Vokals

Vokals are a class of speech sounds produced with an open or relatively unobstructed vocal tract, allowing the air to flow freely from the larynx to the lips. They typically form the nucleus of syllables and carry the core vowel quality that distinguishes syllables in many languages. Unlike most consonants, vowels do not involve a significant constriction of the vocal tract.

Articulation and variation: Vowels are described by tongue position and lip shape. The tongue can be high, mid, or low (height) and front, central, or back (backness). Lips may be rounded or unrounded. Most languages also contrast vowels by length, with short and long vowels functioning as separate phonemic categories in some languages. In addition, vowels can exhibit phonation differences in certain languages, such as breathy or creaky voice, and can be nasalized in particular phonological contexts.

Phonetic categories: Vowels can be monophthongs, having a single stable quality, or diphthongs and triphthongs, which glide between qualities within a single syllable. The acoustic realization of vowels is described by formant frequencies, especially the first two formants (F1 and F2), which reflect height and backness and contribute to perceived vowel quality.

Orthography and variation: Vowel sounds are represented in writing systems by vowel letters, often with diacritics to indicate length, nasalization, tone, or quality differences. The inventory and organization of vowels vary across languages, including features like vowel harmony, vowel length contrasts, and phonemic diphthongs.

Role in language: Vokals serve as the essential core of syllables, interact with consonants to shape syllable structure, and contribute significantly to phonological contrast and meaning in languages worldwide.