vocalization (n.)

A general term used in LINGUISTICS and PHONETICS to refer to an UTTERANCE viewed solely as a sequence of sound. No reference is made to its linguistic structure, and indeed, in such phrases as ‘infant vocalization’, there may be no such structure. In a somewhat more restricted sense, the term is sometimes used referring to the use of sound involving VOCAL-FOLD vibration – a vocalization is then ‘any voiced sound’.

In PHONETICS, a term referring to the process of changing a CONSONANT articulation so that it becomes more VOWEL-like. For example, some regional ACCENTS of English, such as Cockney, have vocalized final /-l/, so that /wel/ is produced as .