Words without consonants
Most languages of the world allow syllables without consonants, and monosyllabic words may therefore consist of a single vowel. Examples in English are a, O, I, eye (all of which are diphthongs: /eɪ, oʊ, aɪ/). A smaller number of languages allow sequences of such syllables, and thus may have polysyllabic words without consonants. This list excludes monosyllables (see instead List of words that comprise a single sound) and words such as English whoa and yeah which contain the semivowels y and w.
English
English has very few words of more than one syllable without a consonant, apart from proper names such as Aeaea, Aiea, Aia, Io, Eiao, Oea, and sometimes Iowa (below), and perhaps a few taxonomic terms such as Iouea below.
- The Maned Sloth, or ai, is pronounced with two syllables: /ˈɑː.i/.
- aa, a type of lava, is spelled without consonants, but is pronounced with a glottal stop, which is marginal in English: /ˈɑːʔɑː/.
- euouae, a musical cadence taken from the vowels in the hymn Gloria Patri doxology: "seculorum Amen", is the longest English word spelled without any consonant letters. However, it is also pronounced with a consonant: /juː.ˈoʊ.iː/.
- Iouea, a genus of fossil sponges, has all five vowels, but it is not clear if it is pronounced with a consonant, /aɪjuːˈiː.ə/, or without one, /aɪ.oʊˈiː.ə/.
- The US state of Iowa is transcribed by some dictionaries with a consonant, /ˈaɪ.ɵ.wə/, and by some without, /ˈaɪ.oʊ.ə/. Due to the fact that the English o vowel is a diphthong, there is little difference between these pronunciations.
- euoi, an interjection expressing Bacchic frenzy.
Dutch
Dutch has a few words without consonants.
- aai, meaning 'caress', pronounced [aːɪ]
- au, an interjection meaning 'ouch', pronounced [ʌu] or [ɔu]
- ei, meaning 'egg', pronounced [ɛɪ]
- oei, an interjection meaning 'wow', 'oh my', pronounced [uɪ]
- ooi, meaning 'ewe', pronounced [oːɪ]
- ui, meaning 'onion', pronounced [œɥ]
- ie, unstressed third person singular masculine pronoun 'he', pronounced [i]
- eeuw, meaning 'century', pronounced [e:u] (The <w> is purely graphical)
Japanese
Japanese has numerous words, such as ai "love", which are borrowed from Chinese or are composed of Chinese loans and have no consonants. A smaller number of native words fit this description as well.
- aa ああ in that way
- aaiu ああいう that kind, like that
- ai 合, 会, 相, 間 together, between
- ai 鮎 sweetfish
- Aioi 相生 the city of Aioi
- aoi 青い blue/green
- au 会う, 合う to meet, to fit
- ee ええ yes
- ie 家 house
- ie 言え tell!
- ii いい good
- iie いいえ no
- iu 言う to say, tell, call
- oe 追え chase!
- oi 甥 nephew
- oioi 追々 gradually
- ooe 覆え cover!
- ooi 多い many
- ooi 覆い covering
- oou 覆う to cover
- ou 追う to chase, to follow
- ue 上 above, top, on top of
- ue 飢え hunger
- uo 魚 fish
Swahili
- au or
- aua to survey
- eua to purify
- oa to take a wife
- ua a flower
- ua a boma (fenced enclosure)
- ua to kill
- uo a sheath
Hawaiian
Polynesian languages have numerous words with glottal stop, such as Hawaiian ʻāʻaua "coarse", ʻaeʻoia "to be well supplied", uauoʻoa "distant voices", which may be spelled with all vowels in English transcription; however, glottal stop is a full consonant, and such words will not be considered here.[1]
- aea to rise up
- aeae andante
- aeāea sp. small green fish
- ai to copulate
- aia there is; depending on (you)
- āio, ioio grooves
- ao light, day; cloud; world; be careful; sp. mat; sp. fish
- aoaoa sp. seaside shrub
- au era; current; gall; weather; poor-quality sweet potatoes; pumice; grain of wood; to weed; to set; sp. shrub
- āu your
- aua to observe (rare)
- auau to hurry
- aue = ue 3
- auēuē calling, crying, humming
- ea command; air, breath, life; to rise; to smell
- eaea air, breath; high waves; a smell (as of seaweed)
- eia here
- eo to lose
- eō here!, to call, to answer
- iā yard (from English)
- iāia (to, for) him, her
- io (part of a paddle)
- iōē to answer a chant
- i ou to you
- iū you (from English)
- oaoa = ohaoha
- oe a drawn-out sound
- Oea (name of a star)
- oeoe whistle, siren, etc.
- oi to move
- oī = ōwī
- oia to continue
- oio (part of a canoe rim)
- oioi to squirm
- ou your; to float, lean on (rare)
- o ua o = ua ona o aforementioned
- ua rain; demon
- uai to move s.t.
- uaoa mist (rare)
- uaua tough
- uauai to repeatedly move s.t.
- ue (uwe) to twist, pry; pandanus mat
- uē (uwē) to weep
- uea (uwea) wire (from English)
- ueue (uweuwe) to wriggle
- uēuē (uwēuwē) a dirge
- ui to ask
- uia sp. taro
- uiui to ask & ask
- uō (uwō) to bellow
- uoi to move along together
- uōuō (uwō.uwō) shouting
- uouoa, uoa false mullet (sp. fish)
Rapa Nui
- aai who? whose?
- aau to throw or catch with both hands; contagion
- ai to copulate; there is; this much
- ao command; nightfall
- âo to serve food
- au I; smoke; current; dew; bile
- aûa enclosure, ring (Tahitian loan)
- auau to shout in pain
- ea to rise, get up
- êi a lampoon
- eo a fragrance
- éoéo ashes
- îa he, she, it
- ioio a bit
- oi to move away
- ôi to stir; ôiôi to stir and stir
- oou yours
- ua cause, reason; ceremonial staff
- ûa the rain
- uáuá to reside, resident
- ûaûa muscles, tendons
- uéué to flutter
- ui to ask
Finnish
- yö night (y is always a vowel in Finnish)
- aie intention
- aio plan to do!
- auo open!
- oio take a shortcut!
- ui swim!
- ei no
Esperanto
- ia some (kind of)
- iai to hee-haw
- iao a hee-haw
- ie somewhere, anywhere
- iea of somewhere or other
- io something
- ioa of something or other
- iu someone
- iua of someone or other
Kurdish
South Kurdish (Kirmaşanî, Qesrî, Kełhuřî, Feylî) also allows syllables without consonants.[2]
- îe means this (demonstrative pronoun) [ia]
- eü means he, she [ay]
See also
References
- ^ Words taken from Pukui & Elbert
- ^ Bahadur, M. R. (2011). The Structure of Qesrî Kurdish. M.A Thesis, Razi University.