noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A phonetic vowel, as opposed to a phonological one.
2. 2
   A sound or segment that has some vowel-like feature and may or may not be able to occupy a nucleus; often includes semivowels, semiconsonants, and any non-syllabic or non-nucleic vowel

Synonyms

All synonyms

alveolararticulationaspirationassimilatedassimilationback

Etymology

From voc(al) + -oid. First appears c. the 1940s, coined by Kenneth Lee Pike, American linguist (1912-2000).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.