A vowel is a sound such as the ones represented in writing by the letters 'a', 'e' 'i', 'o' and 'u', which you pronounce with your mouth open, allowing the air to flow through it. Compare consonant.
The vowel in words like 'my' and 'thigh' is not very difficult.
...English vowel sounds.
vowel in British English
(ˈvaʊəl)
noun
1. 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.
a letter or character representing a vowel
Derived forms
vowel-less (ˈvowel-less)
adjective
vowel-like (ˈvowel-ˌlike)
adjective
Word origin
C14: from Old French vouel, from Latin vocālis littera a vowel, from vocālis sonorous, from vox a voice
vowel in American English
(ˈvaʊəl)
noun
1.
any voiced speech sound characterized by generalized friction of the air passing in a continuous stream through the pharynx and opened mouth but with no constriction narrow enough to produce local friction; the sound of the greatest prominence in most syllables
2.
a letter (as a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y) or a character or a symbol representing such a sound
Cf. consonant
adjective
3.
of a vowel or vowels
Word origin
ME vowelle < MFr vouel < L vocalis (littera), vocal (letter), vowel < vox, voice
Examples of 'vowel' in a sentence
vowel
Speakers of any language often have problems pronouncing consonants or vowels which do not exist in their mother tongue.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
Each chapter uses only one vowel.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
He noticed that some young people were using certain vowel sounds that were not features of the areas where they grew up.
Goshgarian, Gary Exploring language (6th edn) (1995)
And this was a performance of deep breaths, long vowels and long distances.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
This corrected her flat southeast London vowels.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
If you pronounce the vowel in bit with your lips rounded, you may approach it.
Goshgarian, Gary Exploring language (6th edn) (1995)
Instead, they just need to identify the first vowel sound to find out how it is spelt.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
When he did, he used only vowels and relied on his younger brother to interpret what they meant.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
By using a vowel for each Quarter we are most emphatically not merely following orthodox religious use or occult teaching.
Stewart, R J Music and the Elemental Psyche: A Practical Guide to Music and Changing Consciousness (1987)
This provided the flexibility needed to produce a variety of vowels and consonants,a flexibility denied to the apes.
Wills, Christopher The Runaway Brain: the Evolution of Human Uniqueness (1993)
With his easy charm and her clipped vowels, the pair will jolly well get to the bottom of things.
The Sun (2013)
I'm keeping a balance of two vowels and two consonants.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Here flat vowels are softened and guttural accents trimmed to a neat BA standard.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Yet we appear not merely to be clinging to the distinctive figures of speech and vowel sounds of our native soil, but actively nurturing them.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Greeks, by contrast, have only five different vowel sounds.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
I want my own stuff, my own rhythm, and vowels and consonants too.
The Times Literary Supplement (2014)
This is not a season for experimental fiction, such as the book by that Canadian bloke in which each chapter uses only one vowel.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Earlier studies of vocal imitation had shown that infants were able to match vowel sounds spoken to them by adults, but only from 12 weeks onwards.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
In other languages
vowel
British English: vowel /ˈvaʊəl/ NOUN
A vowel is a sound such as the ones represented in writing by the letters `a', `e', `i', `o', and `u', which you pronounce with your mouth open, allowing the air to flow through it.
American English: vowel
Arabic: حَرْفٌ مُتَحَرِّك
Brazilian Portuguese: vogal
Chinese: 元音
Croatian: samoglasnik
Czech: samohláska
Danish: vokal
Dutch: klinker taalkundig
European Spanish: vocal
Finnish: vokaali
French: voyelle
German: Vokal
Greek: φωνήεν
Italian: vocale
Japanese: 母音
Korean: 모음
Norwegian: vokal
Polish: samogłoska
European Portuguese: vogal
Romanian: vocală
Russian: гласный
Latin American Spanish: vocal
Swedish: vokal
Thai: เสียงสระ
Turkish: ünlü gramer
Ukrainian: голосний звук
Vietnamese: nguyên âm
All related terms of 'vowel'
low vowel
a vowel uttered with the mouth open and the tongue lowered
back vowel
a vowel whose sound is produced in the back of the mouth or the throat
front vowel
a vowel sound produced with the tongue in a position near the front of the mouth , such as the 'a' in 'at' or the 'e' in bed
open vowel
a vowel pronounced with the lips relatively wide apart
oral vowel
an ordinary vowel that is produced without nasalization
pure vowel
a vowel that is pronounced with more or less unvarying quality without any glide ; monophthong
vowel point
any of several marks or points placed above or below consonants , esp those evolved for Hebrew or Arabic , in order to indicate vowel sounds
vowel shift
a systematic phonetic change in a language's vowels
vowel sound
a speech sound that is made with no obstruction of the vocal tract
vowel harmony
a phonological rule in some languages, as Hungarian and Turkish , requiring that the vowels of a word all share a specified feature , such as front or back articulation , thereby conditioning the form that affixes may take, as in forming the Turkish plurals evler “houses” from ev “house” and adamlar “men” from adam “man”
vowel gradation
vowel gradation , esp in Indo-European languages
vowel mutation
the mark (¨) placed over a vowel in some languages, such as German , indicating modification in the quality of the vowel
Great Vowel Shift
a phonetic change that took place during the transition from Middle to Modern English , whereby the long vowels were raised ( eː became iː 🔊 , oː became uː 🔊 , etc). The vowels ( iː 🔊 ) and ( uː 🔊 ) underwent breaking and became the diphthongs ( aɪ 🔊 ) and ( aʊ 🔊 )
gradation
Gradations are small differences or changes in things.