Successive Consonants
Tell me your English language work which contains the largest number of successive consonants.
ASKER
or consecutive
twelfths?
OM Gang
OM Gang
ASKER
No cigar;-)
ASKER
Now that I think about it a simple query on an English language dictionary would do it:
Select word from dictionary where word like "*[!a,!e,!i,!o,!u][!a,!e,!
would find all the words containing 4 consecutive consonants. Keep growing it until you don't get anything back?
Anybody there?
Select word from dictionary where word like "*[!a,!e,!i,!o,!u][!a,!e,!
would find all the words containing 4 consecutive consonants. Keep growing it until you don't get anything back?
Anybody there?
angsts? still 5 consecutive but shorter word.
OM Gang
OM Gang
ASKER
I spent a few years thumbing thru a big dictionary before I found six. But not until now did I get the eurika - the db can do it for me. Without using my query, I 'discovered' "latchstring". But I do not have a dbDictionary so I'll wait to see if there is seven or more. Thanks,
Ray
Ray
Interesting - latchstring opens a whole new avenue of thinking since it surely was at one time two words that have since been concantenated. It seems quite possible then that there exists a similarly concantenated word with 6 or more consecutive consonants. Of course, one could arguably create a newly concantenated word and only have to wait until it was adopted into a dictionary - i.e. angststring 1) sequence of text that is the source of anxiety or apprehension often accompnied by depression.
As a programmer surely you've experienced an angststring.
OM Gang
As a programmer surely you've experienced an angststring.
OM Gang
RHYTHMS ?
strengths
E*ncycl*opedia
"Stythy"
all six letters are consonants
all six letters are consonants
Stythy is a noun of stithy
ASKER
To count, we do not allow the letter "y". I got a ton of 5 letter ones, but still only one six letter. Nightshade, yachtsman, yachtswoman, landsknecht, handspring, etc.
Hmm.. y is a recent addition to vowels then :)
But I think RHYTHMS is the LARGEST word containing only consonants.
But I think RHYTHMS is the LARGEST word containing only consonants.
ASKER
According to AskOxford.com
Yes, the letter Y is a vowel or a consonant! In terms of sound, a vowel is 'a speech sound which is produced by comparatively open configuration of the vocal tract, with vibration of the vocal cords but without audible friction...', while a consonant is 'a basic speech sound in which the breath is at least partly obstructed' (definitions from the New Oxford Dictionary of English, 1998). The letter Y can be used to represent different sounds in different words, and can therefore fit either definition. In myth or hymn it is clearly a vowel, and also in words such as my, where it stands for a diphthong (a combination of two vowel sounds). On the other hand, in a word like beyond there is an obstacle to the breath which can be heard between two vowels, and the same sound begins words like young and yes. (This consonant sound, like that of the letter W, is sometimes called a 'semivowel' because it is made in a similar way to a vowel, but functions in contrast to vowels when used in words.) Whether the letter Y is a vowel or a consonant is therefore rather an arbitrary decision. The letter is probably more often used as a vowel, but in this role is often interchangeable with the letter I. However, the consonant sound is not consistently represented in English spelling by any other letter, and perhaps for this reason Y tends traditionally to be counted among the consonants.
By this definition, the letter Y in RHYTHMS is a vowel, as in myth.
Yes, the letter Y is a vowel or a consonant! In terms of sound, a vowel is 'a speech sound which is produced by comparatively open configuration of the vocal tract, with vibration of the vocal cords but without audible friction...', while a consonant is 'a basic speech sound in which the breath is at least partly obstructed' (definitions from the New Oxford Dictionary of English, 1998). The letter Y can be used to represent different sounds in different words, and can therefore fit either definition. In myth or hymn it is clearly a vowel, and also in words such as my, where it stands for a diphthong (a combination of two vowel sounds). On the other hand, in a word like beyond there is an obstacle to the breath which can be heard between two vowels, and the same sound begins words like young and yes. (This consonant sound, like that of the letter W, is sometimes called a 'semivowel' because it is made in a similar way to a vowel, but functions in contrast to vowels when used in words.) Whether the letter Y is a vowel or a consonant is therefore rather an arbitrary decision. The letter is probably more often used as a vowel, but in this role is often interchangeable with the letter I. However, the consonant sound is not consistently represented in English spelling by any other letter, and perhaps for this reason Y tends traditionally to be counted among the consonants.
By this definition, the letter Y in RHYTHMS is a vowel, as in myth.
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Nothing arbitrary - If Oxford considers it a vowel in this specific case - it is a vowel.
Tsk, tsk, tautologic - if a word consists entirely of consonants, I believe the consonants have to be consecutive;-)
Tsk, tsk, tautologic - if a word consists entirely of consonants, I believe the consonants have to be consecutive;-)
ASKER
As to angstring, I can only find reference to it in German.
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I don't think a German person's name can qualify as an English language word, even though it is used my the medical community in their English texts. Make sure your genes don't allow this one. From where I sit I'm still looking at six.
>In terms of sound, a vowel is 'a speech sound which is produced by comparatively open configuration of the vocal tract, with vibration of the vocal cords but without audible friction...'
Does this mean that the word "why" consists of three vowels?
Does this mean that the word "why" consists of three vowels?
ASKER
Do you mean you can pronounce "wh" without audible friction...!
According to the pronunciation guide on dictionary.com one can.
Other common words with 6 consonants: catchphrase, lengthsman, flightstrip, nightshriek...
just google it...
just google it...
bergschrund bergschrunds catchphrase catchphrases eschscholtzia eschscholtzias festschrift festschriften festschrifts goldschmidtine ...
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miaoued - I consider eiaou to be consonants ;)
Twe'lfthstr'eet ?
ei'ghthstr'eet ?
ASKER
Thanks everyone. I am satisfied there is currently not seven or more. The lion's share to mgh_mgharish for his tenacity, a good bit to AndrewGustely for his 'food for thought', and the remainder to neopolitan for actually finding a name with 7, albeit German.
In German
Angstschweis" Angstschweis"es Angstschwelle Gerichtsschreiber Gerichtsschreibern Geschichtsschreiber Geschichtsschreibers Geschichtsschreibung Glu"ckwunschschreiben
Angstschweis" Angstschweis"es Angstschwelle Gerichtsschreiber Gerichtsschreibern Geschichtsschreiber Geschichtsschreibers Geschichtsschreibung Glu"ckwunschschreiben
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