Poll--Pluto, Oceania, shameless plug for W as a vowel

[ElizabethB]

I am trying to get W reinstated as a semi-vowel!

 

I made a YouTube movie, "W Can be a Vowel," my daughter did the cartoon W and my son narrated Pluto.  

 

 

 

Here are the basics of why W should be a vowel if you don't want to watch the movie (9 minutes, I tried to make it fun while still educational.)

 

1. It acts as a vowel in the letter teams aw, ow, and ew.

 

2.  Its name--double u.

 

3. Noah Webster said so, from his 1828 Speller: 

 

W (as in we) and Y (as in Ye) are sometimes called semi-vowels, as being intermediate between vowels and consonants, or partaking of the nature of both.

 

 

4.  In the letter teams eu and ew, the 2nd letter is long saying its sound with w saying long u, just like the sound of ie in yield and uy, y saying i as in guy and buy.

Edited January 8, 2016 by ElizabethB

[ikslo]

I voted no on #3 because I thought it was spelled Oceania, rather than Oceana. :)

[ElizabethB]

I voted no on #3 because I thought it was spelled Oceania, rather than Oceana. :)

I will try to fix that--I also need to try to fix the Pluto question, it should be No, but I don't like it, not Yes, but I don't like it.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

Oh I mis-answered the Pluto question!  It should be No, but I don't like it.  

 

Team Pluto!   :hurray:  :hurray:  :hurray:

[ElizabethB]

Oh I mis-answered the Pluto question!  It should be No, but I don't like it.  

 

Team Pluto!   :hurray:  :hurray:  :hurray:

 

Yes, I am team Pluto too, that is why he is the co-star of my W as a vowel movie!!  He is not as cute as W because I drew him, not my artistically talented daughter, she is busy drawing comics for a phonics chart for me and did not have time to draw Pluto as well.

[Farrar]

Pluto is absolutely not a planet because I don't want to have to memorize any of the other random Pluto sized things.

 

But W is a sometimes vowel. I mean, not just in Welsh but in English too.

[FloridaLisa]

So cute that y'all made it a family affair! 

[purpleowl]

Oceania has always been a continent.  And it's always been at war with Eurasia.

 

I just don't like it because I can never figure out how to pronounce it without sounding really awkward. :p

 

 

 

W can certainly act as a vowel, and I'm fine with that.  Pluto is not a planet, and that makes me sad.

[Paige]

Pluto is a planet because I don't care what I'm told and do what I want.

 

Oceania is not a continent because it is not a large continuous land mass on a continental plate.

 

W is a vowel because of the vowel teams.

[ElizabethB]

Pluto is a planet because I don't care what I'm told and do what I want.

 

Oceania is not a continent because it is not a large continuous land mass on a continental plate.

 

W is a vowel because of the vowel teams.

I like the reasoning on Oceania. I am happy to see W ahead of Oceania so far, it is very encouraging for his comeback!!

[Rosie_0801]

I voted no on #3 because I thought it was spelled Oceania, rather than Oceana. :)

 

I really hate the word Oceania. The i bothers me. It's not a continent, it's a region. The Asia-Pacific region - Asia = Oceania. Possibly Oceania is a term only used by people who don't live there.

 

I think, maybe, w should only be a vowel if you are Celtic. 

[IsabelC]

Pluto has never been a planet and never will be. It was identified as such in error. And as Farrar said, who wants to have to memorize every dwarf planet lurking around the Kuiper Belt.

Yes, W can be a vowel. However, while you have every right to feel smug about knowing this, you are nevertheless fighting a losing battle. Language evolves democratically, so in a couple more generations the greengrocers' apostrophe will become standard usage and the omission of W from vowel lists will seem harmless in comparison.

Oceania is a gazillion islands (Australia alone includes more than 8000, despite being the most 'continenty' bit), so really it's the opposite of what we think of as a continent. Continents are once of those concepts that, the more you consider it, the less logical it becomes (eg there is no possible reason that Europe should be separate from Asia, without that same reason being able to apply to other regions). But we're stuck with them until somebody figures out a better way to divide the earth into large, simple sectors that make some kind of sense.

 

Edited January 9, 2016 by IsabelC

[73349]

No to everything.

 

Not every rock floating around out there is a planet; a vowel has to be able to function as the only one in the word; a continent is one large piece of land.

[Tanaqui]

You guys are stuck on whether Oceania is a continent. I have a better question - how many continents are there, and how are they defined? Answers to this question range from 3 to 7.

[abba12]

 

I like his answers.

Check out his other videos, especially the one about the difference between the UK, Great britain and England. And the one about vatican city explained. He even has a video about pluto

 

Pluto is a planet because.... uh.... well it's just so gosh darn cute!

Edited January 9, 2016 by abba12

[IsabelC]

Was just posting that very video, but you beat me to it lol

Edited January 9, 2016 by IsabelC

[SnMomof7]

I heart Pluto. But, sadly, it isn't a planet, and I don't like that.

[Laura Corin]

W is also a vowel in Welsh and there is at least one word that has come from Welsh into English. The word is 'cwm' which is a synonym for 'corrie' in physical geography. The word is pronounced 'coom' with a short oo.

[katilac]

W is also a vowel in Welsh and there is at least one word that has come from Welsh into English. The word is 'cwm' which is a synonym for 'corrie' in physical geography. The word is pronounced 'coom' with a short oo.

 

Maybe it's in your English, lol. 

 

I like how you say it's a synonym for 'corrie,' because that just clears it all up  :lol:

[Laura Corin]

Maybe it's in your English, lol.

 

I like how you say it's a synonym for 'corrie,' because that just clears it all up :lol:

I looked it up and the word in the US seems to be cirque

 

http://geology.about.com/od/structureslandforms/ig/erosional/cirque.htm

[Tanaqui]

You can also spell it with an Anglicized spelling, coom or coombe, I don't recall which and don't care to look it up.

[CadenceSophia]

This thread makes my very over tired brain very happy. When I was in Catholic school back before the Council of Trent we learned a little vowel chant of "A, E... I,O U...sometimes Y and W" But the next teacher didn't like it so we dropped the W part and it no longer rhymed. And I voted in the "Not but I don't like it" for Pluto because.. If Pluto isn't a planet, what did my very educated mother purchase nine of? Or did she just purchase nothing.. 

[Tanaqui]

My Very Energetic Mother Just Served Us Nachos - as the kids today say!

 

Not sure where you got purchased from.

Edited January 10, 2016 by Tanaqui

[Slache]

This thread makes my very over tired brain very happy. When I was in Catholic school back before the Council of Trent we learned a little vowel chant of "A, E... I,O U...sometimes Y and W" But the next teacher didn't like it so we dropped the W part and it no longer rhymed. And I voted in the "Not but I don't like it" for Pluto because.. If Pluto isn't a planet, what did my very educated mother purchase nine of? Or did she just purchase nothing..

My very eager mother just served us nachos.

 

Eta: Tanaqui, I didn't see your post when I typed this. Great minds?

Edited January 10, 2016 by Slache

[Tanaqui]

Lol, maybe! Though to be honest, IRL I'm inclined to just say that my very energetic mother just served us nine. Because that's how I roll. (Actually, I've long since memorized the planets straight and no longer need a mnemonic, but that's really beside the point.)

[SnMomof7]

I still make my kids memorize Pluto....because I heart it. I do include explanation, though. :D

[maize]

I looked it up and the word in the US seems to be cirque

 

http://geology.about.com/od/structureslandforms/ig/erosional/cirque.htm

I've seen cwm but only in books set in Wales; also combe/coombe but i think only in British books. I've never heard or seen cirque before, I'm guessing it is used mostly by geologists. I'm guessing Americans would mostly say valley or bowl.

[regentrude]

Since W can't be the only "vowel" in a word, I vote it isn't one.

 

Pluto? No opinion; since there is no qualitative difference between a planet and a dwarf planet, the distinction is pointless.

[CadenceSophia]

My Very Energetic Mother Just Served Us Nachos - as the kids today say!

 

Not sure where you got purchased from.

huh... I have no idea. That doesn't make any sense.  I never actually use the mnemonic and apparently my fingers and brain were not cooperating :)  I need one of those "Don't drink and post" mouse pads for sleepy posting. I had been awake for over 24h thanks to a toddler getting his first molars. 

[Sahamamama]

Oh my goodness, Elizabeth, your son is so ADORABLE! His voice is so precious, I just love this video! Your daughter's illustrations are wonderful, and the script is very clever and fun (yet informative).

 

My girls are asleep now, but in the morning I know they will enjoy watching the whole cartoon. ;) Thanks for posting this.

 

Yes, I agree with you, W should be classified the same as Y -- sometimes a consonant, sometimes a vowel. It isn't exactly the same, though, is it? I mean, Y can act like a vowel independently, as in "baby" or "really" or "my" -- it's the only vowel in the syllable, or even the only vowel in the word. Does W do that, or it is always part of a vowel team -- AW, EW, OW? I still think it functions as a vowel quite often, but in a different way than Y.

[ElizabethB]

Oh my goodness, Elizabeth, your son is so ADORABLE! His voice is so precious, I just love this video! Your daughter's illustrations are wonderful, and the script is very clever and fun (yet informative).

 

My girls are asleep now, but in the morning I know they will enjoy watching the whole cartoon. ;) Thanks for posting this.

 

Yes, I agree with you, W should be classified the same as Y -- sometimes a consonant, sometimes a vowel. It isn't exactly the same, though, is it? I mean, Y can act like a vowel independently, as in "baby" or "really" or "my" -- it's the only vowel in the syllable, or even the only vowel in the word. Does W do that, or it is always part of a vowel team -- AW, EW, OW? I still think it functions as a vowel quite often, but in a different way than Y.

Thanks!!

 

W is always as a vowel as part of a vowel team except in the Welsh import cwm which, apparently, only Laura Corin and about a dozen of us here know is a word in English. It is the part of the vowel team making the u sound in ew, though, e does not say u, u and w do.