A word that is all vowels

I wrote this simple Python script to analyze the official Scrabble dictionary for words that contain each of the vowels and the letter ‘y’, as you requested:

vowels = set('aeiouy')
with open('TWL06.txt') as file:
    for line in file:
        word = line.strip().lower()
        letters = set(word)
        if vowels <= letters:
            print word

The result is below, sorted alphabetically (156 words).

I did the same thing, but omitted ‘y’. You can see those results (1905 words) here: http://www.michaelfogleman.com/static/files/vowels.txt

abstemiously
actinomycetous
adventitiously
aeronautically
ambidextrously
aneuploidy
antiregulatory
audiometry
authoritatively
autoeciously
autotetraploidy
autotypies
basidiomycetous
bimolecularly
buoyancies
cleistogamously
coeducationally
coequality
coevolutionary
communicatively
conceptuality
consequentially
consuetudinary
corynebacterium
coulometrically
countercyclical
counterrallying
cyanobacterium
cytomegalovirus
daguerreotypies
daguerreotyping
daguerreotypist
delusionary
denunciatory
devolutionary
documentarily
educationally
efficaciously
elocutionary
encouragingly
equationally
equilibratory
equivocality
equivocally
eudiometrically
eugeosynclinal
eukaryotic
eulogistically
euphonically
euphorically
evolutionarily
evolutionary
exclusionary
facetiously
gelatinously
genitourinary
gesticulatory
grandiloquently
gregariously
hellaciously
heterosexuality
homosexuality
hyaluronidase
hyaluronidases
hypercautious
hyperfastidious
hyperfunctional
ichthyofaunae
immunoassayable
immunotherapy
importunately
incommensurably
inefficaciously
instantaneously
insubordinately
insurrectionary
intravenously
magniloquently
mendaciously
miscellaneously
monumentality
mouthwateringly
mycobacterium
nefariously
neurofibrillary
neurogenically
neurologically
neuropathically
neuropsychiatry
neuroradiology
neurotically
oleaginously
ostentatiously
outwearying
overmaturity
oxyuriases
paramyxoviruses
perspicaciously
pertinaciously
phenylketonuria
phenylthiourea
phenylthioureas
pneumatolytic
polybutadiene
polybutadienes
praseodymium
praseodymiums
precariously
precautionary
psychosexuality
questionably
questionary
radiolucency
renunciatory
revolutionarily
revolutionary
sacrilegiously
semidocumentary
sequaciously
simultaneously
subordinately
subventionary
subversionary
successionally
sulfinpyrazone
sulfinpyrazones
superloyalist
superloyalists
supermajority
supernormality
supersonically
tautonymies
temerariously
tenaciously
turbomachinery
uncomplimentary
uncongeniality
uncopyrightable
unemotionally
unemployability
unequivocably
unequivocally
unexceptionably
unextraordinary
uninformatively
unintentionally
unquestionably
unreasoningly
unrecognizably
unrevolutionary
ventriloquially
veraciously
vexatiously
vituperatory
volumetrically
voyeuristically

Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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Page 1: equation, education, tambourine, communicate, ambidextrous, automobile, groundbreaking, evaluation, evacuation, commutative, euphoria, pneumonia, encouraging, cauliflower, intellectualization, revolutionary, saliferous, audiophile, adulteration, menstruation, sequestration, abstemious, gregarious, tenacious, facetious, equivocating, equivocation, pandemonium, rejuvenation, neutralization, Aeonium, praseodymium, authoritative, ostentatious, precaution, devaluation, coeducation, permutation, pertinacious, autosuggestion, hallucinogens, repudiation, Australopithecus, aeronautics, tourmaline, abstemiousness, exhumation, eukaryotic, exhaustion, and neurotransmitter

Word	Length	Consonants	Vowels	Syllables	Origin	Favourite
Equation	8	3	5	3	Old French
Education	9	4	5	4	Middle French
Tambourine	10	5	5	3	French
Communicate	11	6	5	4	Latin
Ambidextrous	12	7	5	4	Latin
Automobile	10	4	6	4	French
Groundbreaking	14	9	5	3
Evaluation	10	4	6	5	Middle French
Evacuation	10	4	6	5	Old French
Commutative	11	6	5	4	French
Euphoria	8	3	5	4	New Latin
Pneumonia	9	4	5	4	Ancient Greek
Encouraging	11	6	5	4
Cauliflower	11	6	5	4
Intellectualization	19	10	9	8
Revolutionary	13	7	6	6	French
Saliferous	10	5	5	4
Audiophile	10	4	6	4
Adulteration	12	6	6	5
Menstruation	12	7	5	4
Sequestration	13	7	6	4
Abstemious	10	5	5	4	Latin
Gregarious	10	5	5	4	Latin
Tenacious	9	4	5	3	Latin
Facetious	9	4	5	4	French
Equivocating	12	6	6	5
Equivocation	12	5	7	5	Old French
Pandemonium	11	6	5	5	Ancient Greek
Rejuvenation	12	6	6	5	Latin
Neutralization	14	7	7	5
Aeonium	7	2	5	4
Praseodymium	12	7	5	5	Ancient Greek
Authoritative	13	6	7	5
Ostentatious	12	6	6	5
Precaution	10	5	5	3	French
Devaluation	11	5	6	5
Coeducation	11	5	6	4
Permutation	11	6	5	4	Old French
Pertinacious	12	6	6	4	Latin
Autosuggestion	14	7	7	5
Hallucinogens	13	8	5	5
Repudiation	11	5	6	5
Australopithecus	16	9	7	6	New Latin
Aeronautics	11	5	6	4	French
Tourmaline	10	5	5	3
Abstemiousness	14	8	6	5
Exhumation	10	5	5	4
Eukaryotic	10	5	5	4
Exhaustion	10	5	5	3
Neurotransmitter	16	10	6	5

Vowel Words FAQ

1. What words use all five vowels?

Unfortunately, most of the words that contain all five vowels are too long to be useful in Scrabble and Words With Friends. They include unequivocally, abstemious, and unquestionably. Eulogia, miaoued, and miauos all use all five vowels and are eminently playable.

2. Are there five or seven vowels?

When it comes to speaking, there could be as many as 20! Even in writing, there could be more than A—E—I—O—U—Y—W. Archaeology, for example, could treat the ae as a single vowel similar to the ä in German. Generally, for crossword games, A—E—I—O—U are considered vowels, and the other letters are considered consonants.

3. What is the longest word that consists of only vowels?

The words with only A—E—I—O—U that are legal to play are all short vowel words of two or three letters. Examples include aa, ae, and eau. If you include Y, then you can get long vowel words like ayaya. You might read about other long vowel words, like a medieval musical term, euouae, but these are not legal in the Official Scrabble Players’ Dictionary.

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The most common words with the 5 classic vowels are the adjectives abstemious and facetious.

To include the semi-vowel Y in order, the adverb forms are abstemiously and facetiously.

A comprehensive list would be:

Aerious, Absteinous, Abstemious, Abstenious, Abstentious, Abstentiously, Aceriflorum, Aceriflorus, Acheilous, Acheirous, Acleistous, Adecticous, Adventious, Affectious, Aleikoum, Alpestrious, Anemious, Annelidous, Arsenious, Arteriosum, Arteriosus, Arterious, Avenious, Bacterious, Caesious, Camelious, Carnelious, Facetious, Fracedinous, Gareisoun, Gravedinous, Haeriously, Majestious, Materious, Parecious, Phragelliorynchus, Placentious, Tragedious

For reverse alphabetical order for vowels, there is duoliteral, juloidea, leeuwenhoekiella, muroidea, muscoidea, pulmonifera, punctoschmidtella, quodlibetal, quodlibetary, rudoiera, subcontinental, subhyoidean, subpopliteal, subvoiceband, suoidea, tutoiera, uncomplimentary, unconsiderably, uncontinental, unconvinceably, unnoticeably, unobliterably, unoccidental, unoriental, unpolicemanly, unproprietary

*Sorry, but Raeticodactylus has an A before the U so doesn’t count and if we’re just listing English words (as seems to be the case) then Marveillous and variations thereupon are also excluded.

Removed: Marveillous, Marveillously, Raeticodactylus,

The English Language has 44 English sounds. They can be divided into two main categories: consonants and vowels. A consonant sound is a sound where the airflow is stopped, either partially or completely, when the sound is uttered. 

On the other hand, a vowel sound is a sound where the airflow is unstopped when the sound is produced. The vowel sounds are the rhyme or shift of our language. Monophthongs and diphthongs are the two categories of vowel sounds. Vowel sounds are also divided into long vowel sounds and short vowel sounds.

In English, a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y are the vowel letters. The rest of the letters in the alphabet represent consonants such as b, d, g, n, r, s, and t. some consonants produce more than one sound.

Table of Contents

• What is a Vowel
• Monophthong
• Diphthongs
• Long and Short Vowel Sounds
• What is a Consonant
• Consonant Digraphs
• Consonant Blends
• Consonant Clusters
• Place and Manner of Articulation of Consonants and Vowels
• Some Fun Activities for Learning Vowels and Consonants
• F.A.Q Consonants and Vowels
• Conclusion

What is a Vowel?

A vowel is a speech sound where the mouth is open and the tongue doesn’t touch the top of the mouth, the teeth, etc. so that the flow of air is not limited. A vowel is a sound made by blowing air out of the mouth without closing your mouth or teeth. It is the louder sounding part of a word. It is necessary to know that there is a difference between a vowel sound and a vowel letter in the alphabet.

The English vowel sounds are written with letters in the English alphabet. All English words have vowel letters. They are vowels in English: A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y.  Y is “sometimes” a vowel because the letter Y presents both vowel and consonant sounds, like ‘fry’. 

Six vowel letters are used to indicate the 13-15 vowel sounds in English. This means the vowel sounds are more than letters in the English alphabet. Monophthongs and diphthongs are the two main categories of vowel sounds.

Monophthong

A monophthong is simply a vowel. The word mono represents one and phthong represents a sound. This means that monophthong represents one vowel sound in the word. If you notice the position of the tongue, the mouth will stay the same when these words are uttered.

In English – /i:/, /ɪ/, /ʊ/, /u:/, /e/, /ə/, /ɜ:/, /ɔ:/, /æ/, /ʌ/, /ɑ:/ and /ɒ/ are 12 pure vowels or monophthongs. let’s check the list of 12 pure vowel sounds with some examples

Sound	Examples
/i:/	heap, leap, feet, seat, read, beat, peak, seek
/ɪ/	lift, hit, kit, pick, bill, fill, till, him, pin
/ʊ/	Food, Fool, Cool, Cook, look
/u:/	To, You, New, Who
/e/	Bet, Met, Pet, Set, Bend, Lend, Send
/ə/	The, About, Could, Us
/ɜ:/	Earl, Pearl, Sir, Worm, worth
/ɔ:/	Mall, Hall, Shall, Fall, Tall, Wall
/æ/	hand, Land, Sand, Cat, Mat, Pat, Sat
/ʌ/	But, Up, One, Much
/ɑ:/	Start, Ask, Large, After
/ɒ/	Of, On, From, Not

Diphthongs 

A diphthong is a mix of two vowel sounds or vowel letters, like the sounds /aɪ/ in pipe /paɪp/ or the letters ou in doubt. The part ‘di’ represents two and the other part represents sounds. Although a diphthong has two different vowel sounds, they stay within the same syllable or unit of sound. 

The best way to know if a word has a diphthong with two vowel sounds, or a monophthong, is to listen to how it sounds when you say it out loud. If the vowel sound changes within the same syllable, it’s most certainly a diphthong.

Let’s check some examples of diphthongs:

long A to long E /eɪ/	long I to long E /aɪ/	long O to long E /oɪ/	long E to Ur /i/	long A to Ur /e/	short A to long U /aʊ/	long O to long U /oʊ/
play	cry	soil	Peer	Bear	clown	clow
Eight	pie	Enjoy	Hear	Hair	how	boat
clay	Eye	boy	Steer	Wear	brown	Toe

Long and Short Vowel Sounds

The sounds of the letters of the English alphabet can somehow vary. In some cases, it can get tricky. Not all letters produce the same sound in all words. The letters can have different sounds according to how they are used. 

The most popular sound for each vowel is its “short” sound. The short ă, pronounced /æ/ as in hat. The short ĕ, pronounced /ɛ/ as in bed. The short ĭ, pronounced /ɪ/ as in silk. The short ŏ, pronounced /ɑ/ as in crop. The short ŭ, pronounced /ʌ/ as in mug. 

“Long vowels” are the alphabet sounds when the vowel, “says its name”.  We call them ‘long’ because we hold them barely longer than short sounds. Yet, they are totally different sounds; They are not a longer version of the same sound. 

Long A (ā), pronounced /eɪ/ as in hate or fate. Long E (ē), pronounced /iː/ as in eat or heat. Long I (ī), pronounced /aɪ/ as in kite or night. Long O (ō), pronounced /oʊ/ as in coats, note or coat. Long U (ū), pronounced /juː/ as in cute or /uː/ as in glue.

There are some rules for what sound the vowels make in different examples. 

Vowel Position	Vowel Sound	Examples
If a word has only one vowel and ends with a consonant	Vowel makes a short sound	‘a’ in ‘jar’ ‘e’ in ‘nest’ ‘o’ in ‘not’ ‘i’ in ‘kit’ ‘u’ in ‘sun’
If a word has two vowels separated by two or more letters	The first vowel makes a short sound	as in ‘apple’ as in ‘octopus’ as in ‘basket’ as in ‘elephant’ as in ‘umbrella’
If  a word ends with the letter ‘e’ (magic ‘e’/ silent ‘e’)	The first vowel makes a long sound	‘hat’ becomes ‘hate’ ‘kit’ becomes ‘kite’ ‘cub’ becomes ‘cube’  as in ‘name’ as in ‘lime’
If  a word has two vowels walking together the first one does  the talking	The first vowel makes a long sound The second vowel remains silent	as in ‘pie’ as in ‘coat’ as in ‘grain’ as in ‘value’ as in ‘meet’

Let’s check the list of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA):

IPA	Example
/æ/	cat, bad, sad, sand, land, hand
/ɑː/	calm, palm, father, start, dark (British English) grass, can’t, half, bath (American English)
/ɒ/	god, pot, top, spot (British English only)
/ʌ/	but, cut, gun, come, some, glove
/ɛ/	get, bed, set, sell, fell, men
/ɪ/	pit, bin, fill, will, village, bullet
/i/ or /iː/	he, she, see, keep, family, hyperbole
/ɔː/	saw, straw, dawn, fall, call, wall
/ʊ/	put, full, good, wood, could, would
/uː/	you, who, chew, shoe, cool, tool
/ə/	a, syllable, moment, terrible, felony, papyrus
/ɚ/	mister, standard, editor (Am. English only)
/ɜː/, /ɝː/	curve, purge, herd, serve,

What is a Consonant

A consonant is a sound that is produced by blocking air from flowing out of the mouth with the teeth, tongue, lips or palate. Consonants may come alone or in clusters but have to be connected to a vowel to form a syllable.

English has 21 consonant letters, for 24 consonant sounds in most English accents:  H, J, K, L, M B, C, D, F, G, N, P, Q, R, S, T, V, W, X,  Z and (sometimes Y). The letter ‘y’ produces a consonant sound if at the beginning of a word ‘yellow’ but a vowel sound if at the end of a word ‘sunny’. 

Consonant Digraphs

Digraphs are two letters that produce just one sound. These are the seven basic consonant digraphs; ch, ck, th, sh, ph, ng, wh. Yet, some digraphs have more than one pronunciation.  ‘ghosts’ are some digraphs like ‘wr’ and ‘gn’ because the first letter is not pronounced. Let’s check the list of the digraphs with examples:

Digraph	Examples
ch	Makes the sound /t∫/ in Chair , /k/ in chorus and /sh/ in chute
ck	which makes the sound  /k/ sound as in click
ff	which makes the sound /f/ sound as in stuff
gh	which makes the sound /g/ sound as in yoghurt or /f/ as in enough
gn	which makes the /n/ sound as in reign and foreign
kn	which makes the /n/ sound as in know and knot
ll	which makes the /l/ sound as in hall
lm	which makes the /m/ sound as in calm and palm
mb	which makes the /m/ sound as in dumb and thumb
ng	which makes the /ŋ/ sound as in ring and hung
ph	which makes the /f/ sound as in photo, and elephant
sh	which makes the /ʃ/ sound as in splash and sheet
ss	which makes the /s/ sound as in less and grass
ss	which makes the /ʃ/ sound as in assure and issue
th	which makes the /θ/ sound as in three and myth
th	which makes the /ð/ sound as in that and them
wh	which makes the /w/ sound as in where and where
wr	which makes the /r/ sound as in wreck
zz	which makes the /z/ sound as in jazz and buzz
dg	Which makes the sound /ʤ/ as in edge and wedge
ng	which makes the /nʤ/ sound as angel
nk	which makes the /ŋk/ sound as in link

Consonant Blends

A consonant blend occurs when two or more consonants are blended together, yet each sound may be heard in the blend. The most common beginning consonant blends include: pl, pr, sl, sm, sp and st, bl, br, cl, cr, dr, fr, tr, fl, gl, gr. Blends can also appear at the end of words. 

Blends are most of the time categorized into r-blends, such as “br” and “cr”, s-blends, such as “sc” and “sk” and l-blends, such as “bl” and “cl”. There are also blends that include three consonants. Popular three consonant blends include str, spl, and spr.

Let’s check the list of two letters blends

blends	examples
bl	which make the /bl/ sound as in blend and black
br	which make the /br/ sound as in bread and brave
cl	which make the /cl/ sound as in clap and clip
cr	which make the /cr/ sound as in crab and crew
dr	which make the /dr/ sound as in drum and drag
fl	which make the /fl/ sound as in flame and flat
fr	which make the /fr/ sound as in fresh and frame
gl	which make the /gl/ sound as in globe
gr	which make the /gr/ sound as in grammar
nd	which make the /nd/ sound as in bend
pl	which make the /pl/ sound as in please
pr	which make the /pr/ sound as in print and prey
sl	which make the /sl/ sound as in slim and sleep
sm	which make the /sm/ sound as in smash
sn	which make the /sn/ sound as in snail
sp	which make the /sp/ sound as in spare
st	which make the /st/ sound as in strange

Consonant Clusters

Consonant cluster refers to two or more consonants positioned side by side in a word. They are also called consonant blends. The longest possible cluster in English is three consonant sounds at the beginning. They can be up to four consonants long at the end of the word.

Let’s check the list of consonant clusters examples:

Three-letter blends	examples
shr	which make the /ʃr/ sound as in shrimp
spl	which make the /spl/ sound as in splendid
spr	which make the /spr/ sound as in spread
squ	which make the /sqw/ sound as in squash
str	which make the /str/ sound as in string
thr	which make the /θr/ sound as in threw
lfths	As in twelfths

Consonants charts

Symbol	example
/b,(b)/	Bin, back
/k,(k)/	Cat, key
/ch,(ʧ)/	Check, cheese
/d,(d)/	Dog, doll
/f,(f)/	Fish, fries
/g,(g)/	Goat, great
/h,(h)/	Hotel, hat
/j,(ʤ)/	Bridge. Jigsaw
/l,(l)/	Lemon, ballon
/m,(m)/	Ment, lamb
/n,(n)/	Nest, pen
/ng,(ŋ)/	King, ring
/p,(p)/	Plenty, hippo
/r,(r)/	Rat, wrist
/s,(s)/	Sad, dress
/sh,(ʃ)/	Shine, splash
/t,(t)/	Tent, cart
/th,(θ)/	Thin, length
/th,(ð)/	There, father
/v,(v)/	Vowel, love
/w,(w)/	Where, well
/y,(j)/	Yet, yellow
/z,(z)/	Zero, prize
/zh,(Ʒ)/	Measure, television

What Do You Know about Place and Manner of Articulation of Consonants and Vowels?

Manner of Articulation refers to the “how” of making sounds. There are six different ways or manners of articulation. Place of Articulation refers to the ‘where’ of pronunciation. It is the location where sounds are made. Let’s check the below charts that show the manner and place of articulations of consonants and vowels.

Some Fun Activities For Learning Vowels and Consonants

Short Vowel Craft Stick: Learners take turns to say a word with a short vowel sound out loud. The other learners catch up with the correct sound stick.

Picture Sorts: Students hold cards with the sounds and have to match pictures to the correct sounds.

Short or Long? The teacher says a word out loud, and the students have to know the sound and whether it is short or long.

Bend letters with pipe cleaners: Kids use the pipe cleaners to make consonant sounds.

Find invisible letters with watercolours: Use a white crayon to draw letters on white paper. Provide the kids with watercolour, ask them to paint the paper, and watch the letters appear.

If you have access to a computer or another electronic device, there are a few online games that you could also play to understand the differences between vowels and consonants and recognising real blended words from fake words. Have a look at a few of the online resources that we think you will enjoy;

Phonics play is a great resource with endless games to choose from such as Buried Treasure, Picnic on Pluto, Dragons Den or Pick-A-Picture.

Topmarks is also another great online resource that has games such as Balloon Phonics, Spooky Sounds and Sound Sayer. These are fun and interactive games that will hold your classes or child’s attention while they learn at the same time.

ICT Games is a free online resource that has games like Rapid River, Phonics Pop, Viking Full Circle, Blending Bingo and Help a Hedgehog. These games help with a child’s reading, spelling abilities and to better understand phonics.

F.A.Q on Consonants and Vowels

Why is it important to know vowels and consonants?
Both consonants and vowels are very important in order to pronounce almost every word in the English language. Without vowels or consonants, it’d be impossible for us to talk.

What is the difference between vowels and consonants?
The main difference between vowels and consonants is how the letters are voiced. A vowel is spoken with an open vocal tract, allowing breath to flow out of the mouth, whereas a consonant is spoken with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract.

Do all words have a vowel?
Most English words have vowels, but there are a few words that don’t contain the vowel letters A, E, I, O, or U. It is estimated that there are over 120 words without vowels in the English language. A few examples of words with no vowels are why, hmm, myths, dry, shh and brr.

What is phonics?

Phonics involves matching the sounds of spoken English with individual letters or groups of letters. When learning to read and write at the beginning, children are taught how to pronounce and spell CVC words (consonant, vowel, consonant), examples being cat, dog, top, fit. Once three lettered words are understood, four letter words, CCVC are tackled, such as trap, stop, pram and CVCC words, such as milk, lamp, cart.

Which consonant has multiple sounds?
There are seven consonants in the English language that can have more than one sound. These are C, G, D, S, Y, and X. For example, the letter C can sound like an S (cell, city, cinema) or a K (cat, card, coat). The letter G can make a hard G sound (goat, gory, gate) or a J sound (gel, gem, giant). The letter S can make a soft S sound (sail, safe, snow) or a Z sound (logs, beds, was). It’s important for readers to understand that some consonants make more than one sound so they can pronounce them properly.

Does any word contain all vowels?

Yes, there are some words in the English language that contain all 5 vowels. An example of a word that contains all 5 vowels is “eutopia”. Did you know that Mozambique is the only country in the world which contains all 5 vowels in it.

Can all words be sounded out?

Unfortunately, not all words are phonetic, can be sounded out, these words are known as ‘tricky’ words and they must be memorised. If you try to sound out tricky words you will get a word that does not sound right. Some examples of tricky words are she, into, are, the, you and egg. ‘Tricky’ words can be, well, tricky to pronounce but repetition is the best way to learn them. A simple exercise to teach ‘tricky words is this;

Show the ‘tricky’ word, such as “two” and say it out loud. Put the word into a sentence, for example, “The boy has two dogs”. Then allow the children to make up their own sentences, for example, “I have two sisters”, “John has two cats”. Write the word “two” and keep repeating it with the class. Once children are exposed to the word repeatedly, understand the word and know how to use the word they will begin to memorise it. This is the easiest way to teach and learn non phonetic words.

Conclusion

So, vowels and consonants are the two main categories in the English language. There is no English word that contains more than three consecutive consonants. Each word contains at least one vowel sound. The English language has short vowel sounds and long vowel sounds. The pronunciation of the sounds is produced according to the place and manner of articulation.

SCIENCE — Life Science

Have You Ever Wondered…

• Does every word have a vowel?
• What is a vowel?
• Are there any words without a vowel sound?

How observant are you? All of the words you’ve read so far in these first two sentences have something in common. Can you guess what it is? We’ll give you six hints: a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y.

If you guessed that all of the words you’ve read so far contain at least one vowel, you’re correct! Of course, with such a good hint, it was probably fairly easy to guess the answer. But does every word have a vowel? You may have heard people claim that every word in the English language contains at least one vowel, but is it true?

Like many arguments that involve language, the answer isn’t a simple yes or no. It depends upon who you ask, how you define vowel, and what you consider to be a word. Since this question is still debated among scholars, let’s take a closer look at some of the issues.

For example, some scholars define vowel differently. Some argue vowels are speech sounds made with the vocal tract open. Others believe vowels are simply the letters of the alphabet that stand for the spoken vowel sounds, namely a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y.

There are a few words of Welsh origin that do not contain a, e, i, o, u, or y, including cwm (a deep valley in a mountainous region, usually with steep sides), crwth (a Welsh musical instrument similar to the violin), and cwtch (a hiding place). However, each of these words does have a vowel sound, since the w in each word stands for the “oo» sound you hear in words like doom and tooth.

If you’re looking for words that contain neither vowel sounds nor the letters a, e, i, o, u, or y, you need to look no further than shh, psst, and mm-hmm. Of course, some experts would argue that these aren’t even really words.

Others disagree. If you define a word as “the smallest unit of grammar that can stand alone as a complete utterance, separated by spaces in written language and potentially by pauses in speech,» then shh, psst, and mm-hmm would arguably fit that definition. Still, psst is the only one of those words that actually appears in the Oxford English Dictionary.

So what do you think? Which experts do you agree with? Regardless of what position you take on the issue, it’s clear that nearly all English words have at least one vowel, regardless of how you define it. Vowels are important and make nearly every word better!

Wonder What’s Next?

You won’t be down in the dumps after reading tomorrow’s Wonder of the Day!

Try It Out

Grab a friend or family member and explore the following fun activities:

• What other words can you find that don’t contain a, e, I, o, u, or y? Grab a dictionary and start paging through it, looking for words that contain only consonants. Can you find any others? As you’re searching, make note of any unique words you run across. You never know when you might expand your vocabulary simply by flipping through the dictionary in your spare time!
• Do you like to play word games? Take some time today to play a word game with a friend or family member. You could play a guessing game, such as Hangman; a board game, such as Scrabble; or a smartphone game, like Words With Friends. You could even work on an old-fashioned crossword puzzle together! Enjoy spending time together matching wits over words!
• Up for a challenge? Do some Internet research to discover which words in the English language contain the most vowels. Is there any word that contains all of the vowels? Quiz your friends and family members to see if they can think of any words that contain a lot of vowels. Have fun learning some new words!

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Wonder Contributors

We’d like to thank:

ahmad from SC
for contributing questions about today’s Wonder topic!

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