We learned in childhood that the vowels are a, e, i, о, u, and sometimes w and y. But this is but a slight clue as to what a vowel really is. The symbols that we have just enumerated are letters—vowel letters, to be more exact. If you say the first one, a slowly you will discover that it is made up of two sounds: the a in ale and almost the e in eve. It is not therefore a pure vowel. You can try this out on the other vowel letters and see how many of them represent pure vowels.
