vowel harmony

Vowel harmony is a linguistic feature where vowels within a word influence each other to create a harmonious sound pattern. In languages with vowel harmony, vowels in a word tend to share certain qualities, such as frontness or backness, or being rounded or unrounded. For example, if a word starts with a front vowel like 'e,' other vowels in the word are likely to be front vowels as well. This harmony makes words sound more uniform and smooth, and it can affect spelling and pronunciation rules, helping speakers produce consistent and pleasing words within that language.