Why Certain Vowels Come Before Others in Expressions and Names That Use Repetitive Sounds

Dr. Erica Brozovsky, PhDof thePBSseriesOtherwords explained ablaut reduplication, a linguistic term that describes the order in which vowels are used in expressions, names, and onomatopoeic words with repeating consonant sounds. Examples in English include TikTok, zig zag, ping pong, tic-tac-toe, flip flop, ding dong.

You don't wearflop-flips and your doorbell'sring definitely isn't dong-ding It's one of those unwritten rules that native English speakers just know andfollow subconsciously. But there's a name for it:ablaut reduplication. Which means when a wordis repeated with a change in vowel sounds.

Brozovsky further explains that this order comes naturally according to how vowels are sounded out in the mouth, front to back.

To put the unwritten rule into words, the vowels have to be changed in a specific order movingfrom the front of your mouth to the back. So not your A E I O U alphabetical order, but insteadpit, pet, pat, pot, putt".