Questions tagged [vowels]

Those speech sounds made with open, unrestricted vocal tracts, in contrast to consonants.

230 questions
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Is there such a thing as an L colored vowel?

I am wondering about vowels with approximant sounds. I am talking about a variant of a r colored vowel. An r colored vowel is found in words like earth. But, I want to take this a step further. Is there a such thing as an l colored vowel, and is it…
Mitten File
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How is a svarabhakti different from a vowel

I recently came across the concept of "svarabhakti" in the context of the Gaelic word "Alba" (pronounced with a vowel between l and b). What I'm confused about is why this is considered a svarabhakti rather than the word simply being "Alaba"?
Jay
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Are syllable-timed languages with reduced vowels a thing?

the wiki article on syllable-timed languages says the following Syllable-timed languages tend to give syllables approximately equal prominence and generally lack reduced vowels. Are there any syllable-timed language(s) that has reduced vowels?.
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Glottal approximate and rhotic consonants and R-colored vowels

Is there some reason why the consonant "r" can't simply be a glottal approximate and "er" be the corresponding vowel? This would explain why different r's can be produced with the tongue in totally different positions yet all sound the…
R. Emery
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Unvoiced schwa?

I read about a the schwa being the laziest sound in all of human speech. This is because it just needs vocal cords and, poof, there's a uuuh sound. But, what happens if you take the vocal cords out? (I did this when whispering on purpose.) This…
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The German vowel “a” changes to the English “i”

What is the name of a sound shift law under which the German vowel "a" changes to the English "i", e.g. Macht -> might; Nacht -> night
user23900
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Does Neary Vowel Normalization account for Vocal Tract Length?

Can't quite find this in the research I have done so far that surveys various vowel normalization methods...