In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language that is characterized by an open configuration of the vocal tract, in contrast to consonants, which are characterized by a constriction or closure at one or more points along the vocal tract. The word vowel comes from the Latin word vocalis, meaning "uttering voice" or "speaking". Vowels usually form the peak or nucleus of a syllable, whereas consonants form the onset and coda. Some languages allow sounds that wouldn't normally be classified as vowels to form the nucleus of a syllable, such as the sound of m in the English word prism, or the sound of r in the Czech word vrba (meaning "willow"). Sometimes vowels are defined by whether they form the nucleus of a syllable, and by that criterion these sounds are vowels, but usually sounds that can form the nucleus of a syllable are called sonorants.
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1 Vowel qualities
The features that distinguish different vowels in a language, such as tongue position and lip roundedness, are said to determine the vowel's quality. See the table of vowels. A vowel sound whose quality doesn't change over the duration of the vowel is called a monophthong. Monophthongs are sometimes called "pure" or "stable" vowels. A vowel sound that glides from one quality to another is called a diphthong, and a vowel sound that glides between three qualities is a triphthong. All languages have monophthongs and many languages have diphthongs, but triphthongs or vowel sounds with even more target qualities are relatively rare cross-linguistically. English has all three types: the vowel sound in hit is a monophthong [ɪ], the vowel sound in boy is in most dialects a diphthong [ɔɪ], and the vowel sounds of flower ( BrE [aʊə] AmEAmerican English or US English (en-US according to RFC 3066) is the diverse form of the English language used mostly in the United States of America. It is the primary language used in the United States. According to the 1990 census, 97 percent of U. [aʊɚ]) form a triphthong, although the particular qualities vary by dialect. In phonologyPhonology is a subfield of grammar (see also linguistics). Whereas phonetics is about the nature of sounds (or phones) per se, phonology describes the way sounds function within a given language. For example, /p/ and /b/ in English are distinctive units o, diphthongs and triphthongs are distinguished from sequences of monophthongs by whether or not the vowel sound constitutes one or more syllables.
For example, the vowel sounds in a two-syllable pronunciation of the word flower ( BrE [flaʊə] AmEAmerican English or US English (en-US according to RFC 3066) is the diverse form of the English language used mostly in the United States of America. It is the primary language used in the United States. According to the 1990 census, 97 percent of U. [flaʊɚ]) phonetically form a triphthong, but are phonologically a sequence of a diphthong (represented by the letters ) and a monophthong (represented by the letters ).
Languages can distinguish different vowel qualities in a variety of ways:
- HeightIn phonetics, vowel height refers to the position of the tongue relative to the roof of the mouth in a vowel sound. The first formant of a vowel (F1) usually corresponds to vowel height, with a higher F1 corresponding to a lower vowel height and a lower F refers to the position of the tongue relative to the roof of the mouth. In high vowels, such as [ iThe close front unrounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. Both the symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol, are i. Features of this vowel: Its vowel height] and [ uThe close back rounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is u, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is u. Features of this vowel: Its vowel height is cl], the tongue is positioned high in the mouth, whereas in low vowels, such as [ aThe open front unrounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is a, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is a. Features of this vowel: Its vowel height is], the tongue is positioned low in the mouth. Sometimes the terms open and close are used as synonyms for low and high for describing vowels. The International Phonetic AlphabetThis article is about the alphabet officially used in linguistics. The NATO phonetic alphabet ("alpha bravo") has been informally and nonstandardly called the International Phonetic Alphabet as well. The International Phonetic Alphabet is a phonetic alpha identifies seven different vowel heights, although no known language distinguishes all seven:
- Backness refers to the tongue position during the articulation of a vowel relative to the back of the mouth. In front vowels, such as [i], the tongue is positioned forward in the mouth, whereas in back vowels, such as [u], the tongue is positioned towards the back of the mouth. The International Phonetic Alphabet identifies five different degrees of vowel backness, although no known language distinguishes all five:
- Roundedness refers to whether the lips are rounded, or not. In most languages, roundedness is just an additional feature of back vowels, and not a distinctive feature. However, some languages distinguish roundedness and backness separately, such as French, German, and some dialects of English. Different kinds of rounded vowels are also possible, as in Swedish, which has "pursed lips" rounded vowels as well as "compressed lips" rounded vowels.
- Length refers to the duration of the vowel. Japanese, Arabic and Latin have a two-way contrast between short and long vowels. Estonian and Wichita have a three-way contrast among short, half-long, and long vowels. Long vowels are written in the IPA with a triangular colon, which has two equilateral triangles pointing at each other in place of dots. The IPA symbol for half-long vowels is the triangular colon without the lower triangle.
- Nasalization refers to whether some of the air escapes through the nose. In nasal vowels, the velum is lowered, and some air travels through the nasal cavity as well as the mouth. An oral vowel is a vowel in which all air escapes through the mouth. French and Portuguese contrast nasal and oral vowels.
- Tenseness is the amount of energy expended in producing the vowel, so that tense vowels have higher formants and generally greater tongue involvement in the production of the sound that their lax counterparts. English contrasts vowels using this relatively rare feature: leap and suit are the tense versions of lip and soot, which are called lax.
- Voicing describes whether the vocal cords are vibrating during the articulation of a vowel. Most languages only have voiced vowels, but several Native American languages, such as Cheyenne and Totonac, contrast voiced and devoiced vowels. Vowels are de-voiced in whispered speech, and in Japanese, vowels that are low pitched and between voiceless consonants are de-voiced.
- Creaky voice, breathy voice, and murmured voice are phonation types that are used contrastively in some languages. Often, these co-occur with tones or stress patterns; in the Mon language, vowels pronounced in "high tone" are also produced with creaky voice. In cases like this, it can be unclear whether it is the tone, the voicing type, or the pairing of the two that is being used for phonemic contrast.
- Retracted tongue root is a feature common in some groups of African languages. This contrast is used extensively in Maa and other East African languages. Advanced tongue root and retracted tongue root resembles the lax/tense contrast acoustically, but they are articulated differently.
Daniel Jones developed the cardinal vowel system to describe vowels.
