vowel

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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.
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vow·el

(vou′əl)
n.
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 wekw- 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)
n
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]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

vowel

A speech sound or letter representing one that is not pronounced using constriction, for example, “a, e, i, o, u.”
Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words by Diagram Group Copyright © 2008 by Diagram Visual Information Limited
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun 1. vowel - a speech sound made with the vocal tract open
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
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

vowel

adjective
Characterized by, containing, or functioning as a vowel or vowels:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
حَرْف صَوْتيحَرْفٌ مُتَحَرِّك صائِت، حَرْف عِلَّه
samohláska
vokalvokallyd
vokaali
samoglasniksamoglas
magánhangzó
sérhljóðsérhljóîsérhljóîi
母音
모음
balsėbalsis
patskaņa burtspatskanis
samohláska
samoglasnik
samoglasnik
vokal
เสียงสระ
ünlü ünlüler
nguyên âm

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

[ˈvaʊəl] n → voyelle fvowel sound n → son m vocalique
English vowel sounds → les voyelles anglaises
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

vowel

n → Vokal m, → Selbstlaut m; vowel system → Vokalismus m; vowel sound → Vokal(laut) m
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

vowel

[ˈvaʊ/əl] n → vocale f
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

vowel

(ˈvauəl) noun
1. in English and many other languages, the letters a, e, i, o, u. klinker صائِت، حَرْف عِلَّه гласна буква vogal samohláska der Vokal vokal φωνήεν vocal vokaal حرف صدا دار vokaali voyelle אוֹת תְנוּעָה स्वर samoglasnik, vokal magánhangzó huruf hidup sérhljóði vocale 母音字 모음 balsė patskaņa burts vokal klinker vokal samogłoska غږيز، ږغيز، دعلت تورى غږ وال تورى vogal vocală гласная буква samohláska samoglasnik samoglasnik vokal เสียงสระ ünlü 母音字母 голосна буква حرف علت nguyên âm 元音字母
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 . vokaal حَرْف صَوْتي гласен звук vogal samohláska der Selbstlaut, Vokal-... vokallyd φωνήεν vocal vokaalhäälik مصوت vokaali voyelle צְלִיל הַתנוּעָה स्वर samoglasnik magánhangzó suara hidup sérhljóð vocale 母音 모음을 나타내는 문자 balsis patskanis vokal klinker vokal samogłoska غږيز vogal vo­cală гласный звук samohláska samoglasnik samoglasnik vokalljud อักษรแทนเสียงสระ ünlüler 母音 голосний звук حرف علت کي آواز âm nguyên âm 元音
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

vowel

→ حَرْفٌ مُتَحَرِّك samohláska vokal Vokal φωνήεν vocal vokaali voyelle samoglasnik vocale 母音 모음 klinker vokal samogłoska vogal гласный vokal เสียงสระ ünlü nguyên âm 元音
Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009

vowel

n. vocal.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012
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Finally, although skeptics of Martin's (1966) proto-Korean-Japanese hypothesis remain (e.g., Beckwith 2004, Vovin 2009), it is perhaps worth adding that the oddly vowelless MK 'psk 'time' ~ *pst (Martin 1992: 759), in which the final stop (whether k or *t) was probably a suffix, could be a match for OJ pu(si).
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