Daily Almanac for
Nov 27, 2009
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vow•el



Pronunciation: (vou'ul), [key]
—n.
1. Phonet.
a. (in English articulation) a speech sound produced without occluding, diverting, or obstructing the flow of air from the lungs (opposed to consonant).
b. (in a syllable) the sound of greatest sonority, as i in grill. Cf. consonant (def. 1b).
c. (in linguistic function) a concept empirically determined as a phonological element in structural contrast with consonant, as the (ē) of be (bē), we (wē), and yeast (yēst).
2. a letter representing or usually representing a vowel, as, in English, a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes w and y.

—adj.
of or pertaining to a vowel.

Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.

vowvowel fracture
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