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Linguistics & Grammar vocabulary · Phonetics and Phonology

Voiced

Meaning in linguistics & grammar, with examples

/vɔɪst/adjectiveCommon term

In linguistics & grammar, voiced means: Describes a speech sound produced while the vocal folds vibrate, such as /b/, /d/, /z/ and all vowels; sounds made without this vibration are voiceless.

In Turkish: ötümlü

How it is used

Phonetics describes consonants in voiced and voiceless pairs (/p/-/b/, /s/-/z/). Teachers ask learners to touch their throat to feel the vibration. Voicing also explains the different pronunciations of the -ed and -s endings.

Example sentences

  1. After a voiced sound, the -ed ending is pronounced /d/, as in 'played'.

  2. Turkish speakers often make final voiced consonants voiceless, so 'bad' can sound like 'bat'.

Common collocations

  • voiced consonant
  • voiced and voiceless
  • voiced sound
  • voiced plosive
  • consonantA speech sound made by partly or completely blocking the air in the mouth or throat, such as /p/, /s/ or /m/; also a letter that usually spells such a sound.
  • vowelA speech sound made with the air flowing freely through the mouth, without the tongue or lips blocking it, such as the sounds in see, cat and boot.
  • place of articulationThe point in the mouth or throat where the airflow is blocked or narrowed to make a consonant, such as the two lips for /p/ or the teeth for /θ/.
  • phoneticsThe branch of linguistics that studies speech sounds as physical events: how the mouth and throat produce them, how they travel and how the ear perceives them.

More terms: Phonetics and Phonology

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