Today I learned +

[Ruin Explorer]

The American version of “Praline” seems difficult for people outside of Louisiana.

Wait how do people pronounce it in the US? "Pray-leen" or something? My wife is American and speaks with a newsreader-style non-regional accent and says "Prah-leen" like the video says is a fine pronunciation and not completely different from how Received Pronunciation English says it (which you'd also render as "Prah-leen" just with a little more stress on the a).

 

[Cadence]

Wait how do people pronounce it in the US? "Pray-leen" or something?

That's what I thought it was. (Originally from the Midwest, now in the Southeast.. I'm not sure if I've said it more than a handful of times in my life though).

 

[Rabulias]

There are about 18 vowel sounds in English, but only 5 vowel letters plus y and w.

Why do you separate out W here? I consider W to be a full consonant.

 

[Autumnal]

So there we were, watching the 1943 Phantom of the Opera, complete with the subplot about getting Lizst to play a concerto composed by the Phantom to lure him out things end as they must and the credits roll. “Franz Lizst: Fritz Leiber”

blink blink blink

Turns out it was Leiber Sr, father to the famous, great, and important writer. I knew his parents were theatrical people, but didn’t know either had also been in movies.

 

[MoonSong]

Why do you separate out W here? I consider W to be a full consonant.

It's a semivowel sound. It does work like a vowel in some words.

 

[trappedslider]

TIL about this stuff, some i already knew about

20 Seemingly Unsolvable Mysteries

Get your tinfoil hats on.

www.cracked.com

 

[overgeeked]

Why do you separate out W here? I consider W to be a full consonant.

Is It True "W" Can Be Used As A Vowel?

A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y ... and W? Yes, the letter W can behave as a vowel. Let's learn more about this weird letter!

www.dictionary.com

 

[Rabulias]

Is It True "W" Can Be Used As A Vowel?

A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y ... and W? Yes, the letter W can behave as a vowel. Let's learn more about this weird letter!

www.dictionary.com

TIL. They are very rare words here in the US, but that will teach us not to steal words from the Welsh.

 

[overgeeked]

TIL. They are very rare words here in the US, but that will teach us not to steal words from the Welsh.

Sure. But it’s more than that.

Vowels and consonants are formed differently in the mouth. That's what separates the mouth sounds.

Most W sounds are far closer to vowels than consonants.

If you’re from the US, loose, goose, and goo make a long O sound. Hold that O sounds and pay attention to where your lips are.

The fact that you’re making that noise without putting your lips together or touching your tongue to the roof of your mouth is what makes it a vowel instead of a consonant.

Now make that same long O sound and hold it a few seconds before saying the word we. Your lips barely restrict before moving apart.

Say goo followed by we without a pause so it’s goo-we.

English has words that could be spelled with a w but aren’t like gooey. Just as easily could be goowe. Same sounds. Everything after the initial g is a vowel, including the W.

 

[trappedslider]