Brought to You by the Letter 'U'
'U', I've decided, is a very strange letter.
My girlfriend mentioned a movie called Benny and Joon and that's what started this whole thing.
In a feat worthy of Seris Spinae, 'Joon' became 'June' in my head, which prompted a chain of thought that left me completely silent for about five minutes.
In English, the short 'u' is pronounced 'uh', as in 'but' or 'umbrella'. But then there's the long 'u', 'ooh'. But we almost never use 'u' this way. In most cases where this 'u' would be, we find 'oo', as in 'soon' and 'too'.
Wonder why that is. We don't have that kind of sound substitution with the other vowels, though we do have vowels that sound like each other in given situations. Why is the long 'u' so discriminated against?
More random musings later.
My girlfriend mentioned a movie called Benny and Joon and that's what started this whole thing.
In a feat worthy of Seris Spinae, 'Joon' became 'June' in my head, which prompted a chain of thought that left me completely silent for about five minutes.
In English, the short 'u' is pronounced 'uh', as in 'but' or 'umbrella'. But then there's the long 'u', 'ooh'. But we almost never use 'u' this way. In most cases where this 'u' would be, we find 'oo', as in 'soon' and 'too'.
Wonder why that is. We don't have that kind of sound substitution with the other vowels, though we do have vowels that sound like each other in given situations. Why is the long 'u' so discriminated against?
More random musings later.