wm@tekchips.UUCP (Wm Leler) (10/11/83)
Sure, W is a vowel (well, sometimes). Technically, both Y and W are semiconsonants, both decended from the letter V (for more info on this, refer to the wonderful American Heritage Dictionary). The reason why most people don't think of words where W is used as a vowel is because it is rarely used alone (more on this later). The architype word where W is a vowel is "cow". There are other examples, but most of them are "ow" words like "pow" or "wow" (like wow! the same letter as a consonant and a vowel in the same word!). Some "ow" words use W as a silent consonant, for example "tow", "know", "show". The only example I know of of a word that uses W as a vowel and has no other vowels is my name :-) Wm Leler tekchips!wm