Question

Ratio to vowels and consonants In Ottawa

Answer 1

In Ottawa
there are 3 vowels i.e. o,a,a.
and
there are 3 consonants i.e. t,t,w.
thus
ratio of vowels to consonants is 3:3
i.e. 1:1

Answer 2

In previous chapters the size of the consonant inventory (Chapter 1) and the number of distinct vowel qualities (Chapter 2) have been discussed separately. In this chapter the ratio between these two properties of the sound systems of languages around the world will be considered. This is one way in which the complexity of different aspects of the systems can be evaluated. In Chapter 2 it was noted that there is no overall correlation between consonant inventory size and the number of vowel qualities. By looking at the two aspects jointly a more subtle picture of their interaction can be obtained.

The ratio is calculated simply by dividing the number of consonants (C) by the number of vowel qualities (VQ) and will be referred to as the C/VQ ratio. The resulting numbers range from a low of only a little over 1 to a high of 29. The lowest value among the 563 languages for which it has been calculated is represented by Andoke (isolate; Colombia), which has 10 consonants and 9 vowel qualities. The highest number is represented by Abkhaz (Northwest Caucasian; Georgia), which is analyzed as having 58 consonants but only 2 vowel qualities. The ratio thus ranges between 1.11 and 29, but the more common values are nearer the lower end of the range: the mean is 4.25 and the median 3.5. The languages were grouped into five categories based on dividing the range into convenient steps below, near to, and above the median so as to create a histogram with approximately a normal distribution. Languages with a ratio equal to or below 2.0 were classed as having a “low” C/VQ ratio. Those with a ratio above 2.0 but below 2.75 were classed as “moderately low”. Those with a ratio of 2.75 or higher but less than 4.5 were classed as “average”, those with values of 4.5 or higher but less than 6.5 as “moderately high” and those with values above 6.5 as “high”. Only 10 languages have ratios of 12 or higher.