How Many Vowels and Consonants are There in the English Alphabet

Introduction

In English, there are 26 alphabets as we all know. It is classified into vowels and consonants based on its sound. It is divided to make the English language standard with correct pronunciation and rules and regulations to give it a structure. Vowels and consonants are more important than grammar. Everyone would say in English grammar is essential to speak like a native. But the actual truth lies differently the native speakers won’t give importance to grammar but they stress and unstress each and every syllable efficiently. These are done with the classification of vowels and consonants.

Vowels

Vowels are of five letters. They are a, e, i, o, u. While speaking we won’t concentrate on stress and pronunciation, these are to be learned from native speakers. Thus, they are doing it effortlessly so they did not know about the significance of these vowels. As a learner of foreign language, we are in need to have knowledge on it. If we go deeper into spoken English, we come across some words like monophthongs and diphthongs.

Monophthongs: A vowel is uttered with precisely one tone and one mouth position, as indicated by the name monophthong. For instance, nothing changes when you pronounce "teeth" when you are making the sound of the "ee." A monophthong can function both as a syllable and as a language's lexeme.

Diphthongs: The Greek term diphthongos, which means "having two sounds," is where the word diphthong originates. Take note of the "double" prefix, di. Hence, multiple vowel sounds in words like chair, dread, or pout are known as diphthongs. It's not a diphthong if there are consecutive vowels that are the same, like in boot or beer.

• A vowel can be sustained or sung louder or softer.

• The mouth is open while we say a vowel.

• Vocal cords produce sounds of vowels which give no work to lips, teeth and mouth.

• These are the inner classification of vowels.

• With these five vowels, we could make 12 different sounds. These sounds are called monophthongs.

• These monophthongs are paired to form 8 diphthongs.

• In Total there are 20 vowel sounds.

Examples: Road- here o and a are vowels

Consonants

Consonants are of 21 letters excluding the vowels. These are also having the same importance as vowels.

• Consonants are produced with the help of lips, teeth, and mouth.

• In spoken English, it is also having sound variations and symbols which are of 24.

• Consonants are sounds that could be pronounced even with a closed mouth

• Totally there are 12 vowels, 8 diphthongs and 24 consonant sounds

Examples: Bed – here b and d are consonants

Some Exceptional

As vowels and consonants are determined by sounds, there are some exceptional places where we could consider consonants as vowels.

Example: Y- when it comes at the end of a word it will be taken as a vowel. Meanwhile, in other places like at the beginning or at the middle of the word, it is considered as a consonant.

Sky, Try – while pronouncing these words we end up with an “i” sound so it is taken as a vowel.

Yellow, Yawn – in these words, we pronounce it with its own sound “y” so it is consonant.

Conclusion

While learning a language, it is very important to learn from the basics. Even though vowels and consonants are familiar to everyone, not all of us use them properly at the right time. As a spoken language, English is ruling the world. So, if you want to be a master in the English language it is mandatory to know it accurately.