Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🔤 Between vowels 🔤 A sound between vowels
intervocalic

intervocalic

9.9
A consonant sound between two vowel sounds in a word
  • noun
  • /ˌɪntərˈvoʊkəlɪk/
  • Specialized
: sonido intervocálico
  • The linguist explained that the /t/ in 'water' is an intervocalic sound in American English.

Examples

  • In some languages, an intervocalic consonant may be pronounced differently than at the start of a word.

  • The /b/ in 'cabana' serves as an intervocalic consonant, appearing between two vowels.

  • The teacher asked students to identify the intervocalic sounds in several example words.

  • The intervocalic sound in 'banana' is the letter 'n'.

  • Can you identify the intervocalic consonants in these words?

  • In linguistics, an intervocalic sound is crucial for understanding pronunciation variations in different dialects.

  • For the assignment, students must find all intervocalic consonants in the provided list of words.

Surface Forms

intervocalic singular
intervocalics plural

Morphology

intervocalic = vocalic (semi-transparent) = inter + vocal + ic

Formed by prefixing inter- to 'vocalic'; the morphological structure is clear but the meaning depends on knowledge of the technical term 'vocalic'.

Etymology

Intervocalic as a noun means a sound that occurs between two vowels. The name comes from inter- 'between' and vocal 'voice', which connects to 'vowel', so an intervocalic is a consonant or other sound placed between vowel sounds like the /t/ in 'water'.