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.
In my home town of Dundee (a city in Scotland), our local dialect of Scots can have an entire sentence only of vowel sounds – “I have eaten it all” becomes something resembling “Eh A ih ah”
I don’t know if you know this but the reason English vowels are so screwed-up and seldom pronounced as you would expect from the original Latin values which are used in most world languages, is a sound change called the Great Vowel Shift. It was a chain-reacting sound change where long Old English vowels shifted up one level:
a > [e]
e > [i]
i > [ai]
o > [u]
u > [au]
This is the reason e.g. ee, which used to be a long [e] sound, is now pronounced [i], and oo, which used to be a long [o] sound, is now [u] etc. Of course the matter is a bit more complicated and the exact value depended on the surrounding consonants. But bottom line is, that is the basic reason for the fucked-up-ness of English vowels.
Punta is a form of rhythmic music from the Garifuna people of Central America. With the addition of electric guitar and other modern instruments in the late 1970′s, the traditional sound tranformed into Punta Rock and became almost immediately popular in Belize and spread quickly throughout Central America. Punta Rock is now considered a legitimate world music genre.
So if you ever get tired of explaining why there’s no longer any puns at Puntabulous.com, simply sigh at them with an annoyed/puzzled look and say, “Do you know *nothing* of the Garifuno culture?”
(Somewhat ironically, traditional Punta is closely linked to an ancient rhythm called Bunda, an African word translated as “buttocks.”)
I’m always surprised by the number of people who don’t know that peanuts grow underground. A friend from Colorado was visiting last year and when we passed a peanut field he asked me to stop so he could “pick some peanuts”.
I know your awsome brain already knew this, so I guess I blew Teach Me Something Tuesday, Oh Well
Surprise! I’m another person that didn’t know that about peanuts. (Dammit, Jim, I’m an artist not an agronomist!)
You mean you don’t just pick them off the plant and squeeze the butter out of them?
Vowels definitely make or break the final puzzle on Wheel of Fortune.
I can think of something else that starts at the back of the throat and progresses forward until you get to “oo,” but I’ve a feeling you already know about it, Craig.
As I was saying before I accidentally hit the wrong button, if you choose the wrong one, you’re screwed.
Dave S.: “Squeeze the butter out of them”, I must fight the temptation, fight it Mark, Fight!
Mark: “To fight this, strong enough, you are not.” ―Yoda
I gotta tell you, Latin sounds pretty damn fascinating.
OK OK! I Love squeezing the butter out of peaNuts!
God, I feel so dirty.
Peanuts are not actually nuts, they are legumes, which are closely related to peas. Although they are considered nuts by the foodies, the botanists consider them fruits.
On an unrelated note, the first man made object to break the sound barrier is the whip. The crack a whip makes is when the tip beaks the sound barrier and creates a tiny sonic boom.
John: Yes they are legumes like peas, Ahhh, sweet baby peas smothered in butter. I can think of a few other things that are called nuts but actually aren’t.
Of course I’m talking about grape nuts.
Vowels in latin = same pronunciation in spanish!
So cool!
Japanese vowels resemble the Latin (and Romance language) vowels, and go
ã‚ “ah”
ã„ “ee”
ㆠ“oo”
㈠“ay”
㊠“oh”
This is how things are “alphabetized,” since Japanese phonetic letters are attached to the vowels sounds, with the exception of ã‚“ (“n/m”). So when you recite the Japanese “alphabet,” it goes vowels first, then each consonant attached to these vowels:
“ah” “ee” “oo” “ay” “oh”, “ka” “kee” “koo” “kay” “koh”, “sa” “shi” “soo” “say” “soh”, etc.
But a more traditional way of reciting the Japanese alphabet is to use a poem that uses every phonetic letter once. This is still used, for example, to order series in outlines and documents [like we use a) b) c), etc]. This ordering method is called “ã„ã‚㯔 (say: “ee” “roh” “ha”), after the first three letters of the poem.
As an English Teacher, I can say that W is used as a vowel if the word has a Welsh origin, such as ‘cwm’. There is some debate on whether dipthongs containing w such as ‘cow’ represent a vowel itself or just mark a vowel sound.
Speaking of Peanuts; in the comic strip, Peppermint Patty’s real name is Patricia Reichardt. Also, the first line of dialogue in the comic was spoken by a character named Shermy, who never appeared in the strip after 1969.
Does anybody remember a guy named Craig. I heard he had to attend a mandatory sexual harassment seminar at work, and when he found out they were total buzz killers, he decided to retire to Florida.
But that’s just a rumor.
Mark: I think I speak for everyone when I say: “Uh, what?”
I’m still confused about peanuts.
Kari Emil: That’s really cool about the Great Vowel Shift! I didn’t realize they all shifted together.
BeRightBack: I didn’t know that about the Japanese alphabet. Thanks!
What confuses you?
I was going to demand information on umlauts, but then I looked it up in Wikipedia and decided that umlauts are boring. Or maybe its just linguistics articles.
There have been a few books that didn’t contain the letter “e”. The first (I think) was Gadsby by Ernest Vincent Wright, written in 1939 (which you can see here)
In 1969, Georges Perec wrote the french book La Disparition (The Void), which didn’t contain any “e”s ["e" is the most common letter in French also]. In 1994 it was translated into English by Gilbert Adair, and the translation also didn’t have any “e”s in it. It’s also been translated into German (without “e”), Spanish (without “a”, the most common letter in Spanish), Turkish, Swedish, & Russian [without the most common letter of those languages].
I tried to read it once but didn’t make it beyond the first page. Actually, I don’t think I made it much beyond the first sentence.
I thought I’d figured out Mark’s statement, but there aren’t any P, Q, or V in his sentence so it’s not that every letter is used.
Then I looked at work lengths (4, 7, 8…) and the difference in word lengths starts off 3 1 and I thought “PI!” but it doesn’t work.
Then I decided I’d exhibited plenty of geekiness for 8:30am and I should probably save some for later in the day.
Ever been to Wales, Craiggers? I can assure it IS possible to speak without using vowels…although you gotta use a lotta L’s and Y’s instead.
Dave S: I took two and a half years of Latin in high school, and I gotta tell ya, Latin is in NO way fascinating.
(O, S, T, MUS, TIS, NT…who out there is with me????)
HUGS…
Ryan R: But not MY linguistics articles right?
Heather: Wow. Gadsby is impressive. I could only read the first paragraph though. It’s a bit jarring. I miss my E’s.
Dave S. and Polt: I took a semester of Latin in college and Don’t remember squat.
This whole entry is bringing back PTSD memories of my college dialects courses (I was a theatre geek). I spent weeks learning how to write anything in phonetics and practicing the difference in pronunciation between “whether” and “weather” or “whine” and “wine.”
Also, after 4 semesters of French, I’m convinced that it’s the romance language most likely to evolve into nothing but random vowels strung together by occasional guttural noises.
Okay, I confess, I said the latin vowels outloud (if quietly). Very cool.
In light of the peanut talk (yes, even way up here in the great white north we know peanuts grow underground. duh!), the peanut allergy is the most common cause of food-related death. Scientists in North Carolina have created an allergy free peanut.
Here are some of the symptoms which may indicate you are having an allergic reaction to peanuts:
Possible symptoms of reaction to peanuts may include (not necessarily in this order):
*sense of foreboding, fear, or apprehension
*flushed face, hives, swollen or itchy lips, mouth, eyes, or tongue
*tightness in mouth, chest or throat
*difficulty breathing or swallowing, drooling, wheezing, choking, coughing
*running nose, voice change
*vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, stomach pains
*dizziness, unsteadiness, sudden fatigue, rapid heartbeat, chills
*pallor, loss of consciousness, coma, death
I personally do not have a peanut allergy but after gagging on a HUGE spoon of peanutbutter as a child at age 3 (thanks Uncle Owen – who laughed his ass off) I can no longer tolerate the smell of peanutbutter even in cookie form. Peanuts are fine, once the butter is squeezed out (I’m never going to look at peanutbutter the same way again after this thread) – gag-o-rama.
Craig, Polt, and Jere: Besides a little bit of tlhIngon, I’ve never learned a language before (art & design school doesn’t really require another language so much) (well, outside of color theory anyway) (sorry — design joke) (trust me, it was funny) (fake-laugh with me…), so I think it’s just the romanticsim of knowing another language.
Dave S: Oh goodness. Is “tlhIngon” Klingon for Klingon?
Craig, it’s *your* turn to get 10 points today!
Teach Me Something Tuesday Question: Do most of the people that read this site not work? I have a feeling that Craig is like heroin to some of you and you need your fix 10 times a day…not that that is a bad thing but can Craig satisfy so many…?
P.S. i will check in hourly to see if anyone responded…
Define this “work” you speak of.
I’m with Dave. Work is a rather loose term. I’m at my place of employment. Does that count? I don’t check hourly but when there are lots of great comments I check more so I can fake-laugh at Dave’s graphic design jokes.
Oh forgot to add that I am quasi-fluent in French, just to make Dave jealous. Although I don’t know that many swear words. However I can tell you to get cracking on that memo I need by end of day Friday. Always a useful skill.
If you are getting paid to read puntabulous you are doing better than I am so i guess I am just jealous.
Dave S. I can fake my way through any bar or police station in Japan speaking Japanese. Seeing that you are soon-to-be-single studying another language will open a whole new set of possibilities for hooking-up and nothing drives an ex crazier than when you hook up with someone from a different country…
“Nothing drives an ex crazier than when you hook up with someone from a different country”
Oh my. Petasse!
Something you may not know. camping is fun…..except when there is a crazy ass thunderstorm. Then it’s just muddy.
I’ve been saving my little titbit for the perfect opportunity. And it seems today is the day. I can teach you something about two of your favorite things in the world, Craig.
JRR Tolkein and CS Lewis both taught at Oxford University and were great friends. They spent many hours together playing Scrabble. And they were allowed to use the words and languages they made up in their literary endeavors as scrabble words. No stinkin “no foreign words rules” for them! Can you imagine what that scrabble board looked like? Elvish, and Mordo Tongue, Entish and Dwarvish words all over it?
See two of your favorite things ( Lord of the Rings and Scrabble in one factoid)!Ta da <–curtsying.
Dee Loralei: You toally win for best fact today! I love it!
All this confusion with letters is why I became an accountant!
5 is still 5 even if it comes after a “C”!
C5! You sank my Battleship!!!
When your car decelerates, a helium balloon inside the car will float to the back of the car, in contrast to everything else that rolls to the front.
Craig: Your linguistics articles are sweet.
Sigh…
I’m home from work, so naturally I have no more time today for Puntabulous.
I was going to make a comment about the Great Vowel shift, except that Kári took the words right out of my mouth!
I had seen something else about other vowel shifts occurring in US English, and I found this link –> http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AmericanAccentInfluences
Evidently, some of the messiness from the Great Vowel Shift is being cleaned up in US English as accents change: caught/cot, pin/pen, etc.
As an addendum to the stuff about the Japanese alphabet…
It’s ordered in a specific way – starting with “a” and ending in “n” – which has meaning on many levels.
In a practical sense, it starts with the vowel sounds by themselves, and ends with the only sound that has no vowels.
Spiritually, it represents the range of mantras one recites, and ends in “n”, which sounds a lot like “aum”, the mantra Buddha is supposed to have said when he finally became enlightened.
And my favorite: “a” is like the noise “ahh!” you make during sex as you build to climax, and “n”, which can sound like “mmm” or “ngg” is the sound you make when you reach orgasm. Yay!
Umm who doesn’t know this? Learning the places of articulation for vowels isn’t that complicated. Doesn’t everyone learn that in English?!
Wow Nicky, who peed in your cereal?
Hayden: Just because I am AT work, doesn’t mean that I’m actually workING. Big difference there.
I work in county government, like I’m the only one there going on the Internets when I’m not supposed to be. Pffft. Good work if you can get it, I tell ya.
HUGS…
lol. no one.
I just like when Teach Me Something Tuesday is something real RANDOM that I don’t learn in school. Nah mean? Like that “&” one was pretty sweet.
Maybe I’m just annoyed you haven’t watched any of my movies yet. haha
Fine. Let me see if I can work some magic with my Netflix queue…
Yeah, it’s really cool about the Great Vowel Shift that once a moved up one level, instead of merging with the vowel already there, that one shifted up too etc. These kinds of sound changes occur most often with vowels (though over-all they tend to be rare) but one notable instance is when the Germanic Grimm’s Law occurred (Remember the Brothers Grimm? They were the ones who publicised that sound law, they didn’t just collect Red Riding Hood stories, you know?) But you can look it up on Wikipedia if you’re interested. It explains why Latin has pater with a p and a t, while English has father with an f and a th, and why Latin has frater with an f and a t, but English has brother with b and a th.