Original: Since , however , in commonly used modes , an individual tengwa was equivalent to a consonant , the term tengwar in popular use became equivalent to '' consonant sign '' , and the vowel signs were known as ómatehtar .
Simplified: In some modes the tengwar are used for vowels and consonants ; and in other modes the tengwar are only used for the consonants , and the vowels are marked by signs above or below the tengwa .