VOWEL NONSENSE, FEATURING “I” AND “O”

Vowels in the English language are not content to have just one sound like those in Spanish, Italian or even Japanese. English vowels strive for a full repertoire.

“I” is most to be pitied when it makes its short sound which is much like the squeak you might make when being strangled. When paired with another vowel, it tends to disappear within it as in pain, siege or seize, and suit. Add O to I for a whole different kettle of problems giving us oi, like the Yiddish “oy”, or the cases where I overcomes a bit as in riot or idiot. Notice the I’s in “idiot” are the short squeak version while the sound of I in “riot” is the long I (says its name). This is a typical trick you’ll find in English—words with similar, even the same spelling, are not necessarily pronounced the same!

Consider the letter O which when alone says its name (the long sound), though the usual spelling of this noise is written with a mostly unheard H (oh). O will sometime settle for the long “oh” sound when in words like in lode, more or joke (notice the silent E). But all too often it branches out. The O in come is pronounced “uh” (ignoring the influence of the final e. Also, the  short version may sound like “ah” when alone as in doff or con. But colored by a neighboring vowel, the letter O can be many variations: “oo” (ooh), “ou” (ow or ooh), “oi’ (oy).

See Part Two next month for more about vowels, including what happens to I and O when they are paired with A and U. That will be quite a whirl. If you lose your balance, you will not be the first. Good luck.

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