants used in English? (on wikiHow). What are the most common seven letters that come second in pairs after consonants and ...
- 139
1
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0
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92
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Words using all possible vowels [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is there a word that contains all the vowels?
Is there a word in English that contains the 5 letters that are exclusively vowels (a, e, i, o, u) as well as the 3 letters that ...
- 11
3
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3
answers
1k
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French speaker here — How to pronounce "r" and "l"?
I'm a French speaker and actually I have some problems with the sounds l , r and o in lawyer. Do you have any advice for me on how to place the tongue and so on?
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