A list of 38 words by papageno.
- nth appears on 11 other lists
- psst appears on 4 other lists
- shh appears on 10 other lists
- brr appears on 5 other lists
- hmm appears on 10 other lists
- umm appears on 2 other lists
- cwm appears on 56 other lists
- crwth appears on 32 other lists
- crypt appears on 34 other lists
- gypsy appears on 61 other lists
- hymn appears on 36 other lists
- lynx appears on 30 other lists
- myth appears on 39 other lists
- nymph appears on 72 other lists
- rhythm appears on 89 other lists
- syzygy appears on 287 other lists
- tryst appears on 123 other lists
- sky appears on 78 other lists
- sly appears on 50 other lists
- why appears on 43 other lists
- try appears on 23 other lists
- pry appears on 27 other lists
- cry appears on 36 other lists
- by appears on 22 other lists
- my appears on 27 other lists
- thy appears on 11 other lists
- wry appears on 76 other lists
- tsk appears on 10 other lists
- gym appears on 12 other lists
- cyst appears on 17 other lists
- lymph appears on 8 other lists
- spry appears on 56 other lists
- synth appears on 1 other list
- myrrh appears on 74 other lists
- grr appears on 3 other lists
- mmm appears on 3 other lists
- jynx appears on 3 other lists
- sync appears on 12 other lists
plethora Thank you, my mind is now at ease :P Dec 4, 2008
chained_bear Yes, "entire emails." ;) Also we used an extra space between words to indicate "I," but here on Wordie I used an underscore. Dec 3, 2008
kewpid Ah, beat me to it! Dec 3, 2008
kewpid (something) emails. Dec 3, 2008
reesetee "Entire emails," I believe. Those initial vowels are always tricky. :-) Dec 3, 2008
plethora Glad I'm not the only one. I've stared at it for ages, gone away, come back, stared some more, and for the life of me, I still can't decipher it. Dec 3, 2008
sarra Bugger, plethora. Me neither! Dec 3, 2008
plethora I believe this list is just based on spelling, qroqqa, not pronunciation.
C_b, your very first comment on this list is puzzling me. I just can't figure out what ntr mls means... Help! Dec 3, 2008
sionnach ??? Dec 3, 2008
qroqqa Actually none of 'nth', 'cwm', 'crwth', 'crypt', 'gypsy', or any of the other words with vowels belong here. The only words without vowels are ones where a consonant is the syllabic peak, such as 'brr', 'grr', 'mm', 'hmm', 'psst', 'pfft', 'shh', 'tsk'. Dec 3, 2008
sionnach ply, spy, pyx, hyp, gyp, sty, fry, fly, shy
And umm appears not to belong on the list Dec 3, 2008
sionnach If I could put my finger through my throat, I suspect pronouncing vowels would be the least of my worries. Dec 3, 2008
yaybob I found the following at: http://snipurl.com/7213l
MWCD10 must be Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary 10th edition. I havent figured out what reference work W3 refers to. OED is, of course, Oxford English Dictionary
CWM (a glacial hollow on a hillside) has the rare W as a vowel, as does CRWTH (a type of stringed instrument). Both words are in MWCD10. They are pronounced "koom" and "krooth" (rhyming with room and truth). Other such words, not in MWCD10, are TWP (stupid), AWDL (an ode written in the strict alliterative meters), and LLWCHWR (a city-district in Wales). These words are of Welsh origin. The OED includes numerous archaic spellings in which W or V is a vowel.
Words containing no vowels include Q.T. (as in "on the q.t.") and DJ, both of which appear in the main part of MWCD10 and not in the abbreviations section. Other such words include BRRR, GRR, HMMMM, JHVH, MR., MRS., MS, NTH, PFFT, pH, PHPHT, PHT, PSST, SH, SHH, SSSHHHHH, TSK, TSKS, TSKTSK, TSKTSKS, TV, YHWH, ZZZ, HSH (hush, W3), ST (silence, quiet, W3), TCH (vexation or disgust, W3), TCK (surprise or displeasure), and TST (hissed sound enjoining silence, W3). PHFFFT! and SSSSSSS are titles of movies from 1954 and 1973. The OED has TPRW (the sound of a horn). GRRL is in the Macquarie Dictionary, with the alternate spelling GRRRL.
KRK is a Croatian island.
Strc prst skrz krk (Czech for "Put your finger through your throat") appears to have no vowels, but R serves as a vowel in Czech. Bydd y cyllyll yn y cwpwrdd wrth y bwrdd (Welsh for "The knives will be in the cupboard by the table") does not use the vowels a, e, i, o, and u.
The longest common word without an A, E, I, O, or U is RHYTHMS, but these additional words appear in W2: SYMPHYSY, NYMPHLY, GYPSYRY, GYPSYFY. The OED2 has TWYNDYLLYNG(S). And WPPWRMWSTE (in the OED) goes nine letters without an A, E, I, O, or U; GLYCYRRHIZIN (a constituent of licorice) goes eight letters without A, E, I, O, or U. (In all these words, "Y" is a vowel.)
Dec 3, 2008
oroboros Interesting. Thanks Papageno! Nov 24, 2007
papageno ntrstng. Nov 24, 2007
bilby Arabic is typically written without vowels. A classic text such as the Qur'an has them written in, partly for show and partly to encourage very precise recitation. On the other hand a newspaper or novel would not have vowels written in. Arabic speakers just know what they are as every consonant has a 'default' vowel. Hence 'ba', 'ta', 'kho', 'djim', etc. A word like dirham (unit of money) is therefore written drhm. I remember seeing giant, tasteless billboards in Amman that just said kwk-kwl but more than anything else the red and white colours and the twisty ribbon thing told me it was a capitalist-imperialist soft drink. And 'wa' is required to make a dipthong or a longish vowel ... easy! Nov 24, 2007
chained_bear Ppgn, t wrks rlly wll t wrk whn bss lks vr yr shldr--h r sh wn't b abl t tll wht th hll y'r rdng r typng! Nov 23, 2007
papageno I think this wikipedpia article sums it up pretty well. Nov 23, 2007
oroboros I've been told that Hebrew is essentially written without vowels. Can anybody corroborate this? Nov 23, 2007
papageno Blh. Jst wk p. Md _ mstk thr... Nov 23, 2007
papageno 'm smlng rlly bg rght nw. _ lk yr cncpt abt th mls! t's prtty fn!!
p.s. thnks! Nov 23, 2007
chained_bear Y knw, ppgn, my sstr nd _ sd t wrt ntr mls t ch thr wtht sng ny vwls. Srprsngly, w lrnd t rd thm prtty wll!
p.s. cl lst! Nov 23, 2007