In Ithkuil, the difference between glimpsing, glancing, and gawking is the mere flick of a vowel.

NEWYORKER: Utopian for Beginners

This makes spelling inconvenient, not least because the breve (a symbol that resembles a C on its back and is placed above a vowel) cannot be reproduced on most computers.

CNN: From Our Correspondent: You Say Bulgogee, I Say Pulgogi

Names that display a consonant-vowel-consonant pattern are often easiest to say.

NEWYORKER: Famous Names

The 2013 list included a disproportionate set of vowel-laden words including buncombe, cerulean, dragoon, fantods, chelonian, mawkish, natter, persiflage, troglodyte and winkle.

FORBES: As Deficit Soars, Congress Suggests New Tax On Text Messages

Language training helps staff soften spoken vowel sounds to produce a more authentic accent.

BBC: Indians learn to be Brad and Britney

The whistled language replaces each vowel or consonant with a whistling sound: two distinct whistles replace the five Spanish vowels, and there are four whistles for consonants.

UNESCO: Culture

The warm-up is a series of exercises with the five basic vowel sounds.

WSJ: Bill Schuman: A Teacher of Note Behind Opera's Stars | Creating

For example, a Swedish lullaby, Mors Lilla Olle (Mother's Little Olle), has eight different vowel sounds, in four rhyming pairs.

BBC: The universal language of lullabies