Where does the word 'vowel' come from Mommy?

How do I love being a mom? The kids actually said to me last week. "Mom, you know everything" How did I manage to pull off that facade I will never know. And, yes, I explained that I don't know everything but that was very nice to think I do.

So Nathan asked a couple of days ago about the word vowel. He wanted to know why it was called vowel and who came up with the idea to name the word vowel. I seriously looked totally dumbfounded. One, because I totally don't have any idea what the answer is. And, two, because I totally don't have any idea where he gets these ideas from.

So, according to Wikipedia on the internet (thank goodness for the internet)...

The word vowel comes from the Latin word vocalis, meaning "speaking", because in most languages words and thus speech are not possible without vowels. Vowel is commonly used to mean both vowel sounds and the written symbols that represent them

Isn't that interesting?? Aren't you glad you know that now?

This reminds me of my friend Maggie's Snapple facts. I miss her posts of Snapple facts. They made me feel smarter in some weird quirky off the wall knowledge way. I will have to ask her about any recent Snapple facts.