vowel harmony

noun

UK /ˈvaʊəl ˈhɑːməni/

US /ˈvaʊəl ˈhɑːrməni/

Vowel harmony is a rule in some languages where all the vowels in a word sound alike.

In Turkish, vowel harmony makes the plural of 'kitap' become 'kitaplar' instead of 'kitap' plus a different ending.

SYNONYMS

vowel agreement vowel assimilation vowel matching vowel concord

RELATED WORDS

phonology suffix vowel morphology agglutination

OTHER MEANINGS

2. A phonological process where vowels within a word are constrained to share certain features such as frontness or roundedness.

Finnish uses vowel harmony so that front vowels and back vowels do not mix in native words.

3. A poetic or musical effect created by repeating similar vowel sounds for a pleasing sound.

The poet's vowel harmony gave the line a soft, flowing quality.

4. The principle in some writing systems that vowels in a word must belong to the same class.

Mongolian script reflects vowel harmony in how suffixes are written.