Advertisement
Advertisement
vowel
[vou-uhl]
noun
Phonetics.
(in English articulation) a speech sound produced without occluding, diverting, or obstructing the flow of air from the lungs (consonant ).
(in a syllable) the sound of greatest sonority, as i in grill.
(in linguistic function) a concept empirically determined as a phonological element in structural contrast with consonant, as the (ē) of be (bē), we (wē), and yeast (yēst).
a letter representing or usually representing a vowel, as, in English, a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes w and y.
adjective
of or relating to a vowel.
vowel
/ ˈvaʊəl /
noun
phonetics a voiced speech sound whose articulation is characterized by the absence of friction-causing obstruction in the vocal tract, allowing the breath stream free passage. The timbre of a vowel is chiefly determined by the position of the tongue and the lips
a letter or character representing a vowel
Other Word Forms
- vowelless adjective
- vowellike adjective
- vowely adverb
- vowelly adverb
- vowel-less adjective
- vowel-like adjective
Word History and Origins
Word History and Origins
Origin of vowel1
Example Sentences
Its opening poem, “Digging,” feels earthbound with its low-pitched vowels: “Between my finger and my thumb / The squat pen rests; snug as a gun.”
Penelope tried to write Hereditary??? on her paper, but quickly lost patience with sorting out which vowels went where.
“The way he finishes notes, the way he slurs into notes, the way vowels sound, the choices of sounds he uses in the lyrics he writes—it’s just clever,” he said.
Her delivery tends toward the soft and musical, and that she is wearing her own accent, which, to a Californian’s ear, plays charming variations on vowels, is all to the good.
But the kids, with the exception of some open vowels here and there, sounded like pretty generic young Americans.
Advertisement
Related Words
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Browse
