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

Dr. Erica Brozovsky, PhD of the PBS series Otherwords 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 wear flop-flips and your doorbell’s ring definitely isn’t dong-ding It’s one of those unwritten rules that  native English speakers just know and  follow subconsciously. But there’s a name for it: ablaut reduplication. Which means when a word is 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 moving from the front of your mouth to the back. So not  your A E I O U alphabetical order, but instead  “pit, pet, pat, pot, putt”.