Is the w in cow (or vowel) considered to be a consonant?

Well, that's sort of a trick question. Cow in my dialect (General American English) is /'kaʊ/. That's a consonant followed by a diphthong. The /a/ does not occur in my dialect as a monophthongal vowel sound, but is pronounced like the vowel in bath or palmm in Australian English; the /ʊ/ occurs and is pronounced like the vowel in foot or put. /w/ is sometimes called a semi-vowel.

[Edited for grammar and correctness.]

Last edited by zmjezhd; 06/29/11 11:45 AM.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.