vowels

Vowels are a major type of speech in terms of their articulatory characteristics. They are sound segments produced when the airstreams that come from the lungs meet with no obstruction of any kind in the throat, the nose, or the mouth, so no turbulence of a total stopping of the air can be perceived. Vowels function as the main sounds of syllables, either alone or combined with consonants. They are the nucleus of the syllable. It can be divided into pure vowels, semi-vowels, diphthongs. Vowel sounds are differentiated by a number of factors: (1) the position of tongue (2) the openness of the mouth (3) the shape of the lips (4) the length of the vowels.