CEFR B1

vowel

noun

Meaning

A speech sound made with the mouth open and the tongue not touching the teeth, the lips, or the roof of the mouth, such as the 'a' in 'cat' or the 'o' in 'hot'.

Examples

  • The word 'apple' begins with a vowel sound.
  • She struggled to pronounce the French vowel 'u'.

Synonyms: sound, articulation, phoneme