Vowel: What Is a Vowel

What Is a Vowel ? The term ‘ vowel ’ is used to refer to letters used to represent vowel sounds. In the English language, five letters among the twenty-six letters of the English alphabet are called vowels. They are a, e, i, o, and u. The Oxford Learner’s Dictionary defines a vowel as “a letter that represents a vowel sound”. In English, the word vowel is commonly used to refer both to vowel sounds and to the written symbols that represent them: a , e , i , o , u , and sometimes y , and w . [3] An idealized schematic of vowel space, based on the formants of Daniel Jones and John Wells pronouncing the cardinal vowels of the IPA. Vowels: Definition, Types, Examples English includes two primary groups of letters and sounds. One group is the consonants. We make the consonant sounds by changing and restricting airflow in our mouth or nose as we speak, such as with our teeth, tongue, or lips. The other group is the vowels. We produce vowel sounds with unrestricted airflow shaped mainly by our tongue or lips. What Are the English Vowels? The primary English vowel letters are a, e, i, o, and u. The letter y can be ...