1412: Why Languages Have More Consonants Oct 23, 2018

There is no innate rule or biological limitation, but languages will have more consonants than vowels. Even in extreme cases as with Andoke—a Columbian language—there are 10 consonants and 9 vowel qualities, which is still the majority. The reason for this, in part, can be seen in the fact that there are very few fronted rounded vowels (try moving your tongue in position saying 'tea' but round your lips as you would to say 'too'). This vowel, and others like it, do exist in other languages, but are sometimes difficult to distinguish, both by the listener, but also the speaker. Some languages have as few as 2 vowel qualities.

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