The
English Alphabet consists of twenty-six letters:
a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z Letters are divided into
Vowels and
Consonants.
We can perfectly sound the letters of
vowels without the aid of another letter. The vowels are
a, e, i, o, u.
The remaining letters are called
consonants. The term
consonant implies that we can use this class of letters only with vowels to form syllables.
Some grammarians add
w and
y to the list of vowels. Strictly speaking,
these are never vowels. The former often combines with
e to represent one of the sounds of
u (new, pew), and with
a to represent one of the sounds of that letter (saw), and with
o to represent long
o (snow), or the diphthong
ou (cow).
The letter
y is often used as a substitute for
i (my, happy, myrtle), but its distinctive purpose is purely consonantal.
A
Diphthong is the union of two vowels in one sound.
When we sound
both vowels, the diphthong is called
Proper, because then it is really a Diphthong, or
double sound; that is, the sounds of the vowels unite:
oi in
oil; ou in
sound. When we sound only
one of the vowels, the diphthong is called
Improper, because then, as one of
the vowels is silent, it is not
properly a Diphthong, though it takes that name:
oa in
boat,
ui in
suit, where
o and
i are silent.
The following diphthongs are in common use:
oi, oy, ou, ow, ae, ai, au, aw, ay, ea, ei, eo, eu, ew, ey, ia, ie, oa, oe, ua, we,
ui; as in
toil, boy, round, plow, seal, coal, head, sail, say, aught, yeoman. Of these,
oi, oy, ou, and
ow are generally proper diphthongs; though sometimes
ou and
ow are improper, as
in
famous, where
o is silent, and in
slow, where
w is silent.
A
Triphthong is the union of
three vowels in one syllable; as,
eau in
beau, iew in
view. The triphthong is properly a union of
letters, not
sounds.
The English Alphabet
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