Is there a word for this in the field of linguistics?

I think the most accurate (and exact) expression (as an example) would be “initial vowel sound word*. Is

the word animal or “animal” an initial sound?

You can find the above phrasing in

ESL/grammar materials and texts. Have you ever seen an indefinite article?

Please use it! The article an sometimes precedes words that begin with a consonant but that are pronounced with an initial vowel sound? an honor, an hour, or whatever.

What are some questions to ask with an indefinite article before an acronym or an acronym (e.g. historical, herb, etc.)?

_{*credit to FumbleFingers for trying to jogger my brain. with “vowel-initial word” in his}

comment above.

Is there a word for this in the field of linguistics?

I think the most accurate (and exact) expression (as an example) would be “initial vowel sound word*. Is

the word animal or “animal” an initial sound?

You can find the above phrasing in

ESL/grammar materials and texts. Have you ever seen an indefinite article?

Please use it! The article an sometimes precedes words that begin with a consonant but that are pronounced with an initial vowel sound? an honor, an hour, or whatever.

What are some questions to ask with an indefinite article before an acronym or an acronym (e.g. historical, herb, etc.)?

_{*credit to FumbleFingers for trying to jogger my brain. with “vowel-initial word” in his}

comment above.