Understanding Vowels & Consonants for Linking

To understand linking, it is important to know the difference between vowel sounds and consonant sounds. Here is a table of English vowels and consonants

vowels               a        e        i        o        u 

consonants        b    c    d        f    g    h        j    k    l    m    n         p    q    r    s    t        v    w    x    y    z

The table shows the letters that are vowels and consonants. But the important thing in linking is the sound, not the letter. Often the letter and the sound are the same, but not always.

For example, the word "pay" ends with:

    * the consonant letter "y"
    * the vowel sound "a"

Here are some more examples:
    though    know
ends with the letter    h    w
ends with the sound    o    o
 
    uniform    honest
begins with the letter    u    h
begins with the sound    y    o

Linking Vowel to Vowel، اتصال حروف صدا دار به یکدیگر

Linking Vowel to Vowel


When one word ends with a vowel sound and the next word begins with a vowel sound, we link the words with a sort of W or Y sound.

If our lips are round at the end of the first word, we insert a W sound:

   
oo    We write it like this:    too often    who is       so I      do all
|
o      We say it like this:     tooWoften    whoWis    soWI    doWall
    
   

If our lips are wide at the end of the first word, we insert a Y sound:


oo    We write it like this:    Kay is    I am    the end      she asked

|
--     We say it like this:     KayYis    IYam    theYend    sheYasked