A matter of definitions

Brian Wilson

The rules were simpler when I was younger, or at least the rules we talked about were.

The vowels were A, E, I, O, U and sometimes Y and that was it.

To be sure sometimes the letters would act a little weird depending on their placement in the words. These rules were reinforced in phrases like “When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking” or “I before E except after C or when sounding like A as in neighbor and weigh.”

The rules were clear and clearly defined, at least to the level of understanding of my 6-year-old self. I remember with fondness the brightly colored cartoon letters in the giant flip book my kindergarten teacher used to help teach us about letters and the sounds they make.

I remember learning about how some letters could have different sounds depending on the word or even within the same word. I also learned about how some letters had special buddies like Q was almost inseparable from U and how that was quite normal or spilling the tea about the special relationship between T and H and how when they are together they have their own unique sound. When I was older I got told they were digraphs and how some digraphs could be diphthong or you get really far out there triphthongs - although that just seems excessive to me. I also eventually learned about how, what the letters wore in the form of things like umlauts, accent marks and other accouterments, could change the sounds they made and the role they played in a word.

Through this all, in my mind they were still the bright pink cartoon letters that just really enjoyed each other’s company.

The world to my elementary school mind was an orderly place. There were neat divisions. Letters were either consonants or vowels and we just didn’t talk about Y.

While getting ready for a weekend camping trip, my son informed me this week that W was also a vowel. Or so he had recently learned.

Say what now? This is where things get a bit wonky. While most of us don’t give much thought to the relationships between letters grouping up in syllables which form words and sentences, there are folks called phoneticians who make a living studying and labeling all of this.

This is where technical definitions about the level of constriction of the flow of air from the lungs come from. It is these label makers who have decided to brand W as a vowel because it hangs around with a lot of its vowel buddies and often sounds like them. The explanation is that W is a vowel when it is with A, E or O and changes the sound those letters make. To their way of thinking this labeling is just wonderful. I beg to differ.

I would argue that, the somewhat squishy science of phonetics aside, that W is more of a wingman of letters that goes along as a consonant buddy for his vowel friends to provide support.

Or to put it another way, the W is a consonant that helps the vowel feel comfortable and secure in expressing their own voice.

If anything, the W is a vowel ally. The W is like the dad who is willing to give hugs to whoever needs them and helps make them feel whole.

And if you think about it, it is a pretty cool thing to be a W regardless of what label someone happens to slap onto you because of it. *** I have a somewhat sad update on the robin family that made a home in the shrubs by the front door.

After not seeing Ramona robin around I peeked into the nest anc instead of the three bright blue eggs that had been there, there was only one egg with its shell broken. I am guessing a critter got to it and had the eggs for their dinner.

Brian Wilson is News Editor at The Star News.