Is the sound of 'ew' in the word 'few' the same as that of 'ew' in the word 'Jew'?

[TaiwanPofLee]

Is the sound of 'ew' in the word 'few' the same as that of 'ew' in the word 'Jew'?

 

[emsr2d2]

Get ready for some disagreement here, as you saw in your thread about "shoot" and "cute".

My response to your question again, here, is no.

Few = f-yoo
Jew = joo

 

[TaiwanPofLee]

Thank you for your quick response, Emsr2d2.
Sounds /yoo/ and /oo/ are interesting in English pronunciation.

 

[MikeNewYork]

I would say they are the same. The "y" is not a vowel sound.

Again, a link to rhymezone:

http://www.rhymezone.com/r/rhyme.cgi?Word=jew&typeofrhyme=perfect&org1=syl&org2=l&org3=y

 

[SoothingDave]

I'm with Mike. "Y" is not a vowel. If you ask if the vowel sounds ("ew") are the same, I will say yes.

If you ask if a "y" sound gets put into "few," I will also say yes. It's a consonant.

It's about definitions. "Y" isn't a vowel here. It's not part of the "ew" sound.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Otherwise, it would be like saying that "grew" does not have the same sound as glue because there is no "r" sound.

 

[TaiwanPofLee]

Is 'ew' pronounced /yoo/ or /oo/?
It's confusing and interesting.

Thank you for all the answers.
Looking forward to more.

 

[emsr2d2]

"Ew" which is used in BrE to denote disgust (a bit like "yuk") is pronounced "yoo". It's pronounced the same in few, pew, mew, new (and anew and renew) and hew. As a general rule, if there is only one letter (or, rather, one consonant) before "ew", it's pronounced "yoo". "Jew" is an exception.

If there is more than one consonant before it, then it's pronounced "oo" - threw, flew, grew etc.

 

[Roman55]

"Y" isn't a vowel here. It's not part of the "ew" sound.

Where does it come from then?

Are you suggesting that it's part of the 'f' sound?

'Ewe' is pronounced /juː/ and 'yew' is also pronounced /juː/
'Few' is /fjuː/. At least, it is in BrE.

 

[MikeNewYork]

The point is that the vowel "SOUND" has nothing to do with Y. The vowel SOUND is "ew". "Few" rhymes with Jew and new and clue and glue. That depends only on sounds. You can use phonetic symbols for the entire word, but it doesn't change the vowel sound.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Is 'ew' pronounced /yoo/ or /oo/?
It's confusing and interesting.

Thank you for all the answers.
Looking forward to more.

In the US, young people will often drag out the vowel sound in "ew". They almost make it two syllables: eeeee-yoo.

 

[TaiwanPofLee]

My personal opinion is that 'ew' is generally pronounced /juː/; exceptions are in such words as blew, brew, flew, and grew. The sound of 'ew' in the word 'few' is the same as that of 'ew' in the word 'Jew' but the /j/ part of 'ew' in the word 'Jew' is assimilated into the 'dʒ' sound of 'J', and therefore 'Jew' is pronounced /dʒuː/. I wonder, and I ask. Looking forward to better opinions.

 

[Raymott]

The question wasn't about the vowel sound this time. It was about the letters 'ew' in two words and whether they are pronounced the same. I doubt whether the OP is too worried about what you call a vowel, or whether they rhyme. They want to know how the words are pronounced.

 

[Alex S]

Not the same for me.

As it has been alrady mentioned above, it's something like

Few = f-yoo
Jew = joo

But they are definitely different.