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Glite Dictionary
oral vowel

oral vowel

7.7
A vowel made with air only through the mouth, not the nose
  • noun
  • /ˈɔrəl ˈvaʊəl/
  • Specialized
translation icon : vocal oral
  • You can identify an oral vowel by the lack of airflow through the nose during its articulation.

Examples

  • French distinguishes between oral vowels and nasal vowels in its pronunciation.

  • In English, all vowel sounds are typically oral vowels.

  • An oral vowel is crucial in linguistics.

  • What is an oral vowel?

  • In French, the distinction between oral vowels and nasal vowels is important for accurate pronunciation.

  • During a linguistics lesson, we learned that an oral vowel allows airflow only through the mouth.

  • To pronounce a proper oral vowel, ensure that no air escapes through your nose.

How Nasal

nasal vowel
  • Specialized
7.5
oral vowel
  • Specialized
7.7

Surface Forms

oral vowel singular
oral vowels plural

Morphology

oral + vowel

The meaning 'a vowel produced through the mouth (not nasalized)' is directly and compositionally derivable from 'oral' (pertaining to the mouth) + 'vowel' (a speech sound). This straightforward modifier–noun combination and the common cross-linguistic contrast with nasal vowels make the sense predictable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents, despite the term's technicality.

Etymology

Oral vowel comes from two simple words: oral meaning 'mouth' and vowel meaning a voice sound. So an oral vowel is a vowel you make with air only through the 'mouth', not the 'nose', which is why it means a vowel made only in the mouth.