Understanding Intervocalic Sounds in Speech

Intervocalic refers to the sounds that occur between two vowels in a word. In other words, it refers to the consonant sounds that are positioned between two vowel sounds.

For example, in the word "cat", the letter "c" is an intervocalic sound because it occurs between the two vowel sounds /a/ and /e/. Similarly, in the word "bite", the letter "t" is an intervocalic sound because it occurs between the two vowel sounds /i/ and /e/.

Intervocalic sounds can be important in speech because they can affect the pronunciation of the surrounding vowel sounds. For example, if a word contains an intervocalic /r/ sound, it may cause the preceding vowel sound to be pronounced with a different quality or quantity than it would be without the /r/ sound present.