Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

tense vowel

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.24 in modern English

Syllables: tense vow-el
IPA

16

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

2

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A vowel produced with relative constriction of the vocal tract.

Example Sentences

"All of the vowels illustrated [...] are tense vowels; they are produced with a placement of the tongue that results in greater vocal tract constriction than that of nontense vowels..."

Etymology

Compound of tense + vowel.

Inflected Forms

tense vowels (plural)

Antonyms

lax vowel

Questions

What does tense vowel mean?: A vowel produced with relative constriction of the vocal tract.
Where does tense vowel come from?: Compound of tense + vowel.

How to pronounce tense vowel

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “tense vowel”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “tense vowel”.
Repeat and practice — Say “tense vowel” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.