Vowel
Vowel
Vowel (/ˈvaʊəl/; from the Latin vocalis, meaning "vocal") is a speech sound made by the vocal cords. It is also a type of letter in the alphabet system of a language. The word comes from the Latin word vox, meaning "voice". It can also refer to a letter or character representing such a sound, such as 'a', 'e', 'i', 'o', 'u' in English.
Etymology
The term "vowel" is derived from the Latin word vocalis, meaning "vocal". In English, the word vowel is commonly used to mean both vowel sounds and the written symbols that represent them.
Pronunciation
The pronunciation of the word "vowel" in English is /ˈvaʊəl/.
Related Terms
- Consonant: A basic speech sound in which the breath is at least partly obstructed and which can be combined with a vowel to form a syllable.
- Phoneme: The smallest unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language.
- Syllable: A unit of pronunciation having one vowel sound, with or without surrounding consonants, forming the whole or a part of a word.
- Diphthong: A complex speech sound or glide that begins with one vowel and gradually changes to another vowel within the same syllable.
- Semivowel: A sound in speech that has some qualities of a consonant and some qualities of a vowel.
External links
- Medical encyclopedia article on Vowel
- Wikipedia's article - Vowel
This WikiMD dictionary article is a stub. You can help make it a full article.
Languages: - East Asian
中文,
日本,
한국어,
South Asian
हिन्दी,
Urdu,
বাংলা,
తెలుగు,
தமிழ்,
ಕನ್ನಡ,
Southeast Asian
Indonesian,
Vietnamese,
Thai,
မြန်မာဘာသာ,
European
español,
Deutsch,
français,
русский,
português do Brasil,
Italian,
polski