vowel-alternating
|vow-el-al-ter-na-ting|
🇺🇸
/ˈvaʊəl-ˌɔltəˈneɪtɪŋ/
🇬🇧
/ˈvaʊəl-ˌɔːltəˈneɪtɪŋ/
vowels changing in turn
Etymology
'vowel-alternating' is a Modern English compound combining 'vowel' + 'alternating' (the present-participle form of 'alternate').
'vowel' entered English via Old French/Latin ('vocalis') meaning 'voice, sound produced by the voice'; 'alternate' comes from Latin 'alternare' meaning 'to do by turns', via Old French/Medieval Latin into Middle English; the compound form is a straightforward Modern English formation.
The component words originally referred to 'voice/sound' and 'taking turns'; combined in Modern English they describe a pattern where vowels 'take turns' or change systematically—a specialized descriptive term in linguistics.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Adjective 1
describing a pattern (in phonology or morphology) in which vowels alternate or change in a systematic way (e.g., to mark grammatical contrast).
The language is vowel-alternating: verb stems show different vowels for different tenses.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Last updated: 2025/12/14 05:05