Which letters and sounds are "free" in the Major System — carrying no digit value?

The vowels (a, e, i, o, u) plus the sounds w, h, and y — they encode nothing and are used only as filler.

These free sounds are what let you glue coded consonants into a pronounceable word:

• hat → h(free)·t → just 1
• whale → wh(free)·l → just 5
• knob → (silent k)·n·(vowel)·b → 29

Tip: Remember the free letters with the phrase "a e i o u — and w, h, y". They're the mortar between the bricks.