Vokalinventar

Vokalinventar, in linguistics often referred to as the vowel inventory, is the set of vowel phonemes used by a language or language variety. It constitutes a foundational component of a language’s phonology and is described in grammars, dictionaries, and phonetic studies. The term emphasizes the organized collection of distinct vowels that can contrast in meaning.

A key distinction is between the phonemic inventory and the phonetic inventory. The phonemic vowel inventory includes only those vowels that differentiate lexical or grammatical meaning. The broader phonetic inventory covers the full range of vowel sounds realized in speech, including allophones, length differences, nasalization, and other articulatory variations. In some analyses, the phonetic inventory exceeds the phonemic one due to contextual realization and allophony.

Vowel inventories are typically described by articulatory features such as height (high, mid, low), backness (front, central, back), and rounding (rounded vs. unrounded). Additional dimensions like vowel length, nasalization, and, in certain languages, tonal distinctions or diphthongs may be noted. Some inventories also exhibit processes such as vowel harmony, which can influence the functional distribution of vowels across morphemes.

Compilation of a vokalinventar involves fieldwork, careful phonetic transcription (commonly using the International Phonetic Alphabet), and analysis of minimal pairs to determine contrastive vowels. Orthography may reflect the underlying inventory or obscure it, depending on historical and borrowword factors.

Vowel inventories vary widely, from small sets of around five phonemic vowels to larger systems with more than ten. They interact with phonotactics, syllable structure, and prosody, and they are central to language description, documentation, speech technology, and historical linguistics.