vowel harmony

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vowel harmony

linguistics

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July 15, 2026

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Vowel harmony is a linguistic feature found in some languages, such as Finnish and Turkish. It's a structural characteristic where vowels within a word are categorized into different classes. Affixed morphemes (word parts) will then adopt vowels that match the class of the vowel in the root word.1

For example, in Turkish, vowels are distinguished as either front (e, i, ö, ü) or back (a, ı, o, u). Typically, all vowels in a word belong to the same class. Suffixes will then use vowels that align with the primary stem's vowel class. This system ensures a consistent sound pattern within words.23

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Altaic languages
Phonology
…of sound harmony affecting the vowels and velar stops. In palatal vowel harmony, all the vowels of a given word are back or they are all front; further, front velar consonants /k g/ occur only with front vowels and back (deep) velars /q g/ only with back vowels. Exceptions are…
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…of sound harmony affecting the vowels and velar stops. In palatal vowel harmony, all the vowels of a given word are back or they are all front; further, front velar consonants /k g/ occur only with front vowels and back (deep) velars /q g/ only with back vowels. Exceptions are…
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Cushitic languages
Phonetics and phonology
…which may result in a vowel harmony system such as the one found in Somali (in vowel harmony systems, certain qualities must match across all of a word’s vowels, thereby restricting possible vowel sequences).
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…which may result in a vowel harmony system such as the one found in Somali (in vowel harmony systems, certain qualities must match across all of a word’s vowels, thereby restricting possible vowel sequences).
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Japanese language
Phonology
…had a remnant form of vowel harmony. (Vowel harmony is said to exist when certain vowels call for other specific vowels within a certain domain, generally, within a word.) The wholesale shift of p to h (and to w between vowels) also took place relatively early, such that Modern Japanese…
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…had a remnant form of vowel harmony. (Vowel harmony is said to exist when certain vowels call for other specific vowels within a certain domain, generally, within a word.) The wholesale shift of p to h (and to w between vowels) also took place relatively early, such that Modern Japanese…
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Kwa languages
…languages are marked by a vowel harmony system, which contrasts sets of vowels in which the tongue root is either advanced or retracted. Many Kwa languages are also characterized with a two-level tonal system in which high tones are down-stepped after low tones. Another interesting feature of Kwa languages is…
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…languages are marked by a vowel harmony system, which contrasts sets of vowels in which the tongue root is either advanced or retracted. Many Kwa languages are also characterized with a two-level tonal system in which high tones are down-stepped after low tones. Another interesting feature of Kwa languages is…
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Nilo-Saharan languages
Vowel harmony
…Niger-Congo languages, is that of vowel harmony. This feature restricts the co-occurrence in any given word of vowels that belong to more than one of two harmonic sets. Each of these harmonic sets includes five vowels, one set being produced with an advanced tongue root and the other with a…
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…Niger-Congo languages, is that of vowel harmony. This feature restricts the co-occurrence in any given word of vowels that belong to more than one of two harmonic sets. Each of these harmonic sets includes five vowels, one set being produced with an advanced tongue root and the other with a…
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Uralic languages
Vowel harmony
Vowel harmony is among the more familiar traits of the modern Uralic languages. Although most Uralic scholars trace this feature back to Proto-Uralic, there is good reason to question this view. Vowel harmony is said to exist when certain vowels cannot occur with…
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Vowel harmony is among the more familiar traits of the modern Uralic languages. Although most Uralic scholars trace this feature back to Proto-Uralic, there is good reason to question this view. Vowel harmony is said to exist when certain vowels cannot occur with…
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