in

PIE word
 *h₁en
Preposition and verb from Middle English in, from Old English in, from Proto-Germanic *in.
Adverb, noun and adjective from Middle English in, from Old English inn and inne, from Proto-Germanic *innai.
Sense 1/2 "in"/"into" are from the original PIE prefix, with locative/accusative case respectively. Sense 3/4 "qualification"/"means" are from the PIE metaphor of all infinitives coming from locatives.

Many English nouns in -is form their plurals in -es.

Used to indicate location, inclusion, or position within spatial, temporal or abstract limits.


open

en-adj

open (comparative more open or (phonetics) opener, superlative most open or (phonetics) openest)

more open (comparative)
opener (comparative)
most open (superlative)
openest (superlative)

closed-source

antonym(s) of “with a free license and no proprietary components”

Adjective from Middle English open, from Old English open (“open”), from Proto-West Germanic *opan, from Proto-Germanic *upanaz (“open”), from Proto-Indo-European *upo (“up from under, over”).
Cognates
* Scots apen (“open”)
* Saterland Frisian eepen (“open”)
* West Frisian iepen (“open”)
* Dutch open (“open”)
* Low German open, apen (“open”)
* German offen (“open”)
* Danish åben (“open”)
* Swedish öppen (“open”)
* Norwegian Bokmål åpen (“open”)
* Norwegian Nynorsk open (“open”)
* Icelandic opinn (“open”)
 Compare also Latin supinus (“on one's back, supine”), Albanian hap (“to open”). Related to up.
Verb from Middle English openen, from Old English openian (“to open”), from Proto-West Germanic *opanōn, from Proto-Germanic *upanōną (“to raise; lift; open”), from Proto-Germanic *upanaz (“open”, adjective). Cognate with Saterland Frisian eepenje (“to open”), West Frisian iepenje (“to open”), Dutch openen (“to open”), German öffnen (“to open”), Danish åbne (“to open”), Swedish öppna (“to open”), Norwegian Bokmål åpne (“to open”), Norwegian Nynorsk and Icelandic opna (“to open”). Related to English up.
Noun from Middle English open (“an aperture or opening”), from the verb. In the sports sense, however, a shortening of “open competition”.

inh

at church every time the doors swing open

(phonetics, of a syllable) Ending in a vowel; not having a coda.

Not completed or finalised.
Ending in a vowel; not having a coda.

"Supposing somebody sees you, with all those flowers too? Supposing somebody writes him a letter? Ooooh!" (a pure round open Tamil O.)

1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 421:

(phonetics, sometimes with comparative opener) Uttered with a relatively wide opening of the articulating organs; said of vowels.

(phonetics) Uttered, as a consonant, with the oral passage simply narrowed without closure.


close

en-adj

close (comparative closer, superlative closest)

closer (comparative)
closest (superlative)

open

antonym(s) of “articulated with the tongue body relatively close to the hard palate”

Borrowed from French clos, from Latin clausum, participle of claudō.

close only counts in horseshoes and darts

close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades

(linguistics, phonetics, of a vowel) Articulated with the tongue body relatively close to the hard palate.


vowel

→ Yoruba: fáwẹ̀lì

From Middle English vouel, from Old French vouel, a variant of voyeul (whence French voyelle), from Latin vōcālis (“voiced”), itself a semantic loan of Koine Greek φωνῆεν (phōnêen). Doublet of vocal and vocalis.

In Welsh, the w usually represents a vowel.

(phonetics) A sound produced by the vocal cords with relatively little restriction of the oral cavity, forming the prominent sound of a syllable.


consonant

→ Swahili: konsonanti

From Middle English consonant or consonaunt, from Old French consonant, from Latin cōnsonāns (“sounding with”), from the prefix con- (“with”) + the present participle sonāns (“sounding”), from sonāre (“to sound”). The Latin is a calque of Ancient Greek σύμφωνον (súmphōnon).

(phonetics) A sound that results from the passage of air through restrictions of the oral cavity; any sound that is not the dominant sound of a syllable, the dominant sound generally being a vowel.

ព្យញ្ជនៈ

pyŭəñcĕəʼnĕəʼ


tense

tense (comparative tenser, superlative tensest)

tenser (comparative)
tensest (superlative)

Borrowed from Latin tēnsus, one form of the past participle of tendō (“stretch”).

(phonetics, of a vowel) Produced with relative constriction of the vocal tract.

напряжённый

produced with relative constriction of the vocal tract


anterior

Borrowed from Latin anterior (“that is before, foremost”).

bor

(anatomy) Nearer the forward end, especially in the front of the body; nearer the head or forepart of an animal.

(phonetics) Pronounced with an obstruction located in front of the palato-alveolar region of the mouth, e.g. b, p, d, t.


breath

Breath (disambiguation)
Brill Publishers

From Middle English breeth, breth, from Old English brǣþ (“odor, scent, stink, exhalation, vapor”), from Proto-Germanic *brēþiz (“vapour, waft, exhalation, breath”) (compare German Brodem (“haze, vapor; breath”), of a different but related formation), of unknown origin; perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *gʰwer- (“smell”) or alternatively from *bʰreh₁- (“to blow; breath, vapor, steam”), but without certain Indo-European cognates outside Germanic.

inh

(phonetics, of a consonant or vowel) voiceless, surd; contrasting with voice (breath sounds, voice sounds)


sound

en-noun

sound (countable and uncountable, plural sounds)

sounds (plural)
soune (alternative)
sownd (alternative)
sowne (alternative)

Tok Pisin: saun

→ Basque: sound

→ Cebuano: sawon

→ Finnish: soundi, saundi

→ German: Sound

→ Indonesian: sound

→ Italian: sound

→ Japanese: サウンド (saundo)

→ Korean: 사운드 (saundeu)

→ Malayalam: സൗണ്ട് (sauṇṭŭ)

→ Swedish: sound

* Noun: from Middle English sownde, alteration of soun, borrowed from Anglo-Norman sun, soun, Old French son, from accusative of Latin sonus, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *swenh₂- (“to sound, resound”).
* Verb: from Middle English sownden, sounen, borrowed from Anglo-Norman suner, sounder, Old French soner (modern sonner), from Latin sonō.
* The hypercorrect -d appears in the fifteenth century. (Compare dialectal drownd, gownd for the same development.)
Displaced native Middle English swei, from Old English swēġ, from Proto-Germanic *swōgiz.

der

(phonetics) A segment as a part of spoken language, the smallest unit of spoken language, a speech sound.


sound

en-verb

sound (third-person singular simple present sounds, present participle sounding, simple past and past participle sounded)

sounds (present singular third-person)
sounding (participle present)
sounded (participle past)
sounded (past)
soune (alternative)
sownd (alternative)
sowne (alternative)

The "e" in "house" isn't sounded.

(transitive, phonetics, of a vowel or consonant) To pronounce.


voice

→ Russian: войс (vojs) (slang, from "voice message")

From Middle English voice, voys, vois, borrowed from Anglo-Norman voiz, voys, voice, Old French vois, voiz (Modern French voix), from Latin vōcem, accusative form of vōx (“voice”), from Proto-Indo-European *wṓkʷs, root noun from *wekʷ- (“to utter, speak”). Cognate with Sanskrit वाच् (vāc), Ancient Greek ὄψ (óps), Persian آواز (âvâz). Displaced native Middle English steven (“voice”) (from Old English stefn (see steven)), Old English hlēoþor, and Old English woþ. Broadly overtook Old English reord. Compare advocate, advowson, avouch, convoke, epic, vocal, vouch, vowel. Doublet of vox.

the voice of the people, the voice of God

(phonetics) Sound made through vibration of the vocal cords; sonant, or intonated, utterance; tone; — distinguished from mere breath sound as heard in whispering and voiceless consonants.

zëri

sound made through vibration of the vocal cords


oral

Early 17th century borrowing from Late Latin ōrālis, from ōs (“the mouth”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix).

af

(phonetics, of a speech sound) Pronounced by the voice resonating in the mouth, as the vowels in English.


hard

en-adj

hard (comparative harder or more hard, superlative hardest or most hard)

harder (comparative)
more hard (comparative)
hardest (superlative)
most hard (superlative)

→ Finnish: haarti

→ Spanish: hard

From Middle English hard, from Old English heard, from Proto-West Germanic *hard(ī), from Proto-Germanic *harduz, from Proto-Indo-European *kort-ús, from *kret- (“strong, powerful”). Cognate with German hart, Swedish hård, Ancient Greek κρατύς (kratús), Sanskrit क्रतु (krátu), Avestan 𐬑𐬭𐬀𐬙𐬎 (xratu).

صَعْب

requiring a lot of effort to do or understand

There is a hard c in "clock" and a soft c in "centre".

(phonetics, not comparable) Fortis.
Plosive.

Hard k, t, s, ch, as distinguished from soft, g, d, z, j.

(phonetics, not comparable) Fortis.
Unvoiced.


vocal

vocal (comparative more vocal, superlative most vocal)

more vocal (comparative)
most vocal (superlative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Mélange a trois-vocal.wav

Late Middle English vocal, borrowed from Latin vōcālis (“uttering a voice, sounding, speaking”), from vōx (“a voice, sound, tone”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix). Doublet of vowel and vocalis. Compare Old French vocal.

af

Of, pertaining to, or resembling the human voice or speech.

(phonetics) Consisting of, or characterized by, voice, or tone produced in the larynx, which may be modified, either by resonance, as in the case of the vowels, or by obstructive action, as in certain consonants, such as v, l, etc., or by both, as in the nasals m, n, ng.

vokaali

characterized by voice or tone produced in the larynx


vocal

(phonetics) A vocal sound; specifically, a purely vocal element of speech, unmodified except by resonance; a vowel or a diphthong; a tonic element; a tonic.


catch

en-noun

catch (countable and uncountable, plural catches)

From Middle English cacchen, from Anglo-Norman cachier, variant of Old French chacier, from Late Latin captiāre, from Latin captāre, frequentative of capere. Akin to Modern French chasser (from Old French chacier) and Spanish cazar, and thus a doublet of chase. Compare ketch. Displaced Middle English fangen ("to catch"; > Modern English fang (verb)), from Old English fōn (“to seize, take”); Middle English lacchen ("to catch" and heavily displaced Modern English latch), from Old English læċċan.
The verb became irregular, possibly under the influence of the semantically similar latch (from Old English læċċan), whose past tense was lahte, lauhte, laught (Old English læhte), until becoming regularised in Modern English.

gloss

The glottal stop or glottal catch is the sound used in English in the informal words uh-huh 'yes' and uh-uh 'no'.

2006, Mitsugu Sakihara et al., Okinawan-English Wordbook, →ISBN:

(countable, phonetics) A stoppage of breath, resembling a slight cough.


back

en-adj

back (not generally comparable, comparative more back, superlative most back)

more back (comparative)
most back (superlative)

front

antonym(s) of “near the rear, phonetics”

From Middle English bak, from Old English bæc, from Proto-West Germanic *bak, from Proto-Germanic *baką, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeg- (“to bend”). The adverb represents an aphetic form of aback.
Compare Middle Low German bak (“back”), from Old Saxon bak, and West Frisian bekling (“chair back”), Old High German bah, Swedish and Norwegian bak. Cognate with German Bache (“sow [adult female hog]”).

The vowel of lot has a back vowel in most dialects of England.

(comparable, phonetics) Pronounced with the highest part of the body of the tongue toward the back of the mouth, near the soft palate (most often describing a vowel).

zadní

phonetics: produced in the back of the mouth


shut

From Middle English shutten, shetten, from Old English scyttan (“to cause rapid movement, shoot a bolt, shut, bolt”), from Proto-Germanic *skutjaną, *skuttijaną (“to bar, bolt”), from Proto-Germanic *skuttą, *skuttjō (“bar, bolt, shed”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewd- (“to drive, fall upon, rush”).
Cognate with Dutch schutten (“to shut in, lock up”), Low German schütten (“to shut, lock in”), German schützen (“to shut out, dam, protect, guard”).

cog

Whenever a syllable is formed with a long, that is an open vowel, they account the syllable long; and whenever formed with a short, that is a shut vowel, they reckon it short.

1810, Benjamin Humphrey Smart, A practical grammar of English pronunciation, page 344:

(linguistics, phonetics, archaic) Synonym of close.


slide

→ Czech: slajd

→ Japanese: スライド (suraido)

→ Persian: اسلاید (eslâyd)

→ Polish: slajd

→ Portuguese: slide

From Middle English sliden, from Old English slīdan (“to slide”), from Proto-West Germanic *slīdan, from Proto-Germanic *slīdaną (“to slide, glide”), from Proto-Indo-European *sléydʰ-e-ti, from *sleydʰ- (“slippery”). Cognate with Old High German slītan (“to slide”) (whence German schlittern), Middle Low German slīden (“to slide”), Middle Dutch slīden (“to slide”) (whence Dutch slijderen, frequentative of now obsolete slijden), Vedic Sanskrit स्रेधति (srédhati, “to err, blunder”).

cog

(phonetics) A sound which, by a gradual change in the position of the vocal organs, passes imperceptibly into another sound.


round

en-adj

round (comparative rounder or more round, superlative roundest or most round)

rounder (comparative)
more round (comparative)
roundest (superlative)
most round (superlative)
around (alternative)
ron (alternative)

From Middle English round, rounde, from Old Northern French roünt, rund, Old French ront, runt, reont ( > French rond), from both Late Latin retundus and the original Latin rotundus. The noun developed partly from the adjective and partly from the corresponding French noun rond. Doublet of rotund.

pyöreä

pronounced with the mouth in the shape of an "O"

(phonetics) Pronounced with the lips drawn together; rounded.

kerekített

Formal, used when number was derived from a more accurate value on some purpose. Contrary, "kerek" refers to any round(ed) number. Eg. "1000 is a round number." vs. "For cash payments in Hungary, final sum is rounded to the nearest 5-HUF value since 2008, in which year coins with smaller denominations (1HUF, 2HUF) have been withdrawn from circulation."


diphthong

diphthongs (plural)
dipthong (alternative)

/ˈdɪfˌθɒŋ(ɡ)/

/ˈdɪpˌθɒŋ(ɡ)/

PIE word
 *dwóh₁
From French diphtongue, from Late Latin diphthongus, from Ancient Greek δίφθογγος (díphthongos, “two sounds”), from δίς (dís, “twice”) + φθόγγος (phthóngos, “sound”).

der

(phonetics) A complex vowel sound that begins with the sound of one vowel and ends with the sound of another vowel, in the same syllable.


phonetics

This dictionary shows the phonetics of the words.

(linguistics) The study of the physical sounds of human speech, concerned with the physical properties of speech sounds (phones), and the processes of their physiological production, auditory reception, and neurophysiological perception, and their representation by written symbols.

fonetiek

study of speech sounds and their representation by written symbols


International Phonetic Alphabet

the International Phonetic Alphabet (canonical)

/ˌɪntəˈnæʃ(ə)nəl fəˈnɛtɪk ˈælfəˌbɛt/

[ˌɪntəˈnæʃ(ə)nəɫ fəˈnɛtɪk ˈæɫfəˌbɛt]

/ˌɪntɚˈnæʃ(ə)n(ə)l fəˈnɛɾɪk ˈælfəˌbɛt/

[ˌɪntɚˈnæʃ(ə)n(ə)ɫ fəˈnɛɾɪk ˈæɫfəˌbɛt]

The International Phonetic Alphabet is commonly used in books about Shanghainese because none of the existing romanizations are very popular.

(phonetics, phonology) A standardized set of symbols for representing the sounds of human speech.

اَلْأَبْجَدِيَّة الصَّوْتِيَّة الدُّوَلِيَّة

الْأَلِفْبَائِيَّة الصَّوْتِيَّة الدُّوَلِيَّة

халкьуннал дянивсса фонетикалул алфавит

xalqʼunnal daˤniws:a fonetikalul alfawit

אינטערנאַציאָנאַלער פֿאָנעטישער אַלפֿאַבעט


fricative

From New Latin fricativus, from Latin fricāre (“to rub”).

Watt listened for a time, for the voice was far from unmelodious. The fricatives in particular were pleasing.

1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, [Paris]: Olympia Press, →OCLC:

(phonetics) Any of several speech sounds produced by air flowing through a constriction in the oral cavity and typically producing a sibilant, hissing, or buzzing quality; a fricative consonant.


fricative

en-adj

fricative (comparative more fricative, superlative most fricative)

more fricative (comparative)
most fricative (superlative)

(phonetics) produced by air flowing through a restriction in the oral cavity.


twang

Onomatopoeic. Compare Middle English twengen (“to pinch, tweak”), from Old English twenġen (“to pinch, twinge”); Middle English twingen (“to afflict, torment, oppress”), from Old Norse þvinga (“to weigh down, oppress”); Old English twingan (“to force, press”).

cog

Near-synonym: nasality

nasal twang

(phonetics) The sound quality that appears in the human voice when the epilaryngeal tube is narrowed.


flat

en-adj

flat (comparative flatter, superlative flattest)

flatter (comparative)
flattest (superlative)
flatt (alternative)
flatte (alternative)

bumpy

antonym(s) of “having no variations in altitude”

→ Portuguese: flat

From Middle English flat, a borrowing from Old Norse flatr (compare Norwegian and Swedish flat, Danish flad), from Proto-Germanic *flataz, from Proto-Indo-European *pleth₂- (“flat”); akin to Saterland Frisian flot (“smooth”), German Flöz (“a geological layer”), Ancient Greek πλατύς (platús), Latvian plats, Sanskrit प्रथस् (prathas, “extension”). Doublet of plat and pleyt.
The noun is from Middle English flat (“level piece of ground, flat edge of a weapon”), from the adjective.
The algebraic sense was coined by Serre in a 1956 paper, originally as French plat.

inh

Without variation in level, quantity, value, tone etc.

(phonetics, of a vowel) Not diphthongal; without variation in height or backness.

(phonetics, dated, of a consonant) Sonant; vocal, as distinguished from a sharp (non-sonant) consonant.


low

en-adj

low (comparative lower, superlative lowest)

lower (comparative)
lowest (superlative)

From Middle English lowe, lohe, lāh, from Old Norse lágr (“low”), from Proto-Germanic *lēgaz (“lying, flat, situated near the ground, low”), from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie”).
Cognate with Scots laich (“low”), Low German leeg (“low, feeble, bad”), Danish lav (“low”), Icelandic lágur (“low”), West Frisian leech (“low”), North Frisian leeg, liig (“low”), Dutch laag (“low”), obsolete German läg (“low”). More at lie.

laag

in a position comparatively close to the ground

слаб

lacking health or vitality; feeble; weak

could eat the arse out of a low flying duck

could eat the crotch out of a low flying duck

could eat the crutch from a low flying duck

mackerel sky and mare's-tails make lofty ships carry low sails

mackerel sky and mare's-tails make tall ships carry low sails

(phonetics) Made with a relatively large opening between the tongue and the palate; made with (part of) the tongue positioned low in the mouth, relative to the palate.

ala-

phonetics: articulated with a low position of part of the tongue in relation to the palate


short

→ Cantonese: short

→ Italian: short

→ Japanese: ショート (shōto)

→ Mandarin: 秀逗 (xiùdou)

→ Hakka: 秀逗 (sió-tò)

→ Maltese: xort

From Middle English schort, short, from Old English sċeort, sċort (“short”), from Proto-West Germanic *skurt, from Proto-Germanic *skurtaz (“short”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-.
Cognates
Cognate with shirt, skirt, curt, Scots short, schort (“short”), French court, Dutch kort, German kurz, Old High German scurz (“short”) (whence Middle High German schurz), Old Norse skorta (“to lack”) (whence Danish skorte), Albanian shkurt (“short, brief”), Latin curtus (“shortened, incomplete”) and Proto-Slavic *kortъkъ. Doublet of curt. More at shirt.

If we compare the nearest conventional shorts and longs in English, as in ‘bit’ and ‘beat’, ‘not’ and ‘naught’, we find that the short vowels are generally wide (i, ɔ), the long narrow (i, ɔ), besides being generally diphthongic as well.

1877, Henry Sweet, A Handbook of Phonetics, page 18:

(phonetics) A short sound, syllable, or vowel.

lyhyt äänne

phonetics: short sound, syllable, or vowel


narrow

en-adj

narrow (comparative narrower, superlative narrowest)

narrower (comparative)
narrowest (superlative)
narrowe (alternative)

From Middle English narow, narowe, narewe, narwe, naru, from Old English nearu (“narrow, strait, confined, constricted, not spacious, limited, petty; limited, poor, restricted; oppressive, causing anxiety (of that which restricts free action of body or mind), causing or accompanied by difficulty, hardship, oppressive; oppressed, not having free action; strict, severe”), from Proto-West Germanic *naru, from Proto-Germanic *narwaz (“constricted, narrow”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ner- (“to turn, bend, twist, constrict”).
Cognate with Scots naro, narow, narrow (“narrow”), North Frisian naar, noar, noor (“narrow”), Saterland Frisian noar (“bleak, dismal, meager, ghastly, unwell”), Saterland Frisian Naarwe (“scar”), West Frisian near (“narrow”), Dutch naar (“dismal, bleak, ill, sick”), Low German naar (“dismal, ghastly”), German Nehrung (“spit, narrow peninsula”), Norwegian norve (“a clip, staple”), Icelandic narrow- (“njörva-”, in compounds).

cog

(phonetics) Formed (as a vowel) by a close position of some part of the tongue in relation to the palate; or (according to Bell) by a tense condition of the pharynx; distinguished from wide.

suppea

phonetics: formed (as a vowel) by a close position of some part of the tongue in relation to the palate


wide

en-adj

wide (comparative wider or more wide, superlative widest or most wide)

wider (comparative)
more wide (comparative)
widest (superlative)
most wide (superlative)

PIE word
 *dwóh₁
From Middle English wid, wyd, from Old English wīd (“wide, vast, broad, long; distant, far”), from Proto-Germanic *wīdaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weydʰh₁- (“to separate, divide”), a dissimilated univerbation from *dwi- (“apart, asunder, in two”) + *dʰeh₁- (“to do, put, place”).
Cognate with Scots wyd, wid (“of great extent; vast”), West Frisian wiid (“broad; wide”), Dutch wijd (“wide; large; broad”), German weit (“far; wide; broad”), Danish vid (“wide”), Swedish vid (“wide”), Icelandic víður (“wide”), Latin dīvidō (“separate, sunder”), Latin vītō (“avoid, shun”). Related to widow.

compound

(phonetics, dated) Made, as a vowel, with a less tense, and more open and relaxed, condition of the organs in the mouth.


high

en-adj

high (comparative higher, superlative highest)

higher (comparative)
highest (superlative)
hi (alternative)

Sranan Tongo: hei

From Middle English high, heigh, heih, from Old English hēah (“high, tall, lofty, high-class, exalted, sublime, illustrious, important, proud, haughty, deep, right”), from Proto-West Germanic *hauh (“high”), from Proto-Germanic *hauhaz (“high”), from Proto-Indo-European *kewk- (“to elevate, height”). Cognate with Scots heich (“high”), Saterland Frisian hooch (“high”), West Frisian heech (“high”), Dutch hoog (“high”), Low German hoog (“high”), German hoch (“high”), Swedish hög (“high”), Norwegian høy (“high”), Icelandic hár (“high”), Lithuanian kaukas (“bump, boil, sore”).

der

(phonetics) Made with some part of the tongue positioned high in the mouth, relatively close to the palate.


liquid

en-noun

liquid (countable and uncountable, plural liquids)

From Middle English liquide, from Old French liquide, from Latin liquidus (“fluid, liquid, moist”), from liqueō (“to be liquid, be fluid”). Doublet of liquidus. As a term for a consonant, it comes from Latin liquida (cōnsōnāns), a calque of Ancient Greek ὑγρὸν (σύμφωνον) (hugròn (súmphōnon), “liquid consonant”).

der

ὑγρὸν (σύμφωνον)

Many female forenames are regarded as euphonyms. What is and is not euphonious is necessarily subjective, but it could be suggested that names containing labials (b, m), sibilants (s, sh) and liquids (l, r) are more likely to be euphonyms than those that do not.

1996, Adrian Room, An Alphabetical Guide to the Language of Name Studies, page 41:

[…]-able does not attach to verbs ending in a postconsonantal liquid […]

1999, Ingo Plag, Morphological Productivity, page 86:

(phonetics) Any of a class of consonant sounds that includes l and r.


blade

From Middle English blade, blad, from Old English blæd (“leaf”), from Proto-West Germanic *blad, from Proto-Germanic *bladą, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰl̥h₃-o-to-m, from *bʰleh₃- (“to thrive, bloom”).
See also West Frisian bled, Dutch blad, German Blatt, Danish blad, Irish bláth (“flower”), Welsh blodyn (“flower”), Tocharian A pält, Tocharian B pilta (“leaf”), Albanian fletë (“leaf”). Similar usage in German Sägeblatt (“saw blade”, literally “saw leaf”). Doublet of blat. More at blow.

teh

typically sharp-edged working end of a knife or other cutting tool

(chiefly phonetics, phonology) The part of the tongue just behind the tip, used to make laminal consonants.


sharp

en-adj

sharp (comparative sharper, superlative sharpest)

sharper (comparative)
sharpest (superlative)

bland

antonym(s) of “having an intense and acrid flavour”

From Middle English scharp, from Old English sċearp, from Proto-West Germanic *skarp, from Proto-Germanic *skarpaz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kerb-, from *(s)ker- (“to cut”).
Cognate with West Frisian skerp, Low German scharp, Dutch scherp, German scharf, Danish skarp. Compare Irish cearb (“keen; cutting”), Latin acerbus (“tart, bitter”), Tocharian B kärpye (“rough”), Latvian skârbs (“sharp, rough”), Russian щерба (ščerba, “notch”), Polish szczerba (“gap, dent, jag, chip, nick, notch”), Albanian harb (“rudeness”). More at shear.

better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick

(phonetics, dated) Uttered in a whisper, or with the breath alone; aspirated; unvoiced.


wedge

en-noun

wedge (countable and uncountable, plural wedges)

From Middle English wegge (“wedge”), from Old English weċġ (“wedge”), from Proto-West Germanic *wagi, from Proto-Germanic *wagjaz.

Turned V is referred to as “Wedge” by some phoneticians, but this seems inadvisable to us, because the haček accent (ˇ) is also called that in names like Wedge C for (č).

1996, Geoffrey Keith Pullum, William A. Ladusaw, Phonetic Symbol Guide, 2nd edition, page 19:

Any symbol shaped like a V in some given orientation.

(phonetics) The IPA character ʌ, which denotes an open-mid back unrounded vowel.


stop

en-verb

stop (third-person singular simple present stops, present participle stopping, simple past and past participle stopped)

stops (present singular third-person)
stopping (participle present)
stopped (participle past)
stopped (past)
stop (infinitive)

continue

antonym(s) of “to cause to cease moving”

continue

antonym(s) of “to cause to come to an end”

→ Finnish: stop

→ French: stop

→ Greek: στοπ (stop)

→ Hungarian: stop

→ Irish: stop

→ Italian: stop

→ Latvian: stop

→ Ottoman Turkish: استوپ (istop)

→ Polish: stop

→ Portuguese: stop

→ Russian: стоп (stop)

→ Spanish: stop

→ Welsh: stopio

→ Tok Pisin: stap

From Middle English stoppen, stoppien, from Old English stoppian (“to stop, close”), from Proto-West Germanic *stoppōn, from Proto-Germanic *stuppōną (“to stop, close”), *stuppijaną (“to push, pierce, prick”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewp-, *(s)tewb- (“to push; stick”), from *(s)tew- (“to bump; impact; butt; push; beat; strike; hit”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian stopje (“to stop, block”), West Frisian stopje (“to stop”), Dutch stoppen (“to stop”), Low German stoppen (“to stop”), German stopfen (“to be filling, stuff”), German stoppen (“to stop”), Danish stoppe (“to stop”), Swedish stoppa (“to stop”), Icelandic stoppa (“to stop”), Middle High German stupfen, stüpfen (“to pierce”). More at stuff, stump.
Alternative etymology derives Proto-West Germanic *stoppōn from an assumed Vulgar Latin *stūpāre, *stuppāre (“to stop up with tow”), from stūpa, stīpa, stuppa (“tow, flax, oakum”), from Ancient Greek στύπη (stúpē), στύππη (stúppē, “tow, flax, oakum”). This derivation, however, is doubtful, as the earliest instances of the Germanic verb do not carry the meaning of "stuff, stop with tow". Rather, these senses developed later in response to influence from similar sounding words in Latin and Romance.

megakadályoz

to cause to cease progressing, to prevent

if you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging

th-stopping

(phonetics, transitive) To pronounce (a phoneme) as a stop.


pitch

en-noun

pitch (countable and uncountable, plural pitches)

Unknown. Perhaps from the above sense of "inclination", "level", or "degree", or influenced by it.

The pitch of middle "C" is familiar to many musicians.

Hertzian waves are not caused by vibrations of the ponderable matter of the brass balls, the form of which only determines the pitch.

1895 February 28, Ludwig Boltzmann, “On Certain Questions of the Theory of Gases" (Letters to the Editor)”, in Nature, volume 51, number 1322, page 414:

electromagnetic wave
electromagnetic wave

(music, phonetics) The perceived frequency of a sound, note or electromagnetic wave.


epsilon

epsilon (countable and uncountable, plural epsilons or epsila)

From Ancient Greek ἒ ψιλόν (è psilón, “simple Ε”).

uder

(phonetics) In IPA, the phonetic symbol ɛ that represents the open-mid front unrounded vowel.

epsilon

symbol for front half open unrounded vowel


nucleus

Learned borrowing from Latin nucleus (“kernel, core”). The earliest uses refer to the head of a comet and the kernel of a seed, both recorded in Lexicon Technicum in 1704. The sense in atomic physics was coined by British scientist Michael Faraday in 1844 in a theoretical meaning.

coin

(phonetics, phonology) The central part of a syllable, most commonly a vowel.


AI

en-noun

AI (countable and uncountable, plural AIs)

Audio (US)

(phonetics) Initialism of articulatory index.


pure

en-adj

pure (comparative purer or more pure, superlative purest or most pure)

purer (comparative)
more pure (comparative)
purest (superlative)
most pure (superlative)

contaminated

antonym(s) of “free of foreign material”

corrupt

antonym(s) of “free of immoral behavior”

→ Welsh: piwr

From Middle English pure, pur, from Old French pur, from Latin pūrus (“clean, free from dirt or filth, unmixed, plain”), from Proto-Indo-European *pewH- (“to cleanse, purify”). Displaced native Middle English lutter (“pure, clear, sincere”) (from Old English hlūtor, hluttor), Middle English skere (“pure, sheer, clear”) (from Old English scǣre and Old Norse skǣr), Middle English schir (“clear, pure”) (from Old English scīr), Middle English smete, smeate (“pure, refined”) (from Old English smǣte; compare Old English mǣre (“pure”)).

noncog

(phonetics) Of a single, simple sound or tone; said of some vowels and the unaspirated consonants.

puhdas

phonetics: of a single, simple sound or tone


phone

From Ancient Greek φωνή (phōnḗ, “sound”).

(phonetics) A speech segment that possesses distinct physical or perceptual properties, considered as a physical event without regard to its place in the phonology of a language.


acute

en-verb

acute (third-person singular simple present acutes, present participle acuting, simple past and past participle acuted)

acutes (present singular third-person)
acuting (participle present)
acuted (participle past)
acuted (past)

From Late Middle English acute (“of a disease or fever: starting suddenly and lasting for a short time; of a humour: irritating, sharp”), from Latin acūta, from acūtus (“sharp, sharpened”), perfect passive participle of acuō (“to make pointed, sharpen, whet”), from acus (“needle, pin”). The word is cognate to ague (“acute, intermittent fever”).
As regards the noun, which is derived from the verb, compare Middle English acūte (“severe but short-lived fever; of blood: corrosiveness, sharpness; musical note of high pitch”).

cog

He acutes his rising inflection too much.

Polyſyllables having their Penultima long by poſition are acuted; as Camíllus: but having it long by nature and the last ſhort, they are circumflected; as, Românus, amâre: except the Compounds of ſit, whose Ultima is acuted; as Malefít, calefít, benefít, ſatisfít.

1696, [William] Lily, W. T., “Prosodia Examin’d and Explain’d by Question and Answer”, in Lily, Improved, Corrected, and Explained; with the Etymological Part of the Common Accidence, London: Printed for R. Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 151:

This word ωροπαροξύνον has been generally underſtood, before Dr. G[ally] undertook to explain it otherwiſe, to ſignify "acuting the antepenultima."

1762, John Foster, “On the Accent of the Old Greeks. […]”, in An Essay on the Different Nature of Accent and Quantity, with Their Use and Application in the Pronunciation of the English, Latin, and Greek Languages; […], Eton, Berkshire: Printed by J. Pote; […], →OCLC, pages 103–104:

O is a broad vowel. When acuted, it is pronounced as o in gone; thus, cron, son; when circumflexed, as o in bone; thus, ôney. And thus it answers to the Greek Omicron and Omega.

1859, John Kelly, “On the Pronunciation of the Manks Letters”, in A Practical Grammar of the Antient Gaelic, or Language of the Isle of Man, usually Called Manks. […] (Manx Society series; 2), Douglas, Isle of Man: Printed for the Manx Society, →OCLC; reprinted London: Bernard Quaritch, […], 1870, →OCLC, page 4:

That the acute accent meant stress is plain from the inherited intonation of the modern Greeks; […] and, if any person objects that the modern Greek not only acutes the last syllables of these words, but makes their quantity long, this is all in favour of my argument; […]

1874, John Stuart Blackie, “On the Place and Power of Accent in Language”, in Horæ Hellenicæ: Essays and Discussions on Some Important Points of Greek Philology and Antiquity, London: Macmillan & Co., →OCLC, paragraph 4, page 347:

(transitive, phonetics) To give an acute sound to.


tap

en-noun

tap (countable and uncountable, plural taps)

The verb is derived from Middle English tappen, teppen (“to give (something) a knock or tap; to hit (something) lightly, pat, tap”), either:
* imitative of the making of a tapping sound; or
* from Old French tapper, taper (“to tap”) (modern French taper), from Frankish *tappōn, *dabbōn (“to strike”), or from Middle Low German tappen, tapen (“to rap, strike, tap”), both ultimately from Proto-Germanic *dab- (“to strike”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰebʰ- (“to beat, strike; to stun; to be speechless”). Doublet of dab.
Verb sense 1.1.1 (“to arrest (someone)”) and sense 1.6 (“to choose or designate (someone) for a duty, etc.”) allude to a police officer or other person tapping someone on their shoulder to catch their attention or to select them.
The noun is derived from Middle English tap, tappe (“light blow or hit”), and then either:
* from Middle English tappen (verb) (see above); or
* from Old French tape (“light slap or touch, pat”) (modern French tape), from tapper, taper (verb) (see above).
Cognates
* German tappen (“to fumble; to grope”)
* Icelandic tappa, tapsa, tæpta (“to tap”)

der

(phonetics) A single muscle contraction in vocal organs causing a consonant sound; also, the sound so made.


vanish

Aphetic for obsolete evanish, from Middle English vanyshen, evaneschen, from Old French esvanir, esvaniss- (modern French évanouir), from Vulgar Latin *exvanire (“to vanish, disappear, to fade out”), from Latin evanescere, from vanus (“empty”). Doublet of evanesce.

a as in ale ordinarily ends with a vanish of i as in ill.

o as in old ordinarily ends with a vanish of oo as in foot.

The median stres may also on a protracted quantity , slightly resemble respectively that of the radical and of the vanish , by sudenly enlarging in the course of the prolongation and gradualy diminishing ; and by the reverse

1827, James Rush, The Philosophy of the Human Voice:

w:Webster's Dictionary#Webster's New International Dictionary 1909

(phonetics) The brief terminal part of a vowel or vocal element, differing more or less in quality from the main part.


front

en-adj

front (comparative further front, superlative furthest front)

further front (comparative)
furthest front (superlative)

From Middle English front, frunt, frount, from Old French front, frunt, from Latin frōns, frontem (“forehead”). Doublet of frons.

The English word dress has a front vowel in most dialects.

(comparable, phonetics) Pronounced with the highest part of the body of the tongue toward the front of the mouth, near the hard palate (most often describing a vowel).

etu-

phonetics: pronounced toward the front of the mouth


front

en-verb

front (third-person singular simple present fronts, present participle fronting, simple past and past participle fronted)

fronts (present singular third-person)
fronting (participle present)
fronted (participle past)
fronted (past)

The velar plosives are often fronted through the influence of a following front vowel, and retracted through the influence of a following back vowel.

2005, Paul Skandera, Peter Burleigh, A Manual of English Phonetics and Phonology, page 48:

(phonetics, transitive, intransitive) To pronounce with the tongue in a front position.


surd

en-adj

surd (comparative more surd, superlative most surd)

more surd (comparative)
most surd (superlative)

First attested in the mid 16th century from Latin surdus (“deaf, mute”), used in mathematics for “irrational,” reflecting ἄλογος (álogos, “irrational, speechless”) as found in Euclid, apparently transmitted via Arabic جِذْر أَصَمّ (jiḏr ʔaṣamm, “deaf root”). The phonetic sense, “voiceless,” emerged in the 18th century. Doublet of surdo.

der

جِذْر أَصَمّ


schwa

Borrowed from German Schwa, from Hebrew שווא / שְׁוָא (shva, šəwā, “(mark mostly indicating absence of a vowel sound)”), borrowed from Classical Syriac ܫ̈ܘܰܝܳܐ (š'wayyā, literally “even, equal”), in Syriac a term for a sign consisting of two vertical dots used to separate parts of a sentence. Doublet of shva.

der

The participle has also, owing to the accent, the lightest possible forms; but here there was no reduplication, and so in class I. the "schwa" took the form e before single mutes or fricatives, and elsewhere o.

1882, B. W. Wells, “The Ablaut in English”, in Transactions of the American Philological Association, page 67:

However, word-final unstressed schwa is deleted even by the speakers from South Albania, though to different degrees and dependant on the speech style[…]

2006 April 27, Sylvia Moosmüller, Theodor Granser, “The spread of Standard Albanian: An illustration based on an analysis of vowels”, in Language Variation and Change, volume 18, number 2, Cambridge University Press, →DOI:

(phonetics) An indeterminate central vowel sound as the "a" in "about", represented as /ə/ in IPA.


schwa

en-verb

schwa (third-person singular simple present schwas, present participle schwaing, simple past and past participle schwaed)

schwas (present singular third-person)
schwaing (participle present)
schwaed (participle past)
schwaed (past)
shwa (alternative)

(phonetics, of a vowel sound, rare) To be reduced to schwa.


glottal stop

(phonetics) A plosive sound articulated with the glottis.


glottal

Her Malay was the Malay of the Staate of Lanchap [...] and she spoke it fierily, with crisp glottal checks, with much bubbling reduplication.

1958, Anthony Burgess, The Enemy in the Blanket (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 256:

(phonetics) Articulated with the glottis.


rhotic

[ˈɹəʊ̯.tʰɪk]

Back-formation of rhotacism, coined in 1968 by John C. Wells.

In the IPA, a rhotic vowel (aka R-coloured vowel, retroflex vowel, vocalic r or rhotacised vowel) is indicated by the affixing of a hook diacritic ( ˞ ) to the right of the regular symbol for the vowel. The rhotic consonants are /r/, /ɾ/, /ɹ/, /ɻ/, /ʀ/, /ʁ/, /ɽ/ and /ɺ/.

What is normally understood by the term "trill" is a rhotic consonant of the type seen in the Spanish word perro 'dog', or the usual pronunciation of the phoneme /r/ in Parisian French.

2007, Robert Blust, “22: The prenasalised trills of Manus”, in Jeff Siegel, John Dominic Lynch, Diana Eades, editors, Language Description, History and Development, John Benjamins Publishing Company, page 297:

The rhotic tokens were analyzed as /r/-ful on both occasions. In addition, the researcher conducting the acoustic analysis of F₃ also held the impression that all analyzed tokens were rhotic. Some tokens were highly constricted and others were more weakly rhotic.

2012, Jennifer Hay, Alhana Clendon, “(Non)-Rhoticity: Lessons from New Zealand English”, in Terttu Nevalainen, Elizabeth Closs Traugott, editors, The Oxford Handbook of the History of English, Oxford University Press, page 765:

The articulatory description of rhotic diphthongs and triphthongs involves the onglide vowel followed by the rhotic or r-colored offglide.

2018, Kathy J. Jakielski, Christina E. Gildersleeve-Neumann, Phonetic Science for Clinical Practice, Plural Publishing, page 83:

(linguistics, phonetics, of a phoneme) Having a sound quality associated with the letter R; having the sound of any of certain IPA symbols, including /ɹ/, /ɻ/, /ɚ/, /ɝ/ and /r/.


rhotic

[ˈɹəʊ̯.tʰɪk]

It is well known that the phonetic realization of rhotics varies considerably from language to language, even from dialect to dialect. Rhotics can be realized as flaps, taps, trills (uvular, coronal or bilabial), or as assibilated or fricative variants.

1997, Eulàlia Bonet, Joan Mascarò, “On the representation of contrasting rhotics”, in Fernando Martínez-Gil, Alfonso Morales-Front, editors, Issues in the Phonology and Morphology of the Major Iberian Languages, Georgetown University Press, page 103:

2012, Rebeka Campos-Astorkiza, 5: The Phonemes of Spanish, José Ignacio Hualde, Antxon Olarrea, Erin O'Rourke (editors), The Handbook of Hispanic Linguistics, John Wiley & Sons (Wiley-Blackwell), page 100,
Spanish also has two rhotics, a tap /ɾ/(vibrante simple) and a trill /r/(vibrante múltiple).

Phonetic transcription of rhotics differs depending on whether the rhotic is a steady-state or dynamic vowel.

(phonetics) A rhotic consonant or rhotic vowel (R-coloured vowel).


non-rhotic

/nɒnˈɹəʊtɪk/

In a non-rhotic accent, the word 'sort' can be pronounced like the word 'sought'.

Received Pronunciation
Received Pronunciation

Of an accent, most often one of English: not pronouncing the written letter "r" unless it is followed by a vowel, as in Received Pronunciation, most other accents of England, the Boston accent, traditional NYC English, many accents of southern Louisiana, Australian English, etc.


advanced

en-adj

advanced (comparative more advanced or further advanced, superlative most advanced or furthest advanced)

more advanced (comparative)
further advanced (comparative)
most advanced (superlative)
furthest advanced (superlative)

(phonetics) Pronounced farther to the front of the vocal tract.

előrébb képzett

phonetics: pronounced farther to the front of the vocal tract


gradation

en-noun

gradation (countable and uncountable, plural gradations)

/ɡɹəˈdeɪʃən/

/ɡɹəˈdeɪʃən/

/ˌɡɹeɪˈdeɪʃən/

Borrowed from French gradation. By surface analysis, Blend of grade + -ation.


height

height (countable and uncountable, plural heights)

heights (plural)
hight (alternative)
highth (alternative)
heighth (alternative)

From Middle English heighte, heiȝþe, from Old English hēahþu, hēhþo, hīehþu (“height”), Proto-West Germanic *hauhiþu, from Proto-Germanic *hauhiþō (compare *hauhaz). Equivalent to high + -th.
Cognates
See also Saterland Frisian Höchte, Hööchte (“height”), West Frisian hichte (“height”), Dutch hoogte (“height”), Middle High German hœhede, hœhte (“height”), Old Norse and Old Norse hæð (“height”) (compare Swedish höjd, Norwegian høyde), Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌿𐌷𐌹𐌸𐌰 (hauhiþa, “height”).

(phonetics) A quality of vowels, indicating the vertical position of the tongue relative to the roof of the mouth; in practice, the first formant, associated with the height of the tongue.

nyelvállás

phonetics: a quality of vowels, indicating the vertical position of the tongue relative to the roof of the mouth; in practice, the first formant


homophonous

"Cot" and "caught" are homophonous in some American accents, as are "there" and "they're".

(phonetics, semantics) Having the same pronunciation.

homofon (not infrequently spelled homofón)

azonos kiejtésű, de eltérő jelentésű (és gyakran eltérő alakú)


reduce

en-verb

reduce (third-person singular simple present reduces, present participle reducing, simple past and past participle reduced)

reduces (present singular third-person)
reducing (participle present)
reduced (participle past)
reduced (past)

From Middle English reducen, from Old French reduire, from Latin redūcō (“reduce”); from re- (“back”) + dūcō (“lead”). See duke, and compare with redoubt.

The first vowel of support is reduced to schwa by most English speakers.

(transitive, phonetics, phonology) To pronounce (a sound or word) with less effort.


radical

en-adj

radical (comparative more radical, superlative most radical)

more radical (comparative)
most radical (superlative)

derivative

antonym(s) of “linguistics, in reference to words”

Inherited from Middle English radical, from Latin rādīcālis (“of or pertaining to the root, having roots, radical”).

der

(phonology, phonetics, not comparable, of a sound) Produced using the root of the tongue.


trill

From Middle English trillen, from Italian trillo, trillare. Compare German trillern, Norwegian trille, Swedish trilla.

(phonetics) A type of consonantal sound that is produced by vibrations of the tongue against the place of articulation: for example, Spanish ⟨rr⟩, /r/.


dental

en-adj

dental (comparative more dental, superlative most dental)

more dental (comparative)
most dental (superlative)

Borrowed from Middle French dental or Late Latin dentālis, from dēns (“a tooth”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix).

af

dental fricative

(phonetics) Articulated with the tip of the tongue touching the upper front teeth or with the blade of the tongue touching the alveolar ridge, so that the tip of the tongue rests near the teeth.

(phonetics, uncommon) Articulated with the tip or blade of the tongue: coronal.


dental

'Che Normah pronounced the name in the Malay manner, metathetically: Ruperet, the final dental initiated but not exploded.

1958, Anthony Burgess, The Enemy in the Blanket (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 253:


fortis

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-fortis.wav

Learned borrowing from Latin fortis (“strong”). Doublet of fort and forte.

lbor

All vowels, whether short or complex, are relatively shorter when followed by a fortis consonant and relatively longer when followed by a lenis one or, for those where this is possible, when no consonant follows (in free or unchecked syllables).

2004, Stephan Gramley, Michael Pätzold, A Survey of Modern English, Routledge, →ISBN, page 80:

(phonetics, of a consonant) Strongly articulated, hence voiceless.


mute

From Middle English muet, from Anglo-Norman muet, moet, Middle French muet, from mu (“dumb, mute”) + -et, remodelled after Latin mūtus.

(phonetics, now obsolete) A stopped consonant; a stop.


bilabial

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-bilabial.wav

"Oh, yes. He talks a lot about phonemes and semantemes and bilabial fricatives. He has a van with recording apparatus in it. He's a good chap."

1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 545:


bilabial

(phonetics) A speech sound articulated with both lips.

երկշրթնային

a speech sound articulated with both lips


plosive

(phonetics) A speech sound produced by opening a closed vocal tract.


plosive

en-adj

plosive (comparative more plosive or plosiver, superlative most plosive or plosivest)

more plosive (comparative)
plosiver (comparative)
most plosive (superlative)
plosivest (superlative)

(phonetics) Produced from opening a previously closed oral passage.

избушен

produced from opening a previously closed oral passage


linguolabial

(phonetics) articulated with the tongue and the upper lip.


linguolabial

(phonetics) A speech sound that is articulated with the tongue and the upper lip.


labiodental

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-labiodental.wav

/f/ and /v/ are labiodental consonants.

(phonetics) articulated with the lower lip and upper teeth.

شَفَوِيّ أَسْنَانِيّ (šafawiyy ʔasnāniyy, literally “labial dental”)


labiodental

(phonetics) A speech sound articulated with the lower lip and upper teeth.

շրթնատամնային

a speech sound articulated with the lower lip and upper teeth


dentolabial

(phonetics) articulated with the upper lip and lower teeth


bidental

Finally, a position of almost bidental contact can be a paralinguistic voice qualifier or secondary articulation we should acknowledge as a dentalization, that is, the articulation of vowels and consonants 'through one's teeth', which can make the labial kinesic component of normal articulation be still present and vary from lip rounding or protrusion with close front vowels to horizontal distension with close back vowels.

1993, Fernando Poyatos, Paralanguage: A linguistic and interdisciplinary approach to interactive speech and sounds:

dental percussives, produced by clicking maxillary and mandibular teeth together at different speeds, but typically as a bidental chatter, that is, in a repeated rapid way (as in chattering from cold or fear); with bidental percussives resonating in the oral cavity musical notes can be played up and down the scale in various keys.

2002, Fernando Poyatos, Nonverbal Communication Across Disciplines:

The convention for transcribing bidental fricatives, suggested in the expIPA chart, uses the appropriate glottal fricative symbol with a dental diacritic both above and below the symbol.

2013, Nigel Hewlett, An Introduction to the Science of Phonetics:

(phonetics) articulated with both the upper and lower teeth.


velar

Borrowed from Latin vēlāris, from vēlum (“sail; veil, awning”).

(phonetics) Articulated at the velum or soft palate.


velar

(phonetics) A sound articulated at the soft palate.


palatal

palatal (comparative more palatal, superlative most palatal)

more palatal (comparative)
most palatal (superlative)

(phonetics) Articulated at the hard palate.

غَارِيّ

(phonetics) articulated at the hard palate

(phonetics, uncommon) Articulated at the palate: dorsal.


uvular

(phonetics) Of a sound, articulated with the uvula (the fleshy appendage that hangs from the back of the soft palate).


uvular

(phonetics) A sound articulated with the uvula.


pharyngeal

→ New Latin: pharyngeālis

/fəˈɹɪn.d͡ʒəl/

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-pharyngeal.wav

From Late Latin pharyngeus + -al, from pharynx (“the pharynx”) + -eus (adjectival suffix).

af

(phonetics) Articulated with the pharynx; a term usually describing a consonant which is articulated by the rear area of the tongue being raised to below the region between the uvula and the pharyngeal wall. The term cannot apply to a plosive or stop consonant.


pharyngeal

pharyngeals (plural)
pharyngal (alternative)

/fəˈɹɪn.d͡ʒəl/

pharyngeal consonant
pharyngeal consonant#English

(phonetics) A sound that is articulated with the pharynx; ellipsis of pharyngeal consonant..


soft

en-adj

soft (comparative softer, superlative softest)

softer (comparative)
softest (superlative)

hard

antonym(s) of “giving way under pressure”

firm

antonym(s) of “lacking strength or resolve”

From Middle English softe, from Old English sōfte, alteration of earlier sēfte (“soft”), from Proto-West Germanic *samft(ī) (“level, even, smooth, soft, gentle”) (compare *sōmiz (“agreeable, fitting”)), from Proto-Indo-European *semptio-, *semtio-, from *sem- (“one, whole”). Cognate with West Frisian sêft (“gentle; soft”), Dutch zacht (“soft”), German Low German sacht (“soft”), German sanft (“soft, yielding”), Old Norse sœmr (“agreeable, fitting”), samr (“same”). More at seem, same.

inh

DH represents the voiced (soft) th of English these clothes.

1954, J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings:


aphetic

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ἄφετος (áphetos), equivalent to aphesis + -tic.

lbor

“’Pon” is an aphetic form of “upon”.

(phonetics, linguistics, prosody) Of, relating to, or formed by aphesis.


aphesis

en-noun

aphesis (countable and uncountable, plural apheses)

Attested since 1880. Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ἄφεσις (áphesis, “letting go”), from ἀφίημι (aphíēmi), from ἀπό (apó, “off”) + ἵημι (híēmi, “send forth”).

lbor

The word "scarp" is derived from "escarp" by aphesis.

(phonetics, linguistics, prosody) The loss of the initial unstressed vowel of a word.


lingual

Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin linguālis, from lingua (“the tongue; a language, speech”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix); equivalent to lingua + -al. Doublet of lingualis.

af

(anatomy, dentistry, relational) Related to, near, or on the side toward the tongue.

(phonetics) Articulated with the tongue.


lingual

(phonetics) A sound articulated with the tongue.


level

en-adj

level (comparative leveler or leveller, superlative levelest or levellest)

leveler (comparative)
leveller (comparative)
levelest (superlative)
levellest (superlative)

From Middle English level, from Old French livel, liveau m, later nivel, niveau, from Latin libella f (“a balance, a level”), diminutive of libra f (“a balance, a level”); see libra, librate. Doublet of libella and niveau.
The verb is from Middle English levelen, from the noun.

Intonation or tone is either level, rising, or falling, marked respectively

1891, Henry Sweet, A History of English Sounds from the Earliest Period:

(phonetics) Of even tone; without rising or falling inflection; monotonic.


stress

en-noun

stress (countable and uncountable, plural stresses)

Hans Selye
Walter Cannon
stress
stress (mechanics)

From a shortening of Middle English destresse, borrowed from Old French destrecier, from Latin distringō (“to stretch out”). This form probably coalesced with Middle English stresse, from Old French estrece (“narrowness”), from Vulgar Latin *strictia, from Latin strictus (“narrow”).
In the sense of "mental strain" or “disruption”, used occasionally in the 1920s and 1930s by psychologists, including Walter Cannon (1934); in “biological threat”, used by endocrinologist Hans Selye, by metaphor with stress in physics (force on an object) in the 1930s, and popularized by same in the 1950s.

Some people put the stress on the first syllable of “controversy”; others put it on the second.

(countable, phonetics, loosely) A suprasegmental feature of a language having additional attention raised to a sound, word or word group by means of of loudness, duration or pitch; phonological prominence.

The shift from pitch to stress appears to happen before the other obliques begin merging in the Proto-Italic, Proto-Germanic, Primitive Irish, and Middle Indo-Aryan. But further investigation into the timeline of sound changes […] shows that, at least in Germanic, the oblique and core noun stems sound quite unpredictably different in all these families by the time of the crucial accent shift from pitch to stress. […] once a language becomes stress-sensitive, there seems to be a strong tendency in early Indo-European languages to shift the stress to the first syllable. This change happens shortly after the change to stress accent in Proto-Germanic, Proto-Italic, and Proto-Celtic, and even Thessalian, with evidence from Dybo's Law and Verner's Law left behind to show that sound changes happened after the changes to stress accent.

2020 September 7, Steve Rapaport, “Parallel syncretism in early Indo-European”, in Bridget Drinka, editor, Historical Linguistics 2017: Selected Papers from the 23rd International Conference on Historical Linguistics, San Antonio, Texas, 31 July – 4 August 2017, →DOI, page 59:

(countable, phonetics, strictly) The suprasegmental feature of a language having additional attention raised to a sound by means of loudness and/or duration; phonological prominence phonetically achieved by means of dynamics as distinct from pitch.


click

Imitative of the "click" sound; first recorded in the 1500s. Compare Saterland Frisian klikke (“to click”), Middle Dutch clicken (Modern Dutch: klikken (“to click”)), Old High German klecchen (Modern German: klecken, klicken (“to click”)), Danish klikke (“to click”), Swedish klicka (“to click”), Norwegian klikke (“to click”), Norwegian klekke (“to hatch”).

onomatopoeic

Imitative

tsk is a click in English.

(phonetics) An ingressive sound made by coarticulating a velar or uvular closure with another closure.


nasal

en-adj

nasal (comparative more nasal, superlative most nasal)

more nasal (comparative)
most nasal (superlative)

From Middle English, from Medieval Latin nāsālis, from nāsus (“the nose”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix). Doublet of nasalis.

af

nasal vowel

(phonetics) Having a sound imparted by means of the nose; and specifically, made by lowering the soft palate, in some cases with closure of the oral passage, the voice thus issuing (wholly or partially) through the nose, as in the consonants m, n, ng.

أَنْفِي

having a quality imparted by means of the nose

nasal utterance

"Are you sure you're OK?" she said with a nasal Australian accent.

2016, A.K. Brown, Jumpstart (Champagne Universe Series: Book 1), page 2:

(phonetics) Characterized by resonance in the nasal passage.


nasal

(phonetics) Ellipsis of nasal consonant.


phonetic

Borrowed from Latin phōnēticus, from Ancient Greek φωνητῐκός (phōnētĭkós). By surface analysis, phone + -etic.

I suspect that 田 dien is the original character and true phonetic of the whole group.

1887–88, J. Edkins, “The character 眞 true”, in The China Review, volume 16, page 306:

In the first case the character is pronounced identically, even as to tone, as the phonetic.

1984, John DeFrancis, The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy:

Or, the semantic may wrap around the phonetic, or position within the phonetic.

2013, William S-Y. Wang, Love and War in Ancient China: Voices from the Shijing, page 25:

(linguistics) In such writing systems as the Chinese writing system, the portion of a phono-semantic character that provides an indication of its pronunciation; contrasted with semantic (which is usually the radical).

聲旁 /声旁

component of a phono-semantic compound that indicates pronunciation


velopharyngeal

en-adj

velopharyngeal (comparative more velopharyngeal, superlative most velopharyngeal)

more velopharyngeal (comparative)
most velopharyngeal (superlative)

(phonetics) Articulated at the velopharynx. (Those with cleft palate produce such sounds instead of standard sibilants.)


velopharyngeal

(phonetics) A sound articulated at the velopharynx.


lateral

lateral (comparative more lateral, superlative most lateral)

more lateral (comparative)
most lateral (superlative)

Borrowed from Latin laterālis (“belonging to the side”), from latus (“the side or flank”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix).

af

(phonetics, phonology) (of a consonant, especially the English clear l) Pertaining to speech sounds generated by partially blocking the egress of the airstream with the tongue, leaving space on one or both sides of the occlusion for air passage.


labial

Borrowing from Medieval Latin labiālis (“of or pertaining to the lips”), from labium (“a lip”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix); equivalent to labium + -al.

af

(linguistics, phonetics) Articulated by the lips, as the consonants b, m and w.


labial

The motions of the Tongue, Lips, Throat, Palate, & c. which go to the making of the ſeveral Alphabetical Letters are worthy inquiry, and pertinent to the preſent Inquiſition of Sounds: But becauſe they are ſubtil and long to deſcribe, we will refer them over, and place them amongſt the Experiments of Speech. The Hebrews have been diligent in it, and have aſſigned which Letters are Labial, which Dental, which Guttural, & c

1670, Francis Bacon, Sylva sylvarum : or, a natural history in ten centuries, Natural History, Century II, pp 197-98

You have but the same four letters to describe the salute which you perform on your grandmother’s forehead, and that which you bestow on the sacred cheek of your mistress; but the same four letters, and not one of them a labial.

1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 47, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:

Those were his first words of the voyage, and they were spoken with unstuttered labials.

1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 578:

(linguistics, phonetics) A consonant articulated by the lips.


medial

en-adj

medial (comparative more medial, superlative most medial)

more medial (comparative)
most medial (superlative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-medial.wav

Borrowed from Latin mediālis (“middle”), from medius (“that is in the middle or midst”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix).

среден

Situated in or near the middle; not at either end.

(phonetics, linguistics) (of a speech sound, or a character or sequence thereof) In the middle of a word.

Thus, when he drew up instructions in lawyer language, he expressed the important words by an initial, a medial, or a final consonant, and made scratches for all the words between; his clerks, however, understood him very well.

1892, Walter Besant, “Prologue: Who is Edmund Gray?”, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC:

(phonetics) (of a consonant) Central: produced when air flows across the center of the mouth over the tongue.


dissimilation

en-noun

dissimilation (countable and uncountable, plural dissimilations)

/ˌdɪsɪmɪˈleɪʃən/

From dis- + -similation, after assimilation.

Brimstone is "properly" *brinstone, displaying an ancient careless pronunciation made respectable by being called "dissimilation".

1985, Robert Burchfield, The English Language, Oxford: Oxford University Press, page 112:

(phonology, phonetics) A phenomenon where one of a pair of similar adjacent consonant or vowel sounds in a word becomes less similar.

disimilim

(phonology) A phenomenon whereby similar consonant or vowel sounds in a word become less similar


flap

From Middle English flap, flappe (“a slap; blow; buffet; fly-flap; something flexible or loose; flap”), related to Saterland Frisian Flappert (“wing, flipper”), Middle Dutch flabbe (“a blow; slap on the face; fly-flap; flap”) (modern Dutch flap (“flap”)), Middle Low German flabbe, vlabbe, flebbe, from the verb (see below). Related also to English flab and flabby.

cog

(phonetics) A consonant sound made by a single muscle contraction, such as the sound /ɾ/ in the standard American English pronunciation of body.


flap

en-verb

flap (third-person singular simple present flaps, present participle flapping, simple past and past participle flapped)

flaps (present singular third-person)
flapping (participle present)
flapped (participle past)
flapped (past)

From Middle English flappen (“to flap, clap, slap, strike”), related to Dutch flappen (“to flap”), German Low German flappen (“to flap”), German flappen (“to flap”), Dutch flabberen (“to flit, flap”). Probably ultimately imitative.

onomatopoeic

imitative

(phonetics, transitive) To pronounce (something) as a flap consonant.

(phonetics, intransitive) To be pronounced with a flap consonant.


release

en-noun

release (countable and uncountable, plural releases)

From Middle English relesen, relessen, from Old French relaisser (variant of relascher).

отцепване

a device adapted to hold or release a device or mechanism as required

(phonetics, sound synthesis) The act or manner of ending a sound.


epenthesis

epenthesis (countable and uncountable, plural epentheses)

Middle of 16th century: via Late Latin, from Ancient Greek ἐπένθεσις (epénthesis), from ἐπεντίθημι (epentíthēmi, “I insert”), from ἐπί (epí) + ἐντίθημι (entíthēmi, “I put in”), from ἐν (en, “in”) + τίθημι (títhēmi, “I put, place”).

(phonetics, prosody) The insertion of a phoneme, letter, or syllable into a word, usually to satisfy the phonological constraints of a language or poetic context.

epentese

insertion of a phoneme or letter into a word


explosive

en-adj

explosive (comparative more explosive, superlative most explosive)

more explosive (comparative)
most explosive (superlative)

From Latin explōs-, stem of the perfect passive participle of explōdō + the suffix -ive.

the explosive consonants


ejective

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-ejective.wav

(phonetics) A nonpulmonic consonant formed by squeezing air trapped between the glottis and an articulator further forward, and releasing it suddenly.


shrub

From Middle English schrub, schrob, (also unassibilated as scrub), from Old English *sċrob (in placenames) and sċrybb (“a shrub; shrubbery; underbrush”); akin to Norwegian skrubbe (“the dwarf cornel tree”).

cog

It is not only in face-to-face contexts that Kenyans police shrubbing; there are newspaper columns inviting readers to send in shrubs that they have witnessed, […]

2010, Norma Mendoza-Denton, Dana Osborne, “Two Languages, Two Identities?”, in Carmen Llamas, Dominic Watt, editors, Language and Identities, →ISBN, page 121:

One of the first people to go on air on X Fm, Raabia (It’s not a kuyu [Kikuyu] shrub for labia) is about to exit the station, she’s being replaced by Mao (their lispy producer) […]

2011 September 23, Yeye, “Fuck it!”, in Media Madness, archived from the original on 2011-09-24:

place of articulation
place of articulation

(Kenya) A word mispronounced by replacing some consonant sounds with others of a similar place of articulation due to interference from one's knowledge of an indigenous Kenyan language.


shrub

en-verb

shrub (third-person singular simple present shrubs, present participle shrubbing, simple past and past participle shrubbed)

shrubs (present singular third-person)
shrubbing (participle present)
shrubbed (participle past)
shrubbed (past)

The people who benefit from making fun of shrubbing, therefore, are Kenyans who do not speak indigenous languages, because they are less likely to shrub than Kenyans who learned English as a second language in school and may have a heavier accent.

2010, Norma Mendoza-Denton, Dana Osborne, quoting Heidi Orcutt-Gachiri, “Two Languages, Two Identities?”, in Carmen Llamas, Dominic Watt, editors, Shrubbing and the evaluation of expertise in Kenyan English and Kiswahili: placing Kenyan indigenous languages at risk, 2008, page 7, quoted in Language and Identities, →ISBN, page 121:

However, Mwandani and her brother had noted that their mother had shrubbed and pointed it out right away.

2014, Michael Gathonjia Wairungu, “The notion of shrubbing vs. Mother tongue interference: a question of generation”, in "A Language of Many Hats": The Rise of Sheng and other Linguistic Styles among Urban Youth in Kenya, page 310:

It is still considered embarrassing if people in authority like teachers or newscasters “shrub.”

2019 April 19, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, “Harro! I shrub because, really, I have no otherwise, do I?”, in The East African, archived from the original on 2023-04-16:

(transitive, Kenya) To mispronounce a word by replacing some consonant sounds with others of a similar place of articulation due to interference from one's knowledge of an indigenous Kenyan language.


shrub

en-noun

shrub (countable and uncountable, plural shrubs)

From Arabic شِرَاب (širāb, “a drink, beverage”), شَرِبَ (šariba, “to drink”), akin to syrup, sherbet, and sorbet.

der

A liquor composed of vegetable acid, fruit juice (especially lemon), sugar, sometimes vinegar, and a small amount of spirit as a preservative. Modern shrub is usually non-alcoholic, but in earlier times it was often mixed with a substantial amount of spirit such as brandy or rum, thus making it a liqueur.


semivowel

semivowels (plural)
semi-vowel (alternative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-semivowel.wav

(phonetics) A sound in speech which has some qualities of a consonant and some qualities of a vowel.


tonic

Of or relating to tones or sounds; specifically (phonetics, dated) being or relating to a speech sound made with tone unmixed and undimmed by obstruction, i.e. a vowel or diphthong.


tonic

(phonetics) A tonic element or letter; a vowel or a diphthong.


CV

en-noun

CV (countable and uncountable, plural CVs)

CVs (plural)
C.V. (alternative)
C. V. (alternative)

Abbreviation
* (anime, Japanimation): From Japanese CV (CV), from English character+voice
* (aircraft carrier): Initialism of cruiser (“croiseur”) + French voler (“to fly”).

initialism of

(phonetics) Initialism of cardinal vowel.


voiceless

(phonetics, of a consonant or vowel) Spoken without vibration of the vocal cords; unvoiced, surd, breathed. Examples: [t], [s], [f], [m̥], [u̥].

مَهْمُوس

phonetics, of a consonant: spoken without vibration of the vocal cords


laryngeal

/ləˈɹɪn.d͡ʒəl/

Derived from New Latin laryngeus + -al, from larynx (“larynx”) + -eus (adjectival suffix). By surface analysis, laryng- + -al or -ial.

af

(phonetics, relational) (of a speech sound) Made by or with constriction of the larynx with only the front part of the vocal cords vibrating, giving a very low frequency and producing what is known as "creaky voice."


laryngeal

laryngeals (plural)
laryngal (alternative)

/ləˈɹɪn.d͡ʒəl/

(phonetics) A sound uttered by using the larynx.


preantepenultimate

Nominal sense attested since 1746; adjectival sense attested since 1791: pre- + antepenultimate.

Accent the Preantepenultimate.

1830, John Walker, A Key to the Classical Pronunciation of Greek, Latin, and Scripture Proper Names, New York, N.Y.: J.F. Dove, page 169:

(chiefly phonetics, obsolete, rare) preantepenult


preantepenultimate

First or Preantepenultimate Milk-molar; Second or Ante- penultimate Milk-molar.

1874, Andrew Leith Adams, On the Dentition and Osteology of the Maltese Fossil Elephants, Zoological Society of London, page 10:

In the tautala leaga [colloquial Samoan] the shortening of normal vowels in the antepenultimate and preantepenultimate syllables is very common.

1992, Ulrike Mosel, Even Hovdhaugen, “Phonology and orthography”, in Samoan Reference Grammar, Oslo: The Institute for Comparative Research in Human Culture; Scandinavian University Press, via National Library of Norway, →ISBN, page 27:

…PWs with preantepenultimate and even fifth-but-last stress occur,…

2010, Editors Martin Maiden, John Charles Smith, Adam Ledgeway, The Cambridge History of the Romance Languages: Volume 1, Structures, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 82:

(chiefly phonetics and biology) Three before the end; fourth to last.


alveolar

(phonetics) Formed with the tongue touching or approaching the inner ridge of the gums of the upper front teeth.

لِثَوِيّ

formed with the tongue touching or approaching the ridge behind the upper teeth


cacoepy

From Ancient Greek κακός (kakós, “bad”) + ἔπος (épos, “word”) + -ία (-ía, “-y”).


orthoepy

en-noun

orthoepy (countable and uncountable, plural orthoepies)

orthoepies (plural)
orthoëpy (alternative)
orthoepie (alternative)
orthöepy (alternative)

/ˈɔː.θəʊˌiː.pi/

/ˈɔː.θəʊˌɛ.pi/

/ˈɔː.θəʊ.ɨ.pi/

/ɔːˈθəʊ.ɨ.pi/

/ˈɔɹ.θoʊˌɛ.pi/

From Ancient Greek ὀρθοέπεια (orthoépeia), possibly via Latin orthoepia, from Ancient Greek ὀρθός (orthós, “correct”) + ἔπος (épos, “word”) + -ία (-ía, “-y”).


anaptyxis

anaptyxis (countable and uncountable, plural anaptyxes)

Learned borrowing from New Latin anaptyxis, from Ancient Greek ἀνάπτυξις (anáptuxis).

lbor

(phonetics) The epenthesis (insertion) of a vowel.


pulmonic sounds

(phonetics) sounds in which the air stream originates in the lungs.


aspiration

en-noun

aspiration (countable and uncountable, plural aspirations)

From aspirate + -ion or borrowed from Latin aspīrātiō.

(phonetics) A burst of air that follows the release of some consonants.


vibrant

From French vibrant, from Latin vibrans, present participle of vibrare (“to vibrate”). See vibrate.

(phonetics) Any of a class of consonants including taps and trills.


cluster

→ Catalan: clúster

→ French: cluster

→ German: Cluster

→ Italian: cluster

→ Japanese: クラスター (kurasutā)

→ Portuguese: cluster

→ Russian: кла́стер (kláster)

→ Spanish: clúster, cluster

→ Swedish: kluster

High Performance Computing Center, Stuttgart

The noun is derived from Middle English cluster (“bunch, cluster, spray; compact body or mass, ball”) [and other forms], from Old English cluster, clyster (“cluster, bunch, branch”), from Proto-Germanic *klas-, *klus- (“to clump, lump together”) (possibly from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to ball up; to clench; to amass”)) + *-þrą (suffix forming nouns denoting an instrument or tool). The English word is probably a doublet of clot.
The verb is derived from the noun.
Cognates
* Dutch klister (“cluster”) (dialectal)
* Icelandic klasi (“cluster; bunch of grapes”)
* Low German Kluuster (“cluster”)
* Swedish kluster (“cluster”)

nb...

closter, clostre, clouster, clowster, clustre, clustyr

բույլ

The word scrub begins with a cluster of three consonants.

A bunch or group of several discrete items that are close to each other.

(phonetics) A pronounceable group of consonants that occur together: a consonant cluster.

shluk

group of pronounceable consonants that occur together


apocope

en-noun

apocope (countable and uncountable, plural apocopes)

Learned borrowing from Late Latin apocopē, from Ancient Greek ἀποκοπή (apokopḗ), ἀποκόπτω (apokóptō, “cut off”).

lbor

(phonetics, prosody, strictly) The loss or omission of the last vowel in a word, together with any consonants that follow it.


resonant

Borrowed from French résonnant or Latin resonāre (“to resound”).

(phonetics) A sonorant vowel or consonant.


syllabic

From Medieval Latin syllabicus, from Ancient Greek συλλαβικός (sullabikós), from συλλαβή (sullabḗ, “syllable”).


glide

en-verb

glide (third-person singular simple present glides, present participle gliding, simple past glided or glid or (archaic) glode, past participle glided or glid or glidden or (archaic) glode)

glides (present singular third-person)
gliding (participle present)
glided (past)
glid (past)
glode (archaic past)
glided (participle past)
glid (participle past)
glidden (participle past)
glode (archaic participle past)

From Middle English gliden, from Old English glīdan, from Proto-West Germanic *glīdan, from Proto-Germanic *glīdaną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰleydʰ-.
Cognate with West Frisian glide, glydzje, Low German glieden, Dutch glijden, German gleiten, Norwegian Nynorsk gli, Danish glide, Swedish glida, Finnish liitää.

(phonetics) To pass with a glide, as the voice.


homorganic

/ˌhɑmɔɹˈɡænɪk/

/ˌhɒmɔːˈɡænɪk/

Two identical consonants (redoubled) in second and third position are frequently found (they are called verba mediae geminatae), but two homorganic consonants are not.

2011 March 1, Eulàlia Vernet i Pons, “Semitic Root Incompatibilities and Historical Linguistics”, in Journal of Semitic Studies, volume 56, number 1, →DOI, page 4

(phonetics) Of consonants: having the same place of articulation. For example, labial m, b, p, alveolar n, d, t, velar ŋ, g, k. Indic alphabets such as Devanagari, as well as the Korean hangul alphabet, are rationally arranged so that homorganic consonants are grouped together.


homorganic

/ˌhɑmɔɹˈɡænɪk/

/ˌhɒmɔːˈɡænɪk/

(phonetics) A consonant having the same place of articulation as another.


sonorous

en-adj

sonorous (comparative more sonorous, superlative most sonorous)

more sonorous (comparative)
most sonorous (superlative)
sonourous (alternative)

Borrowed from Latin sonōrus, from sonor (“sound”), early 17th century.

Vowels are more sonorous (acoustically powerful) than consonants, and so we perceive them as louder and lasting longer.

2001, Michael Dobrovolsky, “Phonetics: The Sounds of Language”, in William O'Grady, John Archibald, Mark Aronoff, Janie Rees-Miller, editors, Contemporary Linguistics, →ISBN, page 21:

(linguistics, phonetics) Produced with a relatively open vocal tract and relatively little obstruction of airflow.


percussive

percussive (comparative more percussive, superlative most percussive)

more percussive (comparative)
most percussive (superlative)

Two additional, and much rarer, percussive articulations are represented by symbols in the extIPA chart. Their exclusion from the main IPA chart is an indication that they do not seem to occur as typical forms of adult speech in any part of the world, although they may have some communicative function. The symbol, [ʬ], is used to transcribe a bilabial percussive sound, which might be described in lay terms as lip-smacking.

2013, Nigel Hewlett, Janet Mackenzie Beck, An Introduction to the Science of Phonetics, Routledge, →ISBN:

(phonetics) Produced by striking organs together, for example, smacking the lips or gnashing the teeth.


percussive

Percussives are articulations where two rigid or semirigid articulators are struck against each other to produce a short, sharp sound.

2014, Martin J. Ball, Nicole Muller, Phonetics for Communication Disorders, Psychology Press, →ISBN:


sibilant

From Latin sībilāns, present active participle of sībilō (“I hiss”).

Groove fricatives all have more or less of an [s]-like quality, and are for this reason sometimes called sibilants.

1955, H. A. Gleason, An Introduction to Descriptive Linguistics, page 194, section 14.7:

(phonetics) A consonant having a hissing or hushing sound such as the s or sh in sack or shack.


articulation

en-noun

articulation (countable and uncountable, plural articulations)

From Middle English articulacioun, from Old French articulacion, from Medieval Latin articulatio. Equivalent to articulate + -ion.

manner of articulation

place of articulation

point of articulation

(phonetics) The mechanism by which a sound is formed in the vocal tract.

artikulasi

linguistics: means of uttering a phoneme


affricate

(phonetics) A single speech sound produced combining a plosive and a fricative.


long vowel

(English pronunciation) Any of the vowels or diphthongs resulting from the Great Vowel Shift's effect on Middle English's original long vowels, and best exhibited in the names of the vowel letters A, E, I, O, U. In American lexicography their pronunciation is indicated by a macron, as, ē.


APA

Americanist Phonetic Alphabet
w:Americanist Phonetic Alphabet

(phonetics) Initialism of Americanist Phonetic Alphabet.


singleton

From single + -ton, probably following the model of simpleton.

singleton sonorants

(phonetics) A single consonant, as opposed to a geminated consonant.


wildcard

(phonetics, phonology) A letter or symbol that substitutes for a generic or poorly identified sound, for example capital C for any or some consonant, or capital V for any or some vowel.


intervocalic

/ˌɪntəvəʊˈkælɪk/

(phonetics) Existing or occurring between vowels.


lenition

lenition (countable and uncountable, plural lenitions)

Analyzable as lenis + -ition, or as if from Latin lēnīt(us) + -ion, or Latin lēnītiō (“softening”) from lēniō (“soften”) + -tiō (action noun suffix) (attested since at least the 1500s, the same timeframe lenition is first attested in English with the sense "assuaging"). Modelled on German Lenierung.

affix

Coordinate term: assimilation

One of these processes, the process of T-Lenition, is extremely common, even though it takes place only when the input consonant is adjacent to a small number of affixes. In this change, a stopped consonant, [p t k b d g], becomes a fricative, [s, z, š, ž]. This process is called lenition, or weakening.

2001, Robert Stockwell, Donka Minkova, English Words: History and Structure, page 104:

Environments are an essential part of any discussion of lenition. Textbooks often describe lenition as occurring in the weak intervocalic or word-final environments. The canonical examples of lenition given earlier in (1) through (3) all occur either between vowels or between sonorants.

2001, Lisa M. Lavoie, Consonant Strength: Phonological Patterns and Phonetic Manifestations, page 7:

2008, Krzysztof Jaskula, Celtic, Joaquim Brandão de Carvalho, Tobias Scheer, Philippe Ségéral (editors), Lenition and Fortition, Studies in Generative Grammar: 99, page 347,
As for Goidelic languages, the situation is clearer because Lenition III in this subfamily consisted in losing the same property as the first two lenitions, namely stopness.

2011, Naomi Gurevich, 66: Lenition, Marc van Oostendorp, Colin J. Ewen, Elizabeth V. Hume, Keren Rice (editors), The Blackwell Companion to Phonology, Volume III: Phonological Processes, page 1573,
Five general patterns of lenitions – all based to some extent on empirical data – are identified.

(phonetics, phonology) A weakening of articulation causing a consonant to become lenis (soft).


lenis

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Borrowed from Latin lēnis (“soft, smooth”).

All vowels, whether short or complex, are relatively shorter when followed by a fortis consonant and relatively longer when followed by a lenis one or, for those where this is possible, when no consonant follows (in free or unchecked syllables).

2004, Stephan Gramley, Michael Pätzold, A Survey of Modern English, Routledge, →ISBN, page 80:

(phonetics, of a consonant) Weakly articulated, hence voiced; especially as compared to the others of a group of homorganic consonants.


breathed

(phonetics, of a consonant or vowel) voiceless, contrasting with voiced


excursion

Borrowed from Latin excursio (“a running out, an inroad, invasion, a setting out, beginning of a speech”), from excurrere (“to run out”), from ex (“out”) + currere (“to run”).

bor

(phonetics) A deviation in pitch, for example in the syllables of enthusiastic speech.


metathesis

en-noun

metathesis (countable and uncountable, plural metatheses)

→ Malay: metatesis

Borrowed from Late Latin metathesis, from Ancient Greek μετάθεσις (metáthesis), from μετά (metá, “among”) + θέσις (thésis, “placement”).

af

(phonetics, prosody) The transposition of letters, syllables or sounds within a word, such as in ask as /æks/.

vendkëmbim

the transposition of letters, syllables or sounds within a word

перестано́вка

зву́ков и́ли слого́в в слова́х


SSB

Standard Southern British
w:Standard Southern British

(phonetics) Initialism of Standard Southern British.


voicing

(phonetics) The articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate.

(phonetics, phonology) A classification of speech sounds that tend to be associated with vocal cord vibration.

清濁 /清浊

phonetics: classification of speech sounds


antiphony

en-noun

antiphony (countable and uncountable, plural antiphonies)

Still another phase of language which interests Professor Orr is that of vowel antiphony in the functional development of language; e.g. the “front-back” vowel sequence (tittle-tattle, et patati et patata, etc.).

1953, The French Review, volume 27, page 300:

Roman Jakobson gives evidence to show how language uses ‘antiphony’ or vowel opposition in pairs of words with opposite meanings: ‘gleam’ and ‘gloom’, ‘here’ and ‘there’, or in French ‘petit’ and ‘grand’.

2000, Edward Nye, Literary and Linguistic Theories in Eighteenth-Century France: From Nuances to Impertinence, →ISBN, page 175:

The various types of reduplication […] include full reduplication (tum-tum), […] vowel antiphony (flip-flop, criss-cross) […]

2019, Paul Rastall, Bottom-Up Linguistics: Perspectives and Explorations with a Postscript on Language and Reality, →ISBN, page 36:

(phonetics) Synonym of apophony (“contrastive vowel modification”).


stopped

en-adj

stopped (comparative more stopped, superlative most stopped)

more stopped (comparative)
most stopped (superlative)

From stop + -ed. In some senses, the adjective follows from the verb; in others, it may derive directly from the noun stop.

even a stopped clock is right twice a day

þ was first voiced and then stopped , becoming d

1874, Henry Sweet, A History of English Sounds from the Earliest Period:

(phonetics) Made by complete closure of the organs in the mouth; said of certain consonants such as b, d, p, and t.


apheresis

en-noun

apheresis (countable and uncountable, plural aphereses)

aphereses (plural)
aphaeresis (alternative)
aphæresis (alternative)

/əˈfɪəɹɪsɪs/

/ˌæfəˈɹisɪs/

From Latin aphaeresis, from Ancient Greek ἀφαίρεσις (aphaíresis, “a taking away”), from ἀφαιρέω (aphairéō) (from ἀφ- (aph-), variant of ἀπό (apó, “off, away from”) before an aspirated vowel) + αἱρέω (hairéō, “to take; to snatch”)) + -σις (-sis, suffix forming nouns of action); the grammatical sense developed in Latin.

der

en:loss of sound or letter at start of word

(phonetics, linguistics, prosody) Elision, suppression, or complete loss of a letter or sound (syllable) from the beginning of a word, such as the development of special from especial.

raktroc'h

loss of letters or sounds from the beginning of a word


stressed

en-adj

stressed (comparative more stressed, superlative most stressed)

more stressed (comparative)
most stressed (superlative)


voiced

(phonetics) Sounded with vibration of the vocal cords. For example, the phone [z] is voiced, while [s] is unvoiced.

tingullor

sounded with vibration of the vocal cords


raising

en-noun

raising (countable and uncountable, plural raisings)

Inherited from Middle English reysynge; equivalent to raise + -ing.

(linguistics, phonetics) A sound change in which a vowel or consonant becomes higher or raised, meaning that the tongue becomes more elevated or positioned closer to the roof of the mouth than before.


apical

(phonetics, phonology, of a sound) Produced with the tip of the tongue.

apical

phonetics: produced with the tip of the tongue


apical

(phonetics) A sound produced by obstructing the air passage with the tip of the tongue.


obstruent

Learned borrowing from Latin obstruēns, obstruentis.

lbor

Lehmann (1998:77) and Steever (1998: 14, 16) considered āytam an allophone of Tamil /y/ before obstruents, but there is no real evidence for this assumption.

2003, Bhadiraju Krishnamurti, The Dravidian Languages, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN:

(phonetics) A consonant sound formed by obstructing the airway, causing turbulence; a plosive, fricative, or affricate.


sonorant

(phonetics) A speech sound that is produced without turbulent airflow in the vocal tract; the generic term of vowel, approximant, nasal consonant, etc.


occlusion

en-noun

occlusion (countable and uncountable, plural occlusions)

Borrowed from Late Latin occlūsiō, occlūsiōnis (“occluding, obstruction”), from the Classical Latin occlūdō (“I shut up or close up; I restrain”), from ob + claudō (“I shut or close”).

der

(phonetics) A closure within the vocal tract that produces an oral stop or nasal stop.


excrescence

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-excrescence.wav

From Middle English, early 15th century, in sense “(action of) growing out (of something else)”. Borrowed from Latin excrescentia (“abnormal growths”), from excrescentem, from excrēscere, from ex- (“out”) (English ex-) + crēscere (“to grow”) (English crescent). Sense of “abnormal growth” from 1570s, from earlier excrescency (1540s in this sense).

(phonetics) The epenthesis of a consonant, e.g., warmth as [ˈwɔrmpθ] (adding a [p] between [m] and [θ]), or -t (Etymology 2).


coronal

en-adj

coronal (comparative more coronal, superlative most coronal)

more coronal (comparative)
most coronal (superlative)

From Middle English coronal, from Anglo-Norman coronal, from Latin corōnālis (“related to a crown”), from corōna (“crown”).

(phonetics) Relating to a sound made with the tip or blade of the tongue.


coronal

This structurally accounts for a number of phenomena that treat coronals asymetrically with respect to other places of articulation.

2011, Mirco Ghini, Asymmetries in the Phonology of Miogliola, page 34:

(phonetics) A consonant produced with the tip or blade of the tongue.

coronaal

consonant produced with tip or blade of tongue


approximant

From Latin approximāns. In the phonetics sense first used by Peter Ladefoged, the mathematical concept is attributed to Paul Halmos.

(phonetics) A consonant sound made by slightly narrowing the vocal tract, while still allowing a smooth flow of air. Liquids and glides are approximants.

ձայնորդ

consonant made by slightly narrowing the vocal tract


retract

en-verb

retract (third-person singular simple present retracts, present participle retracting, simple past and past participle retracted)

retracts (present singular third-person)
retracting (participle present)
retracted (participle past)
retracted (past)

From Late Middle English retracten, retract (“to absorb, draw in”), from Latin retractus (“withdrawn”), the perfect passive participle of Latin retrahō (“to draw or pull back, withdraw; to bring back; to compel to turn back; to recall; to get back, recover; to hold back, restrain, withhold; to remove, take away; to bring to light again; (Late Latin) to delay”), from re- (prefix meaning ‘again’) + trahō (“to drag, pull; to extract, withdraw”) (apparently ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tregʰ- (“to drag, pull (?)”), a variant of *dʰregʰ- (“to drag, pull; to run”)). Doublet of retreat.

der

(phonetics) To pronounce (a sound, especially a vowel) farther to the back of the vocal tract.

後移 /后移

to pronounce (a sound, especially a vowel) farther to the back of the vocal tract


atonic

Coordinate term: subtonic

(phonetics, dated) A sound with lack of tone or vocality.


preaspiration

/ˌpɹiːˌæspəˈɹeɪʃən/

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-preaspiration.wav

(phonetics) A period of voiceless breathing that precedes some consonants in some languages—a sort of mirror-image of aspiration.


retracted

My guess is that he substitutes a schwa sound for the retracted r in final position.

1987, Rex Burns, Suicide Season, Viking, →ISBN, page 109:

(phonetics, of a sound) Pronounced further back in the vocal tract.

hátrébb képzett

(phonetics) pronounced further back in the vocal tract


hard c

(phonetics) The "c" sound pronounced /k/, as in "cat" and "cabin", as distinct from the soft c, pronounced /s/, in "cent", "center" and "circuit".


hard g

hard gs (plural)
hard-g (alternative)
hard G (alternative)
hard-G (alternative)

Hard g at last found his cap and again became Hard G, after which the fight was renewed.

1882, H.M. Dickson, The Elocutionist..., p. 41

(phonetics) The plosive /g/ sound in "get", "log" and "give" as distinct from the soft g in "gem", "giraffe", "lodge" and "generation".


guttural

en-adj

guttural (comparative more guttural, superlative most guttural)

more guttural (comparative)
most guttural (superlative)

From Middle French guttural, from New Latin gutturālis, from Latin guttur (“throat”) + -ālis.

(phonetics) having a place of articulation towards the back of the mouth; in modern use, uvular, pharyngeal, or glottal; in earlier or non-technical use, also including velar.

гърлен

phonetics: articulated at the back of the mouth


retroflex

retroflex (comparative more retroflex, superlative most retroflex)

more retroflex (comparative)
most retroflex (superlative)

From Latin rētrōflexus, the perfect participle of rētrōflectō (“bend, turn”), from flectō (“bend, turn”).

apiko-postalveolar

of pronunciation in which the tongue tip approaches/touches the back of the alveolar ridge

lamino-postalveolar

of pronunciation in which the tongue blade approaches/touches the back of the alveolar ridge

(phonetics) Of pronunciation in which the tip of the tongue is raised and bent backwards, so that the underside of the tongue approaches or touches the palate.

subapiko-palatal

of pronunciation in which the tongue underside approaches/touches the palate

subapical palatal

of pronunciation with the tongue underside

(phonetics) Of pronunciation in which the tip of the tongue approaches or touches the back of the alveolar ridge.

(phonetics) Of pronunciation in which the blade of the tongue approaches or touches the back of the alveolar ridge.


retroflex

spółgłoska apikalna zadziąsłowa

consonant pronounced with the tongue tip approaching/touching the back of the alveolar ridge

spółgłoska laminalna zadziąsłowa

consonant pronounced with the tongue blade approaching/touching the back of the alveolar ridge

(phonetics) A consonant pronounced with the underside of the tongue approaching or touching the palate.

spółgłoska subapikalno-prepalatalna

consonant pronounced with the tongue underside approaching/touching the palate

(phonetics) A consonant pronounced with the tip of the tongue approaching or touching the back of the alveolar ridge.

(phonetics) A consonant pronounced with the blade of the tongue approaching or touching the back of the alveolar ridge.


lene

Anglicisation of Latin lēnis. Doublet of lenis.

(phonetics) The smooth breathing (spiritus lenis).

When in a crasis, a lene consonant […] is combined with an aspirated vowel, the lene is always changed (except in the Ionic dialect) into the corresponding aspirate […]

(phonetics) A voiceless, or unaspirated, stopped consonant, such as Greek pi, kappa, or tau.


implosive

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(phonetics) An implosive sound; an implodent.


implodent

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-implodent.wav


fronting

en-noun

fronting (countable and uncountable, plural frontings)

(phonetics, phonology) A process whereby a vowel or a consonant is pronounced farther to the front of the vocal tract than some reference point.


wild card

wild cards (plural)
wildcard (alternative)
wild-card (alternative)

(phonetics, phonology) Alternative form of wildcard (“symbol for a generic sound”)


prevocalic

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The word "an" is the prevocalic form of the word "a".

(phonetics) Immediately preceding a vowel or vowel sound


mussitation

mussitation (countable and uncountable, plural mussitations)

Learned borrowing from Latin mussitātiō (“soft noise made by dogs, or (Late Latin) people”) + English -ion (suffix denoting a condition or state). Mussitātiō is derived from mussitātus (“kept quiet; having been kept quiet; murmured, muttered; having been muttered”) (see further at mussitate) + -iō (suffix forming abstract nouns from verbs).

lbor

The mussitation of the crowd dropped instantly.

1989, Nick Cave, And the Ass Saw the Angel:

(chiefly archaic or obsolete) Speech conducted in a hushed manner, akin to a murmur or a whisper.


asper

From Middle English aspre, from Old French aspre (modern French âpre), from Latin asper (“rough”).

(phonetics, obsolete) Rough breathing; a mark (#) indicating that part of a word is aspirated, or pronounced with h before it.


nasalization

en-noun

nasalization (countable and uncountable, plural nasalizations)

nasalizations (plural)
nasalisation (alternative)

(phonetics, uncountable) the articulation of a vowel or continuant consonant in such a way that air flows through the nose at the same time as it flows through the mouth

غُنَّة

articulation such that air flows through the nose and mouth


nasalize

en-verb

nasalize (third-person singular simple present nasalizes, present participle nasalizing, simple past and past participle nasalized)

nasalizes (present singular third-person)
nasalizing (participle present)
nasalized (participle past)
nasalized (past)
nasalise (alternative)

(phonetics) To lower the soft palate so that air flows through the nose during the articulation of a speech sound.

nasaliser

allow air to flow through the nose during the articulation of a speech sound


occlusive

(phonetics) A speech sound produced by obstructing airflow in the oral vocal tract, but not necessarily into the nasal cavity.


phonetic symbol

en-noun

phonetic symbol (plural phonetic symbols)

(phonetics) A written symbol used systematically for denoting a phoneme or any other phonetic quality in utterance.


formant

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-formant.wav

Borrowed from German Formant, from Latin fōrmāns (“shaping; forming; fashioning”), present participle of fōrmō (“to shape; to form; to fashion”). Doublet of formans.

der

The resonances of the vocal tract are called formants. Trying to hear the separate formants in a vowel is difficult. We are so used to a vowel being a single meaningful entity that it is difficult to consider it as a sound with separable bits. But it is possible to say vowels so that some of their component parts are more obvious.

2012, Peter Ladefoged, Sandra Ferrari Disner, Vowels and Consonants, Kindle edition, New York: Wiley, →ISBN:

(physics, phonetics) A band of frequencies, in a sound spectrum, that have a greater intensity; they determine the quality of a sound; especially the characteristic sounds of the consonants.


diphone

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-diphone.wav


sonority

en-noun

sonority (countable and uncountable, plural sonorities)

/səˈnɔːɹɪti/

/səˈnɔːɹəti/

From sonor(ous) + -ity, from French sonorité, from Latin sonōritās.

It can be seen that vowels have the highest sonority of all phonemes in English, with low vowels being even more sonorous than high vowels.

2009, Ulrike Gut, Introduction to English Phonetics and Phonology, Bern: Peter Lang, →ISBN, page 81:

(linguistics, phonetics) Relative loudness (of a speech sound); degree of being sonorous.


palatalised

en-adj

palatalised (comparative more palatalised, superlative most palatalised)

more palatalised (comparative)
most palatalised (superlative)
palatalized (alternative)

(phonetics, phonology, chiefly British) Having undergone palatalisation.


fronted

fronted (comparative more fronted, superlative most fronted)

more fronted (comparative)
most fronted (superlative)

(phonetics) Pronounced in the front manner.


phonetician

(linguistics) A dialectologist; a person who studies regional differences in speech sounds.


dialectologist

A person who studies regional differences in speech sounds.


phonically

In accordance with the principles of phonics.

Phonetically; in a manner related to the sound of a word rather than its spelling.


suprasegmental

(phonetics) An effect on speech, such as length, stress, tone, and phonation type, that extends over more than one segment of sounds.


palatalize

en-verb

palatalize (third-person singular simple present palatalizes, present participle palatalizing, simple past and past participle palatalized)

palatalizes (present singular third-person)
palatalizing (participle present)
palatalized (participle past)
palatalized (past)
palatalise (alternative)

Most English speakers palatalize the letter t in the word "nature".

(phonetics, transitive) To pronounce a sound with the tongue against the palate of the mouth when that sound normally would not be so pronounced.

քմայնացնել

to pronounce a sound with the tongue against the palate

(phonetics, intransitive, unaccusative, of a sound) To be pronounced with the tongue against the palate.


aspirated

en-adj

aspirated (comparative more aspirated, superlative most aspirated)

more aspirated (comparative)
most aspirated (superlative)

Coordinate term: preaspirated

In English, word-initial single voiceless consonants are aspirated, so that pit is pronounced [pʰɪt] but spit is pronounced [spɪt].

In Cambodian, aspiration is phonemic, so /p/ and /pʰ/ are different phonemes.

(phonetics) Pronounced with an audible breath, a brief expulsion of air at the end of the sound.