Vowels are one of two principal types of speech sound, the other being consonants. Vowels are typically produced with voicing, and with a vocal tract open at least as much as it is for the vowel [i]. Vowels are classified by height and frontness/backness, these terms referring to the highest point on the surface of the tongue. This range of space within the oral cavity is called the vowel quadrangle, based on its shape. Other characteristics are also used in the classification of vowels, besides these two principal ones. These include rounding/labialization, tenseness/ATR, nasalization, duration/length, and syllabicity. The group of front unrounded and back rounded vowels comprise what are called cardinal vowels or primary vowels; these are the most common vowels in the world’s languages. Secondary vowels include front rounded and back unrounded vowels. Nasalization of vowels involves opening the velopharyngeal port during their production.
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