'Vowel' definitions:
Definition of 'vowel'
(from WordNet)
noun
A speech sound made with the vocal tract open [syn: vowel, vowel sound] [ant: consonant]
noun
A letter of the alphabet standing for a spoken vowel
Definition of 'Vowel'
From: GCIDE
- Vowel \Vow"el\, n. [F. voyelle, or an OF. form without y, L. vocalis (sc. littera), from vocalis sounding, from vox, vocis, a voice, sound. See Vocal.] (Phon.) A vocal, or sometimes a whispered, sound modified by resonance in the oral passage, the peculiar resonance in each case giving to each several vowel its distinctive character or quality as a sound of speech; -- distinguished from a consonant in that the latter, whether made with or without vocality, derives its character in every case from some kind of obstructive action by the mouth organs. Also, a letter or character which represents such a sound. See Guide to Pronunciation, [sect][sect] 5, 146-149. [1913 Webster]
- Note: In the English language, the written vowels are a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes w and y. The spoken vowels are much more numerous. [1913 Webster]
- Close vowel. See under Close, a.
- Vowel point. See under Point, n. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Vowel'
From: GCIDE
- Vowel \Vow"el\, a. Of or pertaining to a vowel; vocal. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'vowel'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- accented,
- allophone,
- alveolar,
- apical,
- apico-alveolar,
- apico-dental,
- articulated,
- articulation,
- aspiration,
- assimilated,
- assimilation,
- back,
- barytone,
- bilabial,
- broad,
- cacuminal,
- central,
- cerebral,
- check,
- checked,
- close,
- consonant,
- consonantal,
- continuant,
- dental,
- diphthong,
- dissimilated,
- dissimilation,
- dorsal,
- epenthetic vowel,
- explosive,
- flat,
- front,
- glide,
- glossal,
- glottal,
- glottalization,
- guttural,
- hard,
- heavy,
- high,
- intonated,
- labial,
- labialization,
- labiodental,
- labiovelar,
- laryngeal,
- lateral,
- lax,
- light,
- lingual,
- liquid,
- low,
- manner of articulation,
- mid,
- modification,
- monophthong,
- monophthongal,
- morphophoneme,
- mute,
- muted,
- narrow,
- nasal,
- nasalized,
- occlusive,
- open,
- oxytone,
- palatal,
- palatalized,
- parasitic vowel,
- peak,
- pharyngeal,
- pharyngealization,
- pharyngealized,
- phone,
- phoneme,
- phonemic,
- phonetic,
- phonic,
- pitch,
- pitched,
- plosive,
- posttonic,
- prothetic vowel,
- retroflex,
- rounded,
- segmental phoneme,
- semivowel,
- soft,
- sonant,
- sonority,
- speech sound,
- stop,
- stopped,
- stressed,
- strong,
- surd,
- syllabic,
- syllabic nucleus,
- syllabic peak,
- syllable,
- tense,
- thick,
- throaty,
- tonal,
- tonic,
- transition sound,
- triphthong,
- twangy,
- unaccented,
- unrounded,
- unstressed,
- velar,
- vocable,
- vocal,
- vocalic,
- vocoid,
- voice,
- voiced,
- voiced sound,
- voiceless,
- voiceless sound,
- voicing,
- vowellike,
- weak,
- wide