metafilter = cvcvcvccvc
May 26, 2011 1:01 PM Subscribe
The "convowel" tag on Wordnik tracks consonant-vowel patterns in words. "bleeding", "pheasant", "shoeless", "trousers" — ccvvcvcc; "quiet", "naiad", "Sioux", "feuar" — cvvvc; "anglophile", "attractive", "impressure", "ingressive" — vcccvccvcv
It once was that all mods' usernames started with the cvccvc pattern:
mathow(ie)
jessam(yn)
cortex
vacapinta and restless nomad muck that conspiracy right up though. =D
posted by carsonb at 1:32 PM on May 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
mathow(ie)
jessam(yn)
cortex
vacapinta and restless nomad muck that conspiracy right up though. =D
posted by carsonb at 1:32 PM on May 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
I see that you mean orthographic vowels and consonants. Or we could convince Wordnik to adopt some particular phoneme classification system.
There's actually some interesting research to do the phonological kind, especially with dictionary look-up on heard words in languages with non-alphabetic orthographies.
posted by stroke_count at 1:44 PM on May 26, 2011 [2 favorites]
There's actually some interesting research to do the phonological kind, especially with dictionary look-up on heard words in languages with non-alphabetic orthographies.
posted by stroke_count at 1:44 PM on May 26, 2011 [2 favorites]
Why?
posted by John Cohen at 1:44 PM on May 26, 2011
posted by John Cohen at 1:44 PM on May 26, 2011
Why?
This could be useful if you're into product/corporate naming.
Thanks.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 1:47 PM on May 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
This could be useful if you're into product/corporate naming.
Thanks.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 1:47 PM on May 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
Why?
You must be new to the Internet.
posted by benito.strauss at 1:50 PM on May 26, 2011 [10 favorites]
You must be new to the Internet.
posted by benito.strauss at 1:50 PM on May 26, 2011 [10 favorites]
i enjoy that Y is sometimes c and then again sometimes v
posted by lapolla at 1:58 PM on May 26, 2011
posted by lapolla at 1:58 PM on May 26, 2011
The internet exists to answer questions we don't have.
posted by 2bucksplus at 2:02 PM on May 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by 2bucksplus at 2:02 PM on May 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
OneLook is much more flexible with this kind of pattern matching and has a much bigger set of words.
You can pattern match with @ for a vowel, # for a consonant, * for any number of characters and ? for a single character. The tsktsk pattern above of 6 consonants gives lots of matches, mostly acronyms, but gives only 1 that it considers a common word: CHKDSK. It also finds 2 common entries with 7 consonants in a row.
posted by Hubajube at 2:02 PM on May 26, 2011 [6 favorites]
You can pattern match with @ for a vowel, # for a consonant, * for any number of characters and ? for a single character. The tsktsk pattern above of 6 consonants gives lots of matches, mostly acronyms, but gives only 1 that it considers a common word: CHKDSK. It also finds 2 common entries with 7 consonants in a row.
posted by Hubajube at 2:02 PM on May 26, 2011 [6 favorites]
Oh yeah, and it lets you dig into the definitions too. So this is the one thing it finds that matches the pattern of exactly 5 consonants related to music.
posted by Hubajube at 2:05 PM on May 26, 2011
posted by Hubajube at 2:05 PM on May 26, 2011
Hubajube: interesting, though I was looking specifically for aconsonantal or avowellic words.
posted by idiopath at 2:13 PM on May 26, 2011
posted by idiopath at 2:13 PM on May 26, 2011
You must be new to the Internet.
Even for the internet, it's pretty pointless. (unless I'm missing something, which is why I asked why)
posted by John Cohen at 2:14 PM on May 26, 2011
Even for the internet, it's pretty pointless. (unless I'm missing something, which is why I asked why)
posted by John Cohen at 2:14 PM on May 26, 2011
I did this type of "analysis" years ago in order to build a program that generated "words" based on English phoneme patterns as c-v-c-v etc. It would create variable length pronounceable gibberish. I made a few strings of these words and read them with great drama at an open mic poetry reading in San Francisco. People loved it. I was shocked.
posted by njohnson23 at 2:15 PM on May 26, 2011 [4 favorites]
posted by njohnson23 at 2:15 PM on May 26, 2011 [4 favorites]
My daughter just had this stuff as part of her (4th grade) homework a couple of weeks ago. Seemed pretty useless then, too.
posted by briank at 2:22 PM on May 26, 2011
posted by briank at 2:22 PM on May 26, 2011
No point other than when I saw it a part of my kid-brain was like soooooo coooooool
I have no idea what I'll ever use this for. I couldn't even fit this into a concept poem because this would be the most boring concept poem ever. But I still think it's super cool that it exists.
posted by Rory Marinich at 2:29 PM on May 26, 2011
I have no idea what I'll ever use this for. I couldn't even fit this into a concept poem because this would be the most boring concept poem ever. But I still think it's super cool that it exists.
posted by Rory Marinich at 2:29 PM on May 26, 2011
This would be cool if it actually mapped consonant and vowel sounds and not just letters. I can easily tell a spreadsheet if b,c,d,f,g,h,j,k,l,m,n,p,q,r,s,t,v,w,y,z then 'c'; if a,e,i,o,u then 'v'. I'm actually surprised that they haven't parsed and tagged the whole database already using a script that does just that.
It is cool for being what it is, but misleading to represent orthography as 'consonants' and 'vowels' in syllable structure notation when we're actually talking about letters. And this somewhat arbitrary rule of 'these 21 will be considered consonants and these 5 will be considered vowels' is a bit silly anyway. For example, the sh's, th's, ng's are problematic, as are diphthongs and other fun sound bits. The word 'shoeless' is actually cv.cvc, not ccvvcvcc...there are no diphthongs or consonant clusters and the only two letters that actually map onto their sound counterparts true to consonant/vowel definition and International Phonetic Alphabet notation are the 'l' and the second 's'. In other words, English spelling is weird and not a reliable indicator of actual consonant/vowel and syllabic structure.
And don't even get me started on the letter y.
posted by iamkimiam at 2:57 PM on May 26, 2011 [3 favorites]
It is cool for being what it is, but misleading to represent orthography as 'consonants' and 'vowels' in syllable structure notation when we're actually talking about letters. And this somewhat arbitrary rule of 'these 21 will be considered consonants and these 5 will be considered vowels' is a bit silly anyway. For example, the sh's, th's, ng's are problematic, as are diphthongs and other fun sound bits. The word 'shoeless' is actually cv.cvc, not ccvvcvcc...there are no diphthongs or consonant clusters and the only two letters that actually map onto their sound counterparts true to consonant/vowel definition and International Phonetic Alphabet notation are the 'l' and the second 's'. In other words, English spelling is weird and not a reliable indicator of actual consonant/vowel and syllabic structure.
And don't even get me started on the letter y.
posted by iamkimiam at 2:57 PM on May 26, 2011 [3 favorites]
I guess this bugs me because it creates confusion and spreads misinformation when you represent a word like 'bleeding' as ccvvcvcc (spelling) AND ccvcvc (pronunciation) and the notation was actually designed to describe the latter, but is being promoted and propagated as the former.
But I do recognise how pedantic I am being about this.
posted by iamkimiam at 3:01 PM on May 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
But I do recognise how pedantic I am being about this.
posted by iamkimiam at 3:01 PM on May 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
Either my brain is shut off or I'm especially thickheaded today but I don't get this at all. Will someone please explain what is going on here?
Please and thank you.
posted by etaoin at 3:24 PM on May 26, 2011
Please and thank you.
posted by etaoin at 3:24 PM on May 26, 2011
Why?
There is some evidence that people with print impairments (e.g. dyslexia) have particular problems with words with consonant groups (cc). So this is useful for me, for example, for thinking about how I might build a spellchecker with the ability to identify these words and process them differently.
posted by alasdair at 3:24 PM on May 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
There is some evidence that people with print impairments (e.g. dyslexia) have particular problems with words with consonant groups (cc). So this is useful for me, for example, for thinking about how I might build a spellchecker with the ability to identify these words and process them differently.
posted by alasdair at 3:24 PM on May 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
In Catholic school, we were drilled in the vowels: "A, E, I, O, U, and some times Y and W." But never once could a teacher come up with an example of W used as a vowel, which was very consistent with the culture of blind faith.
posted by StickyCarpet at 3:30 PM on May 26, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by StickyCarpet at 3:30 PM on May 26, 2011 [2 favorites]
But never once could a teacher come up with an example of W used as a vowel
______
"W" becomes a semi-vowel when it becomes part of a diphthong. You hear it most commonly in combination with "a," "e," and "o." For example, we have the "aw" in "claw," the "ew" in "few," and the "ow" in "show." Sound out the word where it's used to make the final determination for "w." If it glides, it’s a vowel. If not, it’s a consonant.
Link
posted by briank at 3:41 PM on May 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
______
"W" becomes a semi-vowel when it becomes part of a diphthong. You hear it most commonly in combination with "a," "e," and "o." For example, we have the "aw" in "claw," the "ew" in "few," and the "ow" in "show." Sound out the word where it's used to make the final determination for "w." If it glides, it’s a vowel. If not, it’s a consonant.
Link
posted by briank at 3:41 PM on May 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
Make "tsk" pay ya? Ha, try!
#@#@, ###, #@#, @@, #@, ##@
Morse C,O,D,I,N,G!
posted by StickyCarpet at 3:50 PM on May 26, 2011
#@#@, ###, #@#, @@, #@, ##@
Morse C,O,D,I,N,G!
posted by StickyCarpet at 3:50 PM on May 26, 2011
Arabinosyladenine and patikulamanasikara are the longest alternating sequences. Patikulamanasikara is a Buddhist term describing the contemplation of disgusting things to combat lust.
posted by StickyCarpet at 4:07 PM on May 26, 2011 [6 favorites]
posted by StickyCarpet at 4:07 PM on May 26, 2011 [6 favorites]
Ironically, the contemplation of patikulamanasikara will also combat lust.
posted by five fresh fish at 5:12 PM on May 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by five fresh fish at 5:12 PM on May 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
"It also finds 2 common entries with 7 consonants in a row."
posted by Hubajube at 10:02 PM on May 26
Except that AWGTHTGTTA isn't a word, it is an initialisation from computing (apparently - are we going to have to go throught this again)
Dictionary.com
posted by marienbad at 5:58 PM on May 26, 2011
posted by Hubajube at 10:02 PM on May 26
Except that AWGTHTGTTA isn't a word, it is an initialisation from computing (apparently - are we going to have to go throught this again)
Dictionary.com
posted by marienbad at 5:58 PM on May 26, 2011
But never once could a teacher come up with an example of W used as a vowel, which was very consistent with the culture of blind faith.
cwm
posted by DaDaDaDave at 6:27 PM on May 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
cwm
posted by DaDaDaDave at 6:27 PM on May 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
'cwm' is Welsh, which opens it up to words such as 'nhw' and 'bwrdd'
posted by benito.strauss at 7:38 PM on May 26, 2011
posted by benito.strauss at 7:38 PM on May 26, 2011
If these words were Scrabble-approved, there would be no empty squares left on the board.
posted by StickyCarpet at 7:43 PM on May 26, 2011
posted by StickyCarpet at 7:43 PM on May 26, 2011
Also ccvccvvcccvcccccccccvcvccccccccccvccvlccvcccvcvvcvcvcvcc
posted by unSane at 7:54 PM on May 26, 2011
posted by unSane at 7:54 PM on May 26, 2011
unSane: that wikipedia link took me to this end -
"Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriveremeyebileceklerimizdenmişsinizcesine"
Which is a Turkish word meaning "Like you would be from those we can not easily/quickly make a maker of unsuccessful ones"
posted by idiopath at 8:25 PM on May 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
"Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriveremeyebileceklerimizdenmişsinizcesine"
Which is a Turkish word meaning "Like you would be from those we can not easily/quickly make a maker of unsuccessful ones"
posted by idiopath at 8:25 PM on May 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
Arabinosyladenine and patikulamanasikara are the longest alternating sequences.
Longer still are hepatojugularometer, arabinofuranosyladenine, and the ridiculous and wonderful honorificabilitudinity.
posted by Hubajube at 8:29 PM on May 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
Longer still are hepatojugularometer, arabinofuranosyladenine, and the ridiculous and wonderful honorificabilitudinity.
posted by Hubajube at 8:29 PM on May 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
The only common nonproper word that contains 5 vowels in a row.
posted by Hubajube at 8:34 PM on May 26, 2011
posted by Hubajube at 8:34 PM on May 26, 2011
There are a number of scientific words that have two separate runs of 3 vowels each, many of which seem to refer to different types of hermaphoditism: dioecious, androdioecious, trioecious. I only see one common root word that isn't scientific though.
posted by Hubajube at 8:39 PM on May 26, 2011
posted by Hubajube at 8:39 PM on May 26, 2011
'cwm' is Welsh, which opens it up to words such as 'nhw' and 'bwrdd'
"Cwm" can be found in English dictionaries and English-language books. It is as much an English word as "kimchi," "safari" or "courage."
posted by DaDaDaDave at 8:43 PM on May 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
"Cwm" can be found in English dictionaries and English-language books. It is as much an English word as "kimchi," "safari" or "courage."
posted by DaDaDaDave at 8:43 PM on May 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
Common words that contain a run of 3 consonants, then later 4 consonants, then later 3 consonants again are limited to one major city and two very common words that share the same root.
posted by Hubajube at 8:44 PM on May 26, 2011
posted by Hubajube at 8:44 PM on May 26, 2011
One last one. There's only one common word that contains a run of CCCCVVV (if you don't consider Ys).
posted by Hubajube at 8:49 PM on May 26, 2011
posted by Hubajube at 8:49 PM on May 26, 2011
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Makes it easy to find special words like this one.
posted by idiopath at 1:25 PM on May 26, 2011