If you do restrict or close your airflow in a significant way, you’re in consonant territory. Say “ahh,” but then flick your tongue all around your mouth, wriggle your lips and jaws around, let out the noise at different volumes, but don’t ever fully stop that airflow. Here’s the part where you get to act like kid.

Vowels can vary in pitch and loudness, too. The tongue can be at various heights in the mouth (such as high, mid, or low) and at various positions (front, central, or back). Bat is and bait is, for instance.Īccording to phoneticians, a vowel is a speech sound that is made without significant constriction of the flow of air from the lungs. To get around the limitations of written systems, linguists use what is known as the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), a set of symbols used to represent the sounds in all the world’s languages regardless of how they are written. Their spellings are similar, but their vowel sounds are quite different. What is the difference between a vowel and a consonant?Ĭonsider the words beet and beat, which feature different spellings for the same sound ( homophones). In this article, we’ll explore the difference between consonants and vowels and explain why certain letters are considered vowels-and why some can fall into either category depending on which sound they make.

Vowels and consonants are two different categories of sounds that linguists (in the branch of linguistics called phonetics) use to explain how speech sounds work. Click on the video links to watch a short 3D animation of how each vowel is produced.You might be able to recite the letters considered vowels in the English language: A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y. The vowels used in Pronunciation Coach for American English are described in the following table. The chart roughly represents the tongue position in the oral cavity. The length or duration of vocalization: long or short.Ī four-sided vowel chart is often used to demonstrate the front–back and high–low positions.The shape of the lips: rounded or unrounded (spread).The tongue's position relative to the palate: high, mid or low.The portion of the tongue that is involved in the articulation: front, central or back.

Vowels are commonly described according to the following characteristics:

What makes a vowel a vowel