HOME > WordMaster® > VOWEL／CONSONANT | 母音字、母音／子音字、子音
2009.02.10
People come in basically two different models - male and female - and together they've managed to create the whole human race. Letters, too, come in one of two kinds, and together they have given us every word in the English language. Ah, the power of two!
VOWEL / CONSONANT 母音字、母音／子音字、子音
- In the English language, a vowel is any of the letters A, E, I, O, or U, or a sound represented by one of these letters.
A consonant is any of the other letters in the alphabet, or a sound represented by one of these letters.
Be Careful! The letter Y can be used both as a vowel and a consonant. For example, when pronounced like the letter I in words such as “my” and “myth,” it is being used as a vowel. In words such as “yellow” and “beyond,” however, it is being used as a consonant. - 英語において vowel とは、A、E、I、O、U の文字、またはこれらのいずれかの文字によって表される音、つまり母音字、母音のことです。
consonant とは、その他のアルファベット、またはそのいずれかの文字によって表される音、つまり子音字、子音のことです。
注意：Y という文字は、 vowel としても consonant としても使うことができます。例えば、 my や myth などの単語において I のように発音されるときは、 vowel として使われていますが、 yellow や beyond などの単語では、 consonant として使われています。
- Every syllable has at least one vowel.
- When children learn how to read, they're usually introduced to the short vowels like in “ant,” “pet,” and “ring” before the long vowels like in “home,” “feel,” and “play.”
- Non-native speakers often have trouble hearing the differences between vowel sounds in the English language.
- The word “an” is used before nouns that begin with a vowel sound; for example, we say “an apple” and “an umbrella.”
- The word “a” is used before nouns that begin with a consonant sound; for example, we say “a book” and “a dress.”
- When changing the tense of English verbs, we sometimes double the final consonant ; for example “swim” becomes “swimming” and “pop” becomes “popped.”
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