VOWEL NONSENSE, PART TWO Featuring A and U, With An Assist From 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.

The vowel A wanders all over the place. Alone it is restricted to its name or the equivalent to “uh”, but pair it up with other letters and all bets are off. See below for the “au” combination, for example. To make matters worse, the British speakers and American speakers do not pronounce A the same way. Americans say the British use a “broad” A, and they say Americans use a “flat” A. If you are new to English, you get to take your pick, though sometimes you might not be immediately understood.

U is not much better since it starts out rarely sounding like its name without help and most often is the soft “uh” (which is also common to A, E and O in unaccented syllables) depending on the word. It most often sounds like double O (oo) as in the words truth and flute. Confused yet?

Linked with I, the U still sounds like “oo” as in the word suit, recruit and nuisance. Nice, you could even say consistent, but wait.

Pair U with A, and what you get with the combination “au” sounds like “ah” for the word nautical. In this instance, the duo sounds a bit like the British version of A. There is no hint of the U. Makes you wonder why it is even there. However, the “au” combination is not consistent. In the word laugh, the A takes over again, but makes its short sound when spoken by an American. For them the U is silent. Other examples of when the U seems to be silent are the words “caught” and “haughty”.

The U is also sometimes mute when paired with E, as in guest or quest. In these words, the U appears to be extraneous. So why is it there? The answer can be found if you search out the etymology of these words.

You may stumble upon “eu” or “ue” combos which sounds like “yew”. Examples of “yew” sound can be found in the words “eulogy” and “cue.”

All this flexibility is not kind to those who are learning English, whether native speakers or not. It also makes spelling a challenge. English has a lot in common with a maze—many likely, but wrong guesses. If only the vowels were less flaky, English would be so much easier.

#ESL #EnglishLanguage  #VowelsAndSpelling #Dipthongs #Digraphs