{"id":1796,"date":"2019-08-23T15:23:24","date_gmt":"2019-08-23T15:23:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/?p=1796"},"modified":"2024-04-20T23:31:04","modified_gmt":"2024-04-20T23:31:04","slug":"fun-facts-19-no-vowels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/blog\/2019\/08\/23\/fun-facts-19-no-vowels\/","title":{"rendered":"Fun Facts About English #19 – Words Without Vowels"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Fun<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When determining how ‘the longest word with no vowels’ is defined, competing words are pared down with criteria that include pronunciation, spelling, and commonality in the contemporary English lexis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Orthographic conventions typically represent vowel sounds with the five vowel symbols a<\/em>, e<\/em>, i<\/em>, o<\/em>, u<\/em>, as well as y<\/em>, which may also be a consonant depending on context. A word<\/em>, as it is defined, is \u201cthe smallest unit of grammar that can stand alone as a complete utterance, separated by spaces in written language and potentially by pauses in speech.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are few words in English that don’t have vowels because the vowel sounds are not written with vowel letters or are pronounced without vowel sounds. These include cwtch<\/em> (a shed or hiding place) and crwth<\/em> (a Celtic stringed instrument), both uncommon words of Welsh origin where w<\/em> serves as the symbol for the oo<\/em> sound. Welsh also gives us the vowel-less 15th-century word twyndyllyngs<\/em>, meaning ‘twins.’ The more contemporary grrrl<\/em>, (from the phrase ‘riot girl’) describes a subculture of feminism and punk rock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abbreviations, if interpreted as words, are often without vowels, e.g., Mrs.<\/em>, Dr.<\/em>, TV<\/em>, and nth<\/em> (as in \u201cto the nth<\/em> degree\u201d). Interjections and onomatopoeias such as shh<\/em>, hmm<\/em>, psst<\/em>, and brr<\/em> are also examples of “complete utterances” without a vowel. Spellings such as hmmmmmmmmm<\/em> can be extended ad infinitum and are excluded from the competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you consider ‘y’ to be an eliminating vowel, and don’t include abbreviations or interjections, then the longest lexical word is tsktsks<\/em> at seven letters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you consider ‘y’ to be a consonant and not a vowel, then rhythms<\/em> is the longest common English word, also at seven letters. In both of these cases, adding ‘s’ to the end of the word pushes the letter counts past the more common six-letter competitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Runners-up are six-letter words and one obscure seven-letter word:<\/p>\n\n\n\n