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rikkor
offlineMemberI can't believe this has been stuck in my head for so many years and it is totally bullsh-t. If "w" as the only vowel refers to two effing words in effing Welsh, why did so many hundreds of millions learn this dumbass mnemonic? Welsh? Who gives a fwck?
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When is w a vowel?
In: English Language, Grammar, English Spelling and Pronunciation [Edit categories]
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"W" is a single vowel in the English words borrowed from Welsh. Two of these are "cwm", which is a special type of valley, and "cwr", which is a type of train tracks made from single long rails rather than a bunch of short ones put together.
W is also considered a vowel in diphthongs, notably at the end of words (e.g. how, row, low, brow). In these instances, it is serving the purpose of a vowel. This can happen within words as well, as in the word vowel itself.W words from Welsh
At least four Welsh words which have made their way into English. The best known is 'cwm.' Three others are 'crwth' (also 'crwdd' in the original Welsh), 'cyr' and 'cwtch.' However, the Oxford English Dictionary lists only cwm and cwtch.W in combined vowel sounds
Especially following a vowel at the end of a word (e.g. blow and caw), or with another sounded consonant (e.g. blown or bowl). Some linguists suggest that 'r' in 'butter' acts as a diphthong vowel, as does 'l' in 'bottle,' and 'n' as in 'button.'OED entries for cwm and cwtch (noun uses)
Cwm. A valley; in Phys. Geogr., a bowl-shaped hollow partly enclosed by steep walls lying at the head of a valley or on a mountain slope and formed originally by a glacier; a cirque.
1853 MRS. GASKELL Ruth I. vii. 170 Some 'Cwm', or hollow. 1882 GEIKIE Text-bk. Geol. III. II. ii. 407 Several hundred feet below, in the corrie or cwm at the bottom, lies the re-cemented glacier. 1933 Geogr. Jrnl. LXXXII. 202 The snow-patches are cwm-ice masses occupying deep scallops in an elevated position of the old erosion-surface. 1936 Nature 19 Dec. 1041/2 Its glaciers..widened their heads into cwms and gave to the basin its only fiord. 1951 Times 27 Nov. 5/7 While 'cwm' may occur..purely as a place-name..technically the word is restricted to the huge cauldron-shaped hollows found high up on heavily glaciated slopes. 1953 J. HUNT Ascent of Everest ii. 14 When Mallory saw it..in 1921, he named it the 'Western Cwm'. 1957 G. E. HUTCHINSON Treat. Limnol. I. i. 59 Such amphitheaters are called cirques in the French-speaking parts of the Alps, Kars in the German-speaking regions, cwms in Wales, and corries in Scotland. All four terms have achieved some degree of international usage, but the first seems to have been the most widely employed.Cwtch, now Welsh English.
1. A cupboard or cubby-hole, esp. used as a hiding place.
1890 J. D. ROBERTSON Gloss. Words County of Gloucester 27 Cooch and corner, nook and cranny. 1973 M. STEPHENS Exiles All 25 We huddled under the cwtsh, making Beasts against the candle's light. 1983 K. GOODING Rainbow Trail vi. 63 A cwtch is a hiding place. 1985 J. EDWARDS Talk Tidy 17 The coal cwtch or the cwtch under the stairs. 1992 Times (Nexis) 28 Feb., And our house like most of the others had a cwch under the stairs, which was the cupboard. 2004 Western Mail (Cardiff) (Nexis) 6 Aug. 15 They assured us if the atom bomb dropped, we'd have three whole minutes (or was it four?) to put brown paper over the windows, retreat to the cwtch under the stairs, and stay cwtched for three or four weeks.
2. A cuddle; a hug. Cf. CWTCH v. 2.
1992 Times 28 Feb. 'Come and have a cwch,' (rhymes with butch) mothers say to their children. 2000 N. GRIFFITHS Grits (2001) 403 There's tears in her eyes again so a give her a cwtcha great big one and bollox to embarrassment. 2005 Western Mail (Cardiff) (Nexis) 22 June 11 Utter the immortal words, 'Come 'ere and 'ave a cwtch then,' and hope that your recipient does not turn and flee.Posted 3 years ago #
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