Vowels

                               
A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract.[1] Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (length). They are usually voiced, and are closely involved in prosodic variation such as tone, intonation and stress.
The word vowel comes from the Latin word vocalis, meaning "vocal" (i.e. relating to the voice).[2] In English, the word vowel is commonly used to refer both to vowel sounds and to the written symbols that represent them.[3]
There are five vowels:-
A,E,I,O,U

Does every language have vowels?

Every language has vowels, but languages vary in the number of vowel sounds they use. While we learn A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y, English, depending on speaker and dialect, is generally considered to have at least 14 vowels. (Yeah, our spelling is a delightful hot mess.) Castilian Spanish and Japanese, meanwhile, are generally considered to have five vowel sounds.
Languages also vary in the number of consonants they have. English has at least 24 consonant sounds. Hawaiian, around eight, and Lithuanian 45—still nothing on some languages in southern Africa!
How vowels and consonants are distributed and patterned together
in a language is called phonology.
How to use vowels?
Using an and a does not depend on the spelling of the word it comes before, it depends on the pronunciation of the word. In most cases though, an is used before words that begin with vowels (a, e, i, o u.):
an apple
an elephant
an igloo
an oven
an umbrella
If a word starts with a consonant sound, use a.
a ball
a car
a doll

Vowel Sounds

It is very important to know that when a word starts with a vowel sound, you should use an. Sometimes u is pronounced as y. Try saying these two words, see if notice how the u is pronounced in two different ways.
an unforgettable experience - unforgettable has a vowel sound so we use an.
a university - university has a y sound so we use a.
This is also the case with o, which may sometimes have a w sound. Compare:
an octopus - octopus starts with a vowel sound.
a one track mind - one-track starts has a w sound.

The Silent h

Sometimes with words that begin with h, the h sound is not pronounced. Unfortunately there is no rule about when the h is silent. Let's look at an example.
an honour - the h is silent. We use an because the honour has a vowel sound because the h is not pronounced: (h)onour.
a historic day - the h is pronounced. Historic starts with an h sound.

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