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{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
In most languages of the world, all or nearly all words have vowels. In conservative rhotic dialects of English such as [[Scottish English]], and [[Rhotic and non-rhotic accents|non-rhotic English dialects]] such as [[Received Pronunciation]], every [[lexical word]] must contain at least one [[vowel|spoken vowel]] in its pronunciation. In some rhotic dialects, such as [[General American]], a word may contain no other vowel sounds if it instead has a syllabic [[R]] somickey mouseund, as in ''word.''
{{short description|none}}
{{IPA notice}}
[[File:Cwtch.jpg|thumb|heart-shaped shop sign stating "Anybody can cuddle but only the Welsh can [[cwtch]]"]]
[[English orthography]] typically represents [[vowel]] sounds with the five conventional vowel letters {{angbr|a, e, i, o, u}}, as well as {{angbr|y}}, which may also be a consonant depending on context. However, outside of abbreviations, there are a handful of words in English that do not have vowels, either because the vowel sounds are not written with vowel letters or because the words themselves are pronounced without vowel sounds.


==Words without written vowels==
However, there are many words that do not contain a '''vowel letter''' (defined as [[A]], [[E]], [[I]], [[O]], [[U]]) in their written form. In most of these, such as ''try,'' the letter [[Y]] stands for a vowel sound. (Abbreviations such as ''[[Kilometre|km]]'' are not considered words in their own right.)
There are very few lexical words (that is, not counting interjections) without vowel letters. The longest such lexical word is ''[[wikt:tsktsks|tsktsks]]'',<ref name="board">{{cite news|newspaper= [[Yorkshire Post]] |date=21 December 2007|publisher=Johnston Press Plc|title=How to beat everyone at board games this Christmas |access-date=11 October 2012|url=http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/features/how-to-beat-everyone-at-board-games-this-christmas-1-2484743}}</ref> pronounced {{IPA|/ˌtɪskˈtɪsks/}}. The mathematical expression ''[[wikt:nth|nth]]'' {{IPA|/ˈɛnθ/}}, as in ''delighted to the nth degree'', is in fairly common usage.<ref name=dictcom>{{cite web|title=Are there any English words that have no vowels?|url=http://dictionary.reference.com/help/faq/language/t49.html|work=Dictionary.com Word FAQs|access-date=4 October 2012}}</ref> Another mathematical term without vowel letters is [[natural logarithm|''ln'']], the natural logarithm. A more obscure example is ''[[rng (algebra)|rng]]'' {{IPA|/ˈrʌŋ/}}, derived from ''ring'' by deleting the letter {{angbr|i}}.
Vowelless proper names from other languages, such as the surname [[Ng (surname)|Ng]], may retain their original spelling, even if they are pronounced with vowels.


In the [[Middle English]] period, there were no standard spellings, but {{angbr|w}} was sometimes used to represent either a vowel or a consonant sound in the same way that Modern English does with {{angbr|y}}, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries. This vocalic {{angbr|w}} generally represented {{IPA|/uː/}},<ref name="OED Online 2012">"Y, n.". OED Online. September 2012. Oxford University Press. 4 October 2012.</ref><ref>"W, n.". OED Online. September 2012. Oxford University Press. 4 October 2012.</ref> as in ''wss'' ("use").<ref>{{cite book|last=Rogers|first=Bruce|title=You Can Say That Again!: A Fun Approach to Sounding Better When You Open Your Mouth to Speak|year=1999|publisher=Dumdum|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z5k0EfTSaTEC&pg=PA104|page=104|isbn=9780888822086}}</ref> However at that time the form {{angbr|w}} was still sometimes used to represent a digraph {{angbr|uu}} (see [[W]]), not as a separate letter. In [[Welsh language|modern Welsh]], "W" is simply a single letter which often represents a vowel sound. Thus words borrowed from Welsh may use {{angbr|w}} this way, such as:
There are also some truly vowelless [[interjection]]s and [[onomatopoeia]] which do not contain Y or R.
* The ''[[crwth]]''<ref>{{cite news |page=24 |newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |date=27 December 1986 |department=Saturday Review |title=Why The Silly Season Can Be A Bit Short On Fun |author=Alan Peterson |access-date=11 October 2012 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19861227&id=UHVWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=r-QDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2194,5181754}}</ref> (pronounced {{IPA|/ˈkrʊθ/}} or {{IPA|/ˈkruːθ/}}, also spelled ''cruth'' in English) is a Welsh musical instrument similar to the [[violin]].<ref name="War">{{cite news |page=G8 |newspaper=[[Montreal Gazette]] |date=28 May 1992 |department=News |title=War Of The Words |author=Charlie Fidelman |quote=Others memorize words without vowels: "crwth" for example, which means an ancient string instrument. Another is "phpht", defined as an interjection.}}</ref>
:''He intricately rhymes, to the music of crwth and pibgorn.''<ref>Dylan Thomas, ''Under Milk Wood'', 1954</ref>
* ''[[cwtch]]'' (a hiding place or cubby hole) is also from Welsh (albeit a recent word influenced by English, and used almost exclusively in the variant of English spoken in Wales, not in standard English), and ''crwth'' and ''cwtch'' are the longest English dictionary words without {{angbr|a, e, i, o, u, y}} according to [[Collins Dictionary]].<ref name=collins>{{cite web|title=The Longest Word in the Collins English Dictionary|url=http://www.collinsdictionary.com/words-and-language/interesting-words/the-longest-word-in-the-collins-english-dictionary,38,HCB.html|work=Collins Dictionary website|date=4 April 2012}}</ref>
* A ''[[cwm (disambiguation)|cwm]]''<ref>{{cite news |page=A18 |newspaper=[[Montreal Gazette]] |date=15 February 1999 |department=News |title=At Scrabble club, politics get no score: Jerusalem group, founded by ex-Montrealer, unites Israelis from across the spectrum |author=Viva Sarah Press}}</ref> (pronounced {{IPA|/ˈkuːm/}}) is used in English in a technical geographical or mountaineering context to mean a deep hollow in a mountainous area, usually with steep edges on some sides, like a [[corrie (geology)|corrie]] or cirque, such as the [[Western Cwm]] of [[Mount Everest]]. It is also sometimes used, by way of more recent borrowing from Welsh, in a more general sense of a valley. The spellings ''coombe'', ''combe'', ''coomb'', and ''comb'' come from the [[Old English]] ''cumb'',<ref>Chambers Dictionary</ref> which appears either to be a much earlier borrowing from a predecessor of modern Welsh, or to have an even earlier origin, given that there was an ancient Greek word κὑμβη (kumbē) meaning a hollow vessel.<ref>Liddell & Scott</ref> In English literature, one can find the spellings ''combe'' (as in [[Ilfracombe]] and [[Castle Combe]]), ''coomb'' (as in [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]{{cn|date=June 2024}}) or ''comb'' (as in [[Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson|Alfred, Lord Tennyson]]{{cn|date=June 2024}}).


There are also numerous vowelless interjections and [[onomatopoeia]] found more or less frequently, including ''brr'' or ''brrr'', ''bzzt'', ''grrr'', ''hm'', ''hmm'', ''mm'', ''mmm'', ''mhmm'', ''sksksksk'',<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9n_-DwAAQBAJ&dq=sksksks+dictionary&pg=PA165|title=The Illustrated Compendium of Essential Modern Slang: Including Cray, Lit, Basic, and More|first=Tyler|last=Vendetti|date=20 October 2020|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=9781951511029|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/laurenstrapagiel/this-is-why-vsco-girls-keep-saying-sksksksk|title=Like Most Slang, 'Sksksksk' Originated In Black And LGBTQ Communities|first=Lauren|last=Strapagiel|website=BuzzFeed News|date=29 August 2019 }}</ref> ''pfft'', ''pht'', ''phpht'',<ref name="War"/> ''psst'', ''sh'', ''shh'', ''zzz''. It is questionable whether any of these are words: they are sequences of letters used to imitate a sound, and there is no limit to how many such sequences could be constructed.
==Words without vowel letters==


=== Alphabetical list of words not containing the main 5 vowels but including Y ===
A large number of [[Modern English]] words spell the {{IPA-en|ɪ|}} or {{IPA-en|aɪ|}} sound with the letter Y, such as ''shy, my, by, try, sky, why, [[fry]], [[gym]], [[hymn]], [[myrrh]], [[lynx]], [[lynch]], [[myth]], [[pygmy]], [[flyby]],'' and ''[[syzygy]].'' The longest such word in common use is ''[[rhythm]]s,'' and the longest such word in Modern English is the obsolete 17th-century word ''[[wiktionary:symphysy|symphysy]].'' (If archaic words and spellings are considered, there are many more, the longest perhaps being ''twyndyllyngs,'' the plural of ''[[wiktionary:twyndyllyng|twyndyllyng]].'') The poem "And Sometimes" by [[Christian Bök]] contains over 60 words with only consonants.<ref>{{cite book |title=Eunoia |last=Bök |first=Christian |authorlink=Christian Bök |year=2001 |publisher= Coach House Press|location= |isbn= |page= |pages= 84-85|url= http://archives.chbooks.com/online_books/eunoia/and_sometimes.html|accessdate=January 7, 2010}}</ref>
Some of these are merely interjections, some promoted by comic magazines (see above}. Many others are borrowed or derived from other languages, most commonly Greek, e.g. ''glyph'' (Greek), ''skyr'' (Icelandic), ''fyrd'' (Anglo-Saxon).
{{div col|colwidth=10em}}
* By(s)
* Byrl(s)
* Chynd
* Cly
* Cry
* Crypt(s)
* Cyst(s)
* Dry(ly)(s)
* Fly
* Flyby(s)
* Fry
* Fy
* Fyrd(s)
* Ghyll(s)
* Glycyl(s)
* Glyph(s)
* Gym(s)
* Gyp
* Gyppy
* Gyp(s)
* Gypsy
* Hwyl(s)
* Hymn(s)
* Hyp(s)
* Jynx
* Ky
* Lym(s)
* Lymph(s)
* Lynch
* Lynx
* My
* Myrrh(s)
* Myth
* Ny(s)
* Nymph(ly)(s)
* Ply
* Pry(s)
* Psych
* Pygmy
* Pyx
* Rhy
* Rhythm(s)
* Rynd(s)
* Scry
* Shy(ly)
* Sky
* Skyr
* Sly(ly)
* Spry(ly)
* Spy
* Sty
* Stymy
* Swy
* Sylph(s)
* Syn
* Sync(s)
* Synch(s)
* Synd(s)
* Sybyzgy
* Syzygy
* Thy
* Thymy
* Try
* Tryp(s)
* Tryst(s)
* Twyndyllyng(s)
* Tyg(s)
* Typp(s)
* Tyyn
* Vly
* Why(s)
* Wyn(s)
* Wynn
* Wry (ly)
* Wych
* Wyn
* Wynd(s)
* Wynn(s)
* Xylyl(s)
* Xyst(s)
* Ympt
{{div col end}}


=== Alphabetical list of words without the main vowels and also excluding Y ===
In the computer game ''[[The 7th Guest]]'', one of the puzzles involves a vowelless sentence,
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
:''Shy gypsy slyly spryly tryst by my crypt.''
* Brr

* Brrr
Similarly, the letter ''w'' stands for a vowel sound ({{IPA|/u/}}) in [[Welsh language|Welsh]] words, and two of these have entered Modern English:
* Bzzt
*The ''[[crwth]]'' (pronounced {{IPA|/ˈkrʊθ/}} or {{IPA|/ˈkruːθ/}} and also spelled ''cruth'') is a Welsh musical instrument similar to the [[violin]]:
* Ch
:''He intricately rhymes, to the music of crwth and pibgorn.''<ref>Dylan Thomas, ''Under Milk Wood,'' 1954</ref>
* Crwth(s)
*A ''cwm'' (pronounced {{IPA|/ˈkuːm/}}) is a deep hollow within a mountain, usually with steep edges, such as the [[Western Cwm]] of [[Mount Everest]]. However, it is in English nearly always spelled ''combe'' (as in [[Ilfracombe]] and [[Castle Combe]]), ''coomb'' (as in [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]) or ''comb'' (as in [[Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson|Alfred, Lord Tennyson]]).
* Cwm(s)

* Cwtch
There is also the mathematical expression ''n''th (pronounced {{IPA|/ˈɛnθ/}}), as in ''delighted to the nth degree,'' which has entered common usage. The internet slang term ''[[pwn]]'' arose as a common typo for ''own.''
* Grr
* Grrl(s)
* Grrr
* Grrrl(s)
* Hm
* Hmph
* Hmm
* Hmmm
* Mhmm
* Mm
* Mmm
* Nth
* Pfft
* Phpht
* Pht
* Psst
* Pwn(s)
* Sh
* Shh
* Sksksksk
* Tsk(s)
* Tss
* Tsktsk(s)
* Twp
* Zzz
{{div col end}}


==Words without vowel sounds==
==Words without vowel sounds==
[[Weak and strong forms in English|Weak forms]] of [[function word]]s may be realized without vowel sounds, as in ''I can go'' {{IPA|[aɪ kŋ̍ ˈɡoʊ]}} and ''I must sell'' {{IPA|[aɪ ms̩ ˈsɛl]}}.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ladefoged|first1=Peter|author-link1=Peter Ladefoged|last2=Johnson|first2=Keith|year=2010|title=A Course in Phonetics|url=https://archive.org/details/coursephoneticss00lade|url-access=limited|edition=6th|publisher=Wadsworth|page=[https://archive.org/details/coursephoneticss00lade/page/n124 109]|isbn=978-1-42823126-9}}</ref> Some of these forms are reflected in orthography as [[English contractions|contractions]], such as ''{{'}}s'', ''{{'}}ll'', ''{{'}}d'', and ''n't''.

Rhotic dialects, such as in Canada and the United States, have many words such as ''bird, learn, girl, church, worst,'' which some phoneticians analyze as having no vowels, only a syllabic consonant, {{IPA|[ɹ̩]}}. However, others analyze these words instead as having a [[rhotic vowel]], {{IPA|[ɝ]}}. The difference may be partially one of dialect.

There are a few such words which are disyllabic, like ''[[cursor]], [[curtain]],'' and ''[[turtle]]:'' {{IPA|[ˈkɹ̩sɹ̩]}}, {{IPA|[ˈkɹ̩tn̩]}} and {{IPA|[ˈtɹ̩tl̩]}} (or {{IPA|[ˈkɝːsɚ]}}, {{IPA|[ˈkɝːtən]}}, and {{IPA|[ˈtɝːtəl]}}), and even a few which are trisyllabic, such as ''purpler'' {{IPA|[ˈpɹ̩.pl̩.ɹ̩]}}, ''hurdler'' {{IPA|[ˈhɹ̩.dl̩.ɹ̩]}}, ''gurgler'' {{IPA|[ˈɡɹ̩.ɡl̩.ɹ̩]}}, ''certainer'' {{IPA|[ˈsɹ̩.tn̩.ɹ̩]}}, and ''[[Ur-turtle]]'' {{IPA|[ˈɹ̩.tɹ̩.tl̩]}}. The words ''[[wyrm]]'' and ''[[myrrh]]'' contain neither a vowel letter nor a vowel sound in these dialects: {{IPA|[ˈwɹ̩m], [ˈmɹ̩]}} (or {{IPA|[ˈwɝːm], [ˈmɝː]}}).

The word ''and'' frequently contracts to a simple [[nasal consonant]] ''’n,'' as in ''lock 'n key'' {{IPA|[ˌlɒk ŋ ˈkiː]}}. Words such as ''will, have,'' and ''is'' regularly contract to ''’ll'' [l], ''’ve'' [v], and ''’s'' [z]. However, none of them are pronounced alone without vowels.

[[onomatopoeia|Onomatopoeic]] words that can be pronounced alone, and which have no vowels or Rs, include ''hmm, pht!, pst!, shh!, tsk!,'' and ''zzz''.

==Other languages==

There are other languages that form lexical words without any vowel sounds. In [[Croatian language|Croatian]] and [[Serbian language|Serbian]], for example, the consonants {{IPA|[r]}} and {{IPA|[rː]}} (the difference is not written) can act as a [[syllable nucleus]] and carry rising or falling [[tone (linguistics)|tone]]; examples include the tongue-twister ''na vrh brda vrba mrda'' and geographic names such as ''[[Krk]]''. In [[Czech language|Czech]], and [[Slovak language|Slovak]], either {{IPA|[l]}} or {{IPA|[r]}} can stand in for vowels: ''vlk'' {{IPA|[vl̩k]}} "wolf", ''krk'' {{IPA|[kr̩k]}} "neck". A particularly long word without vowels is ''čtvrthrst,'' meaning "quarter-handful", with two syllables (one for each R). Whole sentences can be made from such words, such as ''[[Strč prst skrz krk]],'' meaning "stick a finger through your neck" (follow the link for a sound file), and ''Smrž pln skvrn zvlhl z mlh'' "A morel full of spots wetted from fogs". (Here ''zvlhl'' has two syllables based on L; note that the [[preposition]] ''z'' consists of a single consonant. Only prepositions do this in Czech, and they normally link phonetically to the following noun, so do not really behave as vowelless words.) In Russian, there are also prepositions that consist of a single consonant letter, like ''k'' "to", ''v'' "in", and ''s'' "with". However, these forms are actually contractions of ''ko'', ''vo'', and ''so'' respectively, and these forms are still used in modern Russian before words with certain consonant clusters for ease of pronunciation.

In [[Kazakh language|Kazakh]] and certain other [[Turkic languages]], words without vowel sounds may occur due to reduction of weak vowels. A common example is the Kazakh word for one: ''bir'', pronounced [br=]. Among careful speakers, however, the original vowel may be preserved, and the vowels are always preserved in the orthography.

In Southern dialects of Chinese, such as [[Yue Chinese|Cantonese]] or [[Minnan]], some monosyllabic words are made of exclusively [[Nasal consonant|nasals]], such as {{IPA|[m̩˨˩]}} "no" and {{IPA|[ŋ̩˩˧]}} "five".

So far, all of these syllabic consonants, at least in the [[lexical words]], have been [[sonorant]]s, such as [r], [l], [m], and [n], which have a [[voice (linguistics)|voicing]] quality similar to vowels. However, there are languages with words that not only contain no vowels, but contain no sonorants at all, like ''shh!'' in English. These include [[Yi language|Lolo]], some [[Berber languages]], some of the northwestern [[Bantu languages]], and some languages of the American [[Pacific Northwest]], such as [[Nuxálk language|Nuxálk]]. An example from the latter is ''sxs'' "seal fat" ({{pronounced|sxs}}, as spelled), and a longer one is ''{{unicode|xłp̓x̣ʷłtłpłłskʷc̓}}'' ({{pronounced|xɬpʼχʷɬtʰɬpʰɬːskʷʰt͡sʼ}}) "he had had in his possession a bunchberry plant". (Follow the Nuxálk link for other examples.) Berber examples include {{IPA|/tkkststt/}} "you took it off" and {{IPA|/tfktstt/}} "you gave it". Some words may contain one or two consonants only: {{IPA|/ɡ/}} "be", {{IPA|/ks/}} "feed on".<ref>Audio recordings of selected words without vowels can be downloaded from [http://ed268.univ-paris3.fr/lpp/pages/EQUIPE/ridouane/audio.doc].</ref> In [[Mandarin Chinese]], words and syllables such as ''sī'' and ''zhī'' are sometimes described as being syllabic fricatives and affricates phonemically, {{IPA|/ś/}} and {{IPA|/tʂ́/}}, but phonetically they contain a sonorant segment that carries the tone.


==See also==
==See also==
* [[:wikt:Appendix:List of words that comprise a single sound|Wiktionary:List of words that comprise a single sound]]
*[[Words without consonants]]
* {{annotated link|Disemvoweling}}
*[[List of words that comprise a single sound]]
* [[Words without vowels]] in other languages


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Reflist|30em}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Words Without Vowels}}
[[Category:Types of words]]
[[Category:Types of words]]
[[Category:Vowels]]
[[Category:Vowels]]
[[Category:Vowel letters]]
[[Category:Lists of English words]]

Latest revision as of 03:25, 13 November 2024

This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.
heart-shaped shop sign stating "Anybody can cuddle but only the Welsh can cwtch"

English orthography typically represents vowel sounds with the five conventional vowel letters ⟨a, e, i, o, u⟩, as well as ⟨y⟩, which may also be a consonant depending on context. However, outside of abbreviations, there are a handful of words in English that do not have vowels, either because the vowel sounds are not written with vowel letters or because the words themselves are pronounced without vowel sounds.

Words without written vowels

[edit]

There are very few lexical words (that is, not counting interjections) without vowel letters. The longest such lexical word is tsktsks,[1] pronounced /ˌtɪskˈtɪsks/. The mathematical expression nth /ˈɛnθ/, as in delighted to the nth degree, is in fairly common usage.[2] Another mathematical term without vowel letters is ln, the natural logarithm. A more obscure example is rng /ˈrʌŋ/, derived from ring by deleting the letter ⟨i⟩. Vowelless proper names from other languages, such as the surname Ng, may retain their original spelling, even if they are pronounced with vowels.

In the Middle English period, there were no standard spellings, but ⟨w⟩ was sometimes used to represent either a vowel or a consonant sound in the same way that Modern English does with ⟨y⟩, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries. This vocalic ⟨w⟩ generally represented /uː/,[3][4] as in wss ("use").[5] However at that time the form ⟨w⟩ was still sometimes used to represent a digraph ⟨uu⟩ (see W), not as a separate letter. In modern Welsh, "W" is simply a single letter which often represents a vowel sound. Thus words borrowed from Welsh may use ⟨w⟩ this way, such as:

  • The crwth[6] (pronounced /ˈkrʊθ/ or /ˈkruːθ/, also spelled cruth in English) is a Welsh musical instrument similar to the violin.[7]
He intricately rhymes, to the music of crwth and pibgorn.[8]
  • cwtch (a hiding place or cubby hole) is also from Welsh (albeit a recent word influenced by English, and used almost exclusively in the variant of English spoken in Wales, not in standard English), and crwth and cwtch are the longest English dictionary words without ⟨a, e, i, o, u, y⟩ according to Collins Dictionary.[9]
  • A cwm[10] (pronounced /ˈkuːm/) is used in English in a technical geographical or mountaineering context to mean a deep hollow in a mountainous area, usually with steep edges on some sides, like a corrie or cirque, such as the Western Cwm of Mount Everest. It is also sometimes used, by way of more recent borrowing from Welsh, in a more general sense of a valley. The spellings coombe, combe, coomb, and comb come from the Old English cumb,[11] which appears either to be a much earlier borrowing from a predecessor of modern Welsh, or to have an even earlier origin, given that there was an ancient Greek word κὑμβη (kumbē) meaning a hollow vessel.[12] In English literature, one can find the spellings combe (as in Ilfracombe and Castle Combe), coomb (as in J. R. R. Tolkien[citation needed]) or comb (as in Alfred, Lord Tennyson[citation needed]).

There are also numerous vowelless interjections and onomatopoeia found more or less frequently, including brr or brrr, bzzt, grrr, hm, hmm, mm, mmm, mhmm, sksksksk,[13][14] pfft, pht, phpht,[7] psst, sh, shh, zzz. It is questionable whether any of these are words: they are sequences of letters used to imitate a sound, and there is no limit to how many such sequences could be constructed.

Alphabetical list of words not containing the main 5 vowels but including Y

[edit]

Some of these are merely interjections, some promoted by comic magazines (see above}. Many others are borrowed or derived from other languages, most commonly Greek, e.g. glyph (Greek), skyr (Icelandic), fyrd (Anglo-Saxon).

  • By(s)
  • Byrl(s)
  • Chynd
  • Cly
  • Cry
  • Crypt(s)
  • Cyst(s)
  • Dry(ly)(s)
  • Fly
  • Flyby(s)
  • Fry
  • Fy
  • Fyrd(s)
  • Ghyll(s)
  • Glycyl(s)
  • Glyph(s)
  • Gym(s)
  • Gyp
  • Gyppy
  • Gyp(s)
  • Gypsy
  • Hwyl(s)
  • Hymn(s)
  • Hyp(s)
  • Jynx
  • Ky
  • Lym(s)
  • Lymph(s)
  • Lynch
  • Lynx
  • My
  • Myrrh(s)
  • Myth
  • Ny(s)
  • Nymph(ly)(s)
  • Ply
  • Pry(s)
  • Psych
  • Pygmy
  • Pyx
  • Rhy
  • Rhythm(s)
  • Rynd(s)
  • Scry
  • Shy(ly)
  • Sky
  • Skyr
  • Sly(ly)
  • Spry(ly)
  • Spy
  • Sty
  • Stymy
  • Swy
  • Sylph(s)
  • Syn
  • Sync(s)
  • Synch(s)
  • Synd(s)
  • Sybyzgy
  • Syzygy
  • Thy
  • Thymy
  • Try
  • Tryp(s)
  • Tryst(s)
  • Twyndyllyng(s)
  • Tyg(s)
  • Typp(s)
  • Tyyn
  • Vly
  • Why(s)
  • Wyn(s)
  • Wynn
  • Wry (ly)
  • Wych
  • Wyn
  • Wynd(s)
  • Wynn(s)
  • Xylyl(s)
  • Xyst(s)
  • Ympt

Alphabetical list of words without the main vowels and also excluding Y

[edit]
  • Brr
  • Brrr
  • Bzzt
  • Ch
  • Crwth(s)
  • Cwm(s)
  • Cwtch
  • Grr
  • Grrl(s)
  • Grrr
  • Grrrl(s)
  • Hm
  • Hmph
  • Hmm
  • Hmmm
  • Mhmm
  • Mm
  • Mmm
  • Nth
  • Pfft
  • Phpht
  • Pht
  • Psst
  • Pwn(s)
  • Sh
  • Shh
  • Sksksksk
  • Tsk(s)
  • Tss
  • Tsktsk(s)
  • Twp
  • Zzz

Words without vowel sounds

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Weak forms of function words may be realized without vowel sounds, as in I can go [aɪ kŋ̍ ˈɡoʊ] and I must sell [aɪ ms̩ ˈsɛl].[15] Some of these forms are reflected in orthography as contractions, such as 's, 'll, 'd, and n't.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "How to beat everyone at board games this Christmas". Yorkshire Post. Johnston Press Plc. 21 December 2007. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  2. ^ "Are there any English words that have no vowels?". Dictionary.com Word FAQs. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  3. ^ "Y, n.". OED Online. September 2012. Oxford University Press. 4 October 2012.
  4. ^ "W, n.". OED Online. September 2012. Oxford University Press. 4 October 2012.
  5. ^ Rogers, Bruce (1999). You Can Say That Again!: A Fun Approach to Sounding Better When You Open Your Mouth to Speak. Dumdum. p. 104. ISBN 9780888822086.
  6. ^ Alan Peterson (27 December 1986). "Why The Silly Season Can Be A Bit Short On Fun". Saturday Review. The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 24. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  7. ^ a b Charlie Fidelman (28 May 1992). "War Of The Words". News. Montreal Gazette. p. G8. Others memorize words without vowels: "crwth" for example, which means an ancient string instrument. Another is "phpht", defined as an interjection.
  8. ^ Dylan Thomas, Under Milk Wood, 1954
  9. ^ "The Longest Word in the Collins English Dictionary". Collins Dictionary website. 4 April 2012.
  10. ^ Viva Sarah Press (15 February 1999). "At Scrabble club, politics get no score: Jerusalem group, founded by ex-Montrealer, unites Israelis from across the spectrum". News. Montreal Gazette. p. A18.
  11. ^ Chambers Dictionary
  12. ^ Liddell & Scott
  13. ^ Vendetti, Tyler (20 October 2020). The Illustrated Compendium of Essential Modern Slang: Including Cray, Lit, Basic, and More. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781951511029 – via Google Books.
  14. ^ Strapagiel, Lauren (29 August 2019). "Like Most Slang, 'Sksksksk' Originated In Black And LGBTQ Communities". BuzzFeed News.
  15. ^ Ladefoged, Peter; Johnson, Keith (2010). A Course in Phonetics (6th ed.). Wadsworth. p. 109. ISBN 978-1-42823126-9.
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