The phonology page

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The vocal tract

Definitions

consonant (n.): a basic speech sound in which the breath is at least partly obstructed and which can be combined with a vowel to form a syllable. Contrasted with vowel . • a letter representing a consonant. (From The Oxford Dictionary of English (2nd edition revised) in English Dictionaries & Thesauruses)

vowel (n.): a speech sound which is produced by comparatively open configuration of the vocal tract, with vibration of the vocal cords but without audible friction, and which is a unit of the sound system of a language that forms the nucleus of a syllable. (From The Oxford Dictionary of English (2nd edition revised) in English Dictionaries & Thesauruses)

diphthong (n.): a sound formed by the combination of two vowels in a single syllable, in which the sound begins as one vowel and moves towards another (as in coin , loud , and side ). Often contrasted with monophthong , triphthong . • a digraph representing the sound ...
(From The Oxford Dictionary of English (2nd edition revised) in English Dictionaries & Thesauruses)

philology (n.): Love of learning and literature; the branch of knowledge that deals with the historical, linguistic, interpretative, and critical aspects of literature; literary or classical scholarship. Now chiefly U.S.
By the late 19th cent. this general sense had become rare, but it was revived, principally in the United States, in the early 20th cent. For a fuller discussion of this, see A. Morpurgo Davies Hist. Linguistics (1998) 4 I. 22.

(source: OED)

Pronunciation of different words

(source: OED)

Etymology of different words

crow (n.): (kr) (in spanish cuervo) - [OE. cráwe f., corresp. to OS. krâia, MLG. krâge, krâe, krâ, LG. kraie, kreie, MDu. kraeye, Du. kraai, OHG. chrâwa, chrâja, chrâ, crâwa, crâ, MHG. kræe, krâwe, krâ, Ger. krähe; a WG. deriv. of the vb. crâwan, crâian to CROW, q.v.]

(source: OED)

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