noun
vowel
Linguistic term for a speech sound produced without significant constriction of the vocal tract. Often contrasted with 子音 (consonant).
See also: 子音
日本語の母音は「あ・い・う・え・お」の五つです。
Japanese has five vowels: a, i, u, e, o.
母音と子音
Please explain the difference between vowels and consonants.
子音 means 'consonant', the counterpart to 母音. They are often taught together in phonetics.
From 母 (mother, base) + 音 (sound), a calque of the Western linguistic concept 'vowel'. The reading ぼいん is standard; ぼおん is a rare alternative.