Introduction
In every language’s alphabet, there are certain letters responsible for producing sound, without which no word can be formed. In Urdu, these letters are called Musawwatey, in Arabic Huruf-e-illat, and in English, they are known as vowels. All other letters in Urdu are called Musammatey, in Arabic Huruf-e-saheeh, and in English, consonants.
How Many Vowels Are There?
Both Urdu and Arabic have three vowels: “alif”, “waw”, and “ya”, provided that they are static (sakin, i.e., without a vowel sound attached to them). In contrast, English has five vowels: A, E, I, O, and U.
A question arises: In Urdu, isn’t sound produced by the diacritics (zabar, zer, pesh), rather than alif, waw, and ya? The answer is that “zabar” is essentially a short “alif”, “pesh” is a short “waw”, and “zer” is a short “ya”.
Semi-Vowels
Apart from the five vowels mentioned in English, the remaining 21 letters are consonants. However, two of these letters, “Y” and “W”, are not always consonants. Sometimes they act as vowels and sometimes as consonants. When they occur at the beginning of a word or at the start of a syllable, they are consonants, as in “yes” and “wish.” When they appear at the end of a word, they function as vowels, as in “say” and “sky.”
In other words, if “Y” and “W” are static (sakin), they are considered vowels, and if they are dynamic (Mutaharik), they are consonants. This means that if they are pronounced with a diacritic (zabar, zer, or pesh in Urdu), they are consonants; otherwise, they are vowels.
The simplest sign is that if one of the five vowels immediately follows "Y" or "W", then they are consonants. If no vowel follows them, they are vowels, regardless of whether a vowel precedes them.
Since these two letters can function as both vowels and consonants, they are called semi-vowels in English. In Urdu and Arabic, they can be referred to as “nisf illat” or “shibh illat”.
A Question on Urdu and Arabic
In Urdu and Arabic, “alif”, “waw”, and “ya” do not always function as vowels either. When they are static, they are vowels (huruf-e-illat), and when dynamic, they are consonants (huruf-e-saheeh). So why aren’t they called semi-vowels? The answer is that, in Urdu and Arabic, no other letters are considered full vowels except for these three, so there is no concept of a semi-vowel.
Importance of Understanding Vowels
In English grammar, vowels play a crucial role. The use of articles, pronunciation of certain words, rules of singular and plural forms, and many other important topics cannot be fully understood without a proper understanding of vowels. More details will follow.
