ns(
)nnt/
→ noun
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.
vowel
→ noun
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. Contrasted with consonant.
• a letter representing a vowel sound, such as a, e, i, o, u.
- DERIVATIVES vowelled ( (US) voweled ) adjective [usu. in combination] vowelless adjective vowelly adjective .
- ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French vouel, from Latin vocalis (littera) ‘vocal (letter)’.
→ noun
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. Contrasted with consonant.
• a letter representing a vowel sound, such as a, e, i, o, u.
- DERIVATIVES vowelled ( (US) voweled ) adjective [usu. in combination] vowelless adjective vowelly adjective .
- ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French vouel, from Latin vocalis (littera) ‘vocal (letter)’.
diphthong /'d
f
, 'dp-/
→ noun
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 of a diphthong or single vowel (as in feat). • a compound vowel character; a ligature (such as æ).
- DERIVATIVES diphthongal /-'g()l/ adjective .
- ORIGIN late Middle English: from French diphtongue, via late Latin from Greek diphthongos, from di- ‘twice’ + phthongos ‘voice, sound’.
f, 'dp-/
→ noun
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 of a diphthong or single vowel (as in feat). • a compound vowel character; a ligature (such as æ).
- DERIVATIVES diphthongal /-'
g()l/ adjective .
- ORIGIN late Middle English: from French diphtongue, via late Latin from Greek diphthongos, from di- ‘twice’ + phthongos ‘voice, sound’.
OED
Pronunciation of “kestrel”: (
k
str
l
kstrlPhilology: 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.
