VOWELS
Today we’re going to talk about vowels, because really, they’re everywhere. They’re so ridiculously common that Scrabble only gives me one freaking point for them. Even the damn U! Which is like impossible to use. And if you pick one, you hold onto it for the entire game because what if you pick the Q and you already used the U you had? Then you’ll be kicking yourself and scrambling (Not to be confused with scrabbling, which spellcheck says is a word. And I just looked it up and apparently it means to “scratch” or “scrape”. And what do you know! The Scrabble tiles have letters scratched into them! Very clever Hasbro!) to use those lame U-less Q words like Qabala, Qabalah, Qadi, Qaid, Qanat, Qat, Qi, Qindar, Qintar, Qiviut, and Qoph. Oh I’m sorry, do you not have all the U-less Q words memorized? Obviously you’re not an awesome Scrabble player such as myself.
Letter frequency isn’t a precise science since it depends on the source text you’re working with, but from what I found, it was common for 4 of the top 5 most frequently used letters included A, E, I, and O, with E being the undisputed champion. Vowels, unlike consonants, are letters that can be pronounced without compression or closure of the airway so there is minimal build-up of air as the letter is spoken.
The word “vowel” stems from the Latin word “vocalis” which means “speaking” due to the fact that speaking would pretty much be impossible without vowels. While we’re on the subject of Latin, take the five common vowels from the English language and say them in Latin:
A – pronounced: “ah”
E – pronounced: “eh”
I – pronounced: “ee”
O – pronounced: “oh”
U – pronounced: “oo”
Say them outloud. No really, say them, I’ll wait. Notice that as you say them, the sound starts from the back of your throat with “ah” and progresses forward until you get to “oo” which practically falls off your lips as you say it. Neat right? I would tell you about how W can sometimes be considered a vowel, but now you’ll be too busy reciting the Latin vowels in your head all day, so we’ll save that for another time.
NOW TELL ME SOMETHING I DON’T KNOW.
Gee, I just wanted to know if Qabalah was the traditional way to spell Kabalah – and had anyone let Madonna know?
My Scrabble dictionary says that “Qabalah” means “Cabala” and “Cabala” means “an occult or secret doctrine”.
Scandalous! I fear telling Madonna might send her over the edge though. She’s been having troubles with A-Rod lately.
Madonna’s ALWAYS had trouble with a-rod of one type or another.