<p>A vowel-only language is surely constructable (and I think, learnable, too), but I am afraid that it will be instable against evolutionary pressure.</p>

<p>Vowel sequences like /aua/ or /aia/ tend to develop into glides /awa/ and /aja/ giving raise to the first consonants in the language, and at the hiat between two vowel a third consonant, the glottal stop, may materialise.</p>

<p>Efficiency of the coding is also a concern, maybe tones can take over the role of consonants in creating more different syllables from the vowels.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-26T14:21:16.327Z
2018-07-26T14:21:16.327Z
Sir Cornflakes
<p>Well, there is always <a href="https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solresolo" rel="noreferrer">Solresol</a>, which has several isomorphic representations, and some of those could be considered vowel-only (depending on the instrument used).</p>

<p>For natlangs, there are <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whistled_language" rel="noreferrer">whistled languages</a>, with a very reduced consonant inventory. They could fit your criteria especially if you consider tones to be a feature of vowels, and look at the phonetic level - consonants are realized mostly by glides and occlusion (phonemically, consonants are copied from the spoken language &amp; reduced).</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-29T07:27:39.257Z
2018-07-29T07:27:39.257Z
Radovan Garabík
<p>There are generally a lot fewer vowels than consonants in the phoneme inventory of human languages. That means, with fewer sounds you need to make the words a lot longer if you want to have a decent-sized vocabulary.</p>

<p>Also, vowel pronunciation is more varied. There aren't many different ways to pronounce /t/ or /k/, but any regional dialect will change vowels. Partly because there are no fixed places of articulation: vowels are distinguished by the opening of the jaw and the position of the tongue. Both of these are almost infinitely variable compared to closing your lips and releasing them (as you'd do for a /p/ or a /b/).</p>

<p>And finally, why would you disregard most potential sounds that the human vocal apparatus can produce? It's just not an efficient use of your anatomy. A bit like hopping on one leg instead of walking.</p>

<p>So the two main arguments against a vowel-only language are size of phoneme inventory and variability of vowel pronunciation.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-09-24T19:50:29.707Z
Surely your two arguments neutralise each other: if variations in vowel pronunciation are counted as separate vowels (as they are in the IPA, although not in the English alphabet), then you'd have a much bigger set of vowels and less variation in each one.
Rand al'Thor
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-09-25T18:24:51.163Z
@Randal'Thor But you can't do that, as despite all the variation they are still too close to work as separate phonemes.
Oliver Mason
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-26T13:11:35.503Z
2018-07-26T13:11:35.503Z
Oliver Mason
<p>All natlangs have both consonants and vowels, but it's not immediately obvious why a human language couldn't be made from only vowels.</p>

<p>Has anyone theorised about why natlangs always have consonants?</p>

<p>Have there been any attempts to create conlangs with only vowels, and were they considerably harder to learn than languages with both vowels and consonants?</p>

<phonology><unnatural-features><phonetics><vowels>
What reasons would there be for not having a human conlang with only vowels?
# What reasons would there be for not having a human conlang with only vowels?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-07-26)

All natlangs have both consonants and vowels, but it's not immediately obvious why a human language couldn't be made from only vowels.

Has anyone theorised about why natlangs always have consonants?

Have there been any attempts to create conlangs with only vowels, and were they considerably harder to learn than languages with both vowels and consonants?

**Tags:** phonology, unnatural-features, phonetics, vowels


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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-07-26. Score: 11

A vowel-only language is surely constructable (and I think, learnable, too), but I am afraid that it will be instable against evolutionary pressure.

Vowel sequences like /aua/ or /aia/ tend to develop into glides /awa/ and /aja/ giving raise to the first consonants in the language, and at the hiat between two vowel a third consonant, the glottal stop, may materialise.

Efficiency of the coding is also a concern, maybe tones can take over the role of consonants in creating more different syllables from the vowels.


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### Answer by username_2 on 2018-07-29. Score: 10

Well, there is always [Solresol](https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solresolo), which has several isomorphic representations, and some of those could be considered vowel-only (depending on the instrument used).

For natlangs, there are [whistled languages](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whistled_language), with a very reduced consonant inventory. They could fit your criteria especially if you consider tones to be a feature of vowels, and look at the phonetic level - consonants are realized mostly by glides and occlusion (phonemically, consonants are copied from the spoken language & reduced).


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### Answer by username_3 on 2018-07-26. Score: 10

There are generally a lot fewer vowels than consonants in the phoneme inventory of human languages. That means, with fewer sounds you need to make the words a lot longer if you want to have a decent-sized vocabulary.

Also, vowel pronunciation is more varied. There aren't many different ways to pronounce /t/ or /k/, but any regional dialect will change vowels. Partly because there are no fixed places of articulation: vowels are distinguished by the opening of the jaw and the position of the tongue. Both of these are almost infinitely variable compared to closing your lips and releasing them (as you'd do for a /p/ or a /b/).

And finally, why would you disregard most potential sounds that the human vocal apparatus can produce? It's just not an efficient use of your anatomy. A bit like hopping on one leg instead of walking.

So the two main arguments against a vowel-only language are size of phoneme inventory and variability of vowel pronunciation.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: Surely your two arguments neutralise each other: if variations in vowel pronunciation are counted as separate vowels (as they are in the IPA, although not in the English alphabet), then you'd have a much bigger set of vowels and less variation in each one.  
> **username_3**: @username_4 But you can't do that, as despite all the variation they are still too close to work as separate phonemes.  

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