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vowel
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frequencies of formants A diagram showing side views of the mouth and tongue positions for eight English vowel sounds: heed, hid, head, had, hod, hawed, hood, and who'd, with each vowel illustrated in a separate labeled box.
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vowel

phonetics
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vowel, in human speech, sound in which the flow of air from the lungs passes through the mouth, which functions as a resonance chamber, with minimal obstruction and without audible friction; e.g., the i in “fit,” and the a in “pack.” Although usually produced with vibrating vocal cords, vowels may be pronounced without such vibration, resulting in a voiceless, or whispered, sound. From the viewpoint of articulatory phonetics, vowels are classified according to the position...

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