vowel

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Related to vowel: consonant

vowel

A vowel is a letter that represents a speech sound made with one’s airway (the mouth and vocal chords) open and without touching one’s tongue to the teeth, lips, or the roof of the mouth. It is contrasted with consonants, which are formed by obstructing one’s airway in some way so as to create a harder, more defined speech sound. Together, vowels and consonants form syllables in speech.

There are five letters that are considered to be true vowels: A, E, I, O, and U.

vow·el

(vou′əl)

1. A speech sound, such as (ē) or (ĭ), created by the relatively free passage of breath through the larynx and oral cavity, usually forming the most prominent and central sound of a syllable.

2. A letter, such as a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y in the English alphabet, that represents a vowel.

[Middle English vowelle, from Old French vouel, from Latin (littera) vōcālis, sounding (letter), from vōx, vōc-, voice; see wek^w- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

vowel

(ˈvaʊəl)

1. (Phonetics & Phonology) 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

2. (Linguistics) a letter or character representing a vowel

[C14: from Old French vouel, from Latin vocālis littera a vowel, from vocālis sonorous, from vox a voice]

ˈvowel-less adj

ˈvowel-ˌlike adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

vow•el

(ˈvaʊ əl)

n.

1. a speech sound, as (ē), (o͝o), or (a), produced without occluding, diverting, or obstructing the flow of air from the lungs, and usu. constituting the sound of greatest sonority in a syllable (opposed to consonant).

2. a letter or other symbol representing a vowel sound, as, in English, a, e, i, o, u and sometimes y or w.

[1275–1325; < Old French vouel < Latin vocālis vocal]

vowel

A speech sound or letter representing one that is not pronounced using constriction, for example, “a, e, i, o, u.”

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	vowel - a speech sound made with the vocal tract open vowel sound speech sound, phone, sound - (phonetics) an individual sound unit of speech without concern as to whether or not it is a phoneme of some language ablaut - a vowel whose quality or length is changed to indicate linguistic distinctions (such as sing sang sung song) diphthong - a vowel sound that starts near the articulatory position for one vowel and moves toward the position for another schwa, shwa - a neutral middle vowel; occurs in unstressed syllables stem vowel, thematic vowel - a vowel that ends a stem and precedes an inflection consonant - a speech sound that is not a vowel
	2.	vowel - a letter of the alphabet standing for a spoken vowel alphabetic character, letter of the alphabet, letter - the conventional characters of the alphabet used to represent speech; "his grandmother taught him his letters" vowel point - a mark placed below or near a consonant (as in Hebrew or Arabic) to indicate the spoken vowel

vowel

adjective

Characterized by, containing, or functioning as a vowel or vowels:

vocal, vocalic.

Translations

Spanish / Español

Select a language:

vocal

vowel

[vaʊəl]

A. N → vocal f

B. CPD vowel shift N → cambio m vocálico
vowel sound N → sonido m vocálico
vowel system N → sistema m vocálico

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

vowel

(ˈvauəl) noun

1. in English and many other languages, the letters a, e, i, o, u. vocal

2. (also vowel sound) any of the sounds represented by these five letters or by y , or by combination of these with each other and/or w . vocal

vowel

→ vocal

Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009

vowel

n. vocal.

English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

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References in classic literature ?

The sound I mean may be either a vowel, a semi-vowel, or a mute.

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J is a consonant in English, but some nations use it as a vowel -- than which nothing could be more absurd.

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For, the maternal and paternal Slowboy were alike unknown to Fame, and Tilly had been bred by public charity, a foundling; which word, though only differing from fondling by one vowel's length, is very different in meaning, and expresses quite another thing.

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At the enunciation of the aspirate, Fuddy-Duddy, the incapable terrapin, came to a dead halt, and before the vowel had died away up the ravine had folded up all his eight legs and lain down in the dusty road, regardless of the effect upon his derned skin.

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There is no doubt that Mr Brass intended some compliment or other; and it has been argued with show of reason that he would have said Buffon, but made use of a superfluous vowel. Be this as it may, Quilp gave him no time for correction, as he performed that office himself by more than tapping him on the head with the handle of his umbrella.

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In reading this you must sound the final "e" in each word except when the next word begins with an "h" or with another vowel. You will then find it read easily and smoothly.

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Naumann's pronunciation of the vowel seemed to stretch the word satirically.

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Therefore, though the whole point of his "Current Shorthand" is that it can express every sound in the language perfectly, vowels as well as consonants, and that your hand has to make no stroke except the easy and current ones with which you write m, n, and u, l, p, and q, scribbling them at whatever angle comes easiest to you, his unfortunate determination to make this remarkable and quite legible script serve also as a Shorthand reduced it in his own practice to the most inscrutable of cryptograms.

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It was a sonorous, harmonious, and flexible dialect, the vowels seeming to admit of very varied accentuation.

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"The senhora is both weelful and pivish," said he, mixing the two vowels which (with the aspirate) were his only trouble with our tongue.

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(All vowels are held to alliterate with each other.) It will be seen therefore that (1) emphatic stress and (2) alliteration are the basal principles of the system.

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The name of a woman should be agreeable, sweet, fanciful; it should end in long vowels, and resemble words of benediction.' Yes, the sage is right; in truth, Maria, Sophia, la Esmeral--Damnation!