c.1308, from O.Fr.
vouel, from L.
vocalis, in
littera vocalis, lit. "vocal letter," from
vox (gen.
vocis) "voice" (see
voice).
Vowel shift in ref. to the pronunciation change between M.E. and Mod.Eng. is attested from 1909. The Hawaiian word
hooiaioia, meaning "certified," has the most consecutive vowels of any word in current human speech; the English record-holder is
queueing.
[vou-uh
l] 