词条 | English words without vowels |
释义 |
English orthography typically represents vowel sounds with the five conventional vowel letters {{angbr|a, e, i, o, u}}, as well as {{angbr|y}}, which may also be a consonant depending on context. However, outside of abbreviations, there are a handful of words in English that do not have vowels, either because the vowel sounds are not written with vowel letters or because the words themselves are pronounced without vowel sounds. Words without written vowelsThere are very few lexical words (that is, not counting interjections) without vowel letters. The longest such lexical word is tsktsks,[1] pronounced {{IPA|/ˌtɪskˈtɪsks/}}. The mathematical expression nth {{IPA|/ˈɛnθ/}}, as in delighted to the nth degree, is in fairly common usage.[2] Another mathematical term without vowel letters is rng {{IPA|/ˈrʌŋ/}}, derived from ring by deleting the letter {{angbr|i}}. A more obscure example is ln. Vowelless proper names from other languages, such as the surname Ng, may retain their original spelling, even if they are pronounced with vowels. In the Middle English period, there were no standard spellings, but {{angbr|w}} was sometimes used to represent either a vowel or a consonant sound in the same way that Modern English does with {{angbr|y}}, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries. This vocalic {{angbr|w}} generally represented {{IPA|/uː/}},[3][4] as in wss ("use").[5] However at that time the form {{angbr|w}} was still sometimes used to represent a digraph {{angbr|uu}} (see W), not as a separate letter. This practice exists in modern Welsh orthography so that words borrowed from Welsh may use {{angbr|w}} this way, such as:
He intricately rhymes, to the music of crwth and pibgorn.[8]
There are also numerous vowelless interjections and onomatopoeia found more or less frequently, including brr (brrr is occasionally accepted{{clarify|reason=Even though it appears in dictionaries, it is not really an English word (the same sound can be made in the context of any other language) and it cannot be wrong to spell it with as many rs as one fancies.|date=July 2018}}), bzzt, grrr, hm, hmm, mm, mmm, mhmm, pfft, pht, phpht,[7] psst, sh, shh, zzz. Words without vowel soundsWeak forms of function words may be realized without vowel sounds, as in I can go {{IPA|[aɪ kŋ̍ ˈɡoʊ]}} and I must sell {{IPA|[aɪ ms̩ ˈsɛl]}}.[13] Some of these forms are reflected in orthography as contractions, such as {{'}}s, {{'}}ll, {{'}}d, and n't. (These can invoke syllabic consonants.) See also
References1. ^{{cite news|page= |newspaper= Yorkshire Post |date=December 21, 2007|publisher=Johnston Press Plc|section= |title=How to beat everyone at board games this Christmas |author= |accessdate=October 11, 2012|url=http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/features/how-to-beat-everyone-at-board-games-this-christmas-1-2484743}} 2. ^{{cite web|title=Are there any English words that have no vowels?|url=http://dictionary.reference.com/help/faq/language/t49.html|work=Dictionary.com Word FAQs|accessdate=4 October 2012}} 3. ^"Y, n.". OED Online. September 2012. Oxford University Press. 4 October 2012. 4. ^"W, n.". OED Online. September 2012. Oxford University Press. 4 October 2012. 5. ^{{cite book|last=Rogers|first=Bruce|title=You Can Say That Again!: A Fun Approach to Sounding Better When You Open Your Mouth to Speak|year=1999|publisher=Dumdum|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z5k0EfTSaTEC&lpg=PA104&|page=104}} 6. ^{{cite news |page=24 |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=December 27, 1986 |department=Saturday Review |title=Why The Silly Season Can Be A Bit Short On Fun |author=Alan Peterson |accessdate=October 11, 2012 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19861227&id=UHVWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=r-QDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2194,5181754}} 7. ^1 {{cite news |page=G8 |newspaper=Montreal Gazette |date=May 28, 1992 |department=News |title=War Of The Words |author=Charlie Fidelman |quote=Others memorize words without vowels: "crwth" for example, which means an ancient string instrument. Another is "phpht", defined as an interjection.}} 8. ^Dylan Thomas, Under Milk Wood, 1954 9. ^{{cite web|title=The Longest Word in the Collins English Dictionary|url=http://www.collinsdictionary.com/words-and-language/interesting-words/the-longest-word-in-the-collins-english-dictionary,38,HCB.html|work=Collins Dictionary website|date=4 April 2012}} 10. ^{{cite news |page=A18 |newspaper=Montreal Gazette |date=February 15, 1999 |department=News |title=At Scrabble club, politics get no score: Jerusalem group, founded by ex-Montrealer, unites Israelis from across the spectrum |author=Viva Sarah Press}} 11. ^Chambers Dictionary 12. ^Liddell & Scott 13. ^{{cite book|last1=Ladefoged|first1=Peter|authorlink1=Peter Ladefoged|last2=Johnson|first2=Keith|year=2010|title=A Course in Phonetics|edition=6th|publisher=Wadsworth|page=109|isbn=978-1-42823126-9}} 4 : Types of words|Vowels|Vowel letters|Lists of English words |
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