- 中元音 zhōngyuányīn mid vowelA type of vowel sound made with the tongue positioned halfway between the top and bottom of the mouth.
- 低元音 dīyuányīn low vowelA vowel produced with the tongue positioned as low as possible in the mouth and the jaw open wide.
- 元音变化 yuányīnbiànhuà vowel mutationa change in vowel sound caused by its environment, such as umlaut or ablaut
- 元音和谐 yuányīnhéxié vowel harmonyvowel harmony; a phonetic process where vowels in a word must belong to the same category, common in certain language families
- 关元音 guānyuányīn close vowela vowel sound produced with the tongue positioned high in the mouth near the roof, synonymous with a high vowel
- 前元音 qiányuányīn front vowelA type of vowel sound produced by raising the front of the tongue toward the hard palate
- 半低元音 bàndīyuányīn mid-low vowelA vowel sound produced with the tongue positioned halfway between a low vowel and a mid vowel; also known as a half-low or open-mid vowel.
- 半元音 bànyuányīn semivowelA sound that is produced like a vowel but functions like a consonant, with an opening of the mouth smaller than a vowel but larger than a friction-heavy consonant; glide
- 半合元音 bànhéyuányīn half-close vowelA type of vowel sound classified by the height of the tongue and the width of the mouth opening; also called [[半高元音|半高元音|ban4 gao1 yuan2 yin1]]
- 半开元音 bànkāiyuányīn half-open vowelA vowel sound produced with the tongue positioned slightly higher than for a low vowel; also known as a mid-low vowel.
- 半闭元音 bànbìyuányīn half-closed vowela type of vowel sound produced with the tongue positioned halfway between a closed vowel and a mid vowel; also known as a half-high vowel
- 半高元音 bàngāoyuányīn close-mid vowela vowel sound produced with the tongue positioned two-thirds of the way from open to close; also known as a half-close vowel
- 单元音 dānyuányīn monophthonga speech sound consisting of a single vowel sound; a simple vowel as opposed to a [[复元音|複元音|fu4 yuan2 yin1]]
- 卷舌元音 juǎnshéyuányīn retroflex vowelA vowel produced by curling the tip of the tongue toward the roof of the mouth; also known as [[翘舌元音|翹舌元音|qiao4 she2 yuan2 yin1]].
- 双元音 shuāngyuányīn diphthongA vowel sound formed by the combination of two vowels in a single syllable
- 合元音 héyuányīn high vowela vowel sound produced with the tongue positioned high in the mouth close to the roof of the mouth
- 后元音 hòuyuányīn back vowelA type of vowel sound made by pulling the tongue toward the back of the mouth with the back of the tongue raised toward the soft palate
- 圆唇元音 yuánchúnyuányīn rounded vowelA vowel sound produced with the lips formed into a circular shape.
- 复元音 fùyuányīn diphthongtwo or more vowels appearing together in a single syllable; a vowel cluster or polyphthong
- 复合元音 fùhéyuányīn compound vowelA sound consisting of two or more vowels within a single syllable, such as a diphthong or triphthong.
- 央元音 yāngyuányīn central vowelA vowel sound produced with the tongue positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel.
- 标准元音 biāozhǔnyuányīn cardinal vowelAny of a set of eight reference vowels used in linguistics to provide a standard scale for describing the sounds of any language
- 翘舌元音 qiàoshéyuányīn retroflex vowelvowel produced by curling the tip of the tongue toward the hard palate
- 舌尖元音 shéjiānyuányīn apical vowelA vowel produced with the tip of the tongue near the upper teeth or front of the mouth.
- 舌面元音 shémiànyuányīn dorsal vowelA vowel sound produced by raising the middle or back part of the tongue toward the hard or soft palate; categorized into front, central, and back dorsal vowels.
- 软腭元音 ruǎn'èyuányīn velar vowela vowel produced with the tongue near the soft palate, typically used as a synonym for a back vowel
- 闭元音 bìyuányīn close vowela vowel sound produced with the tongue positioned as high as possible; also known as a high vowel or closed vowel
- 高元音 gāoyuányīn high vowelA vowel produced with the tongue raised close to the roof of the mouth, such as "i" or "u"
- 三元音 sānyuányīn triphthonga speech sound that consists of three vowels within a single syllable
- 鼻化元音 bíhuàyuányīn nasalized vowelA vowel produced by allowing air to flow through both the mouth and the nose simultaneously, resulting in resonance in both cavities.
