Sibilant
sib·i·lant [ˈsibələnt] adj. Of, characterized by, or producing a hissing sound like that of (s) or (sh).
Synonyms: hissing
Etymology: 1660s, from Latin sibilantem (nominative sibilans), present participle of sibilare "to hiss, whistle," possibly of imitative origin (cf. Greek sizein "to hiss," Lettish sikt "to hiss," Old Church Slavonic svistati "to hiss, whistle"). The noun meaning "speech sound having a hissing effect" is from 1788.
24 comments:
Smeagol always comes to mind when I think of the word sibilant - if any character defines that word then it would be him.
So instead of me making comments like "boo, hiss" I'll switch it up and say "boo, sibilant"... that doesn't sound as good but it will surely throw people off.
Another great word Matt!
Another great word. It reminds me of the snake in the Harry Potter movies.
Another word that sounds like what it means! What are those called? I'll have to ask my son...
Think snake.
There isn't going to be a quiz at the end of the challenge, right????
I am interested in all you have written during the challenge, thanks, most enjoyable,
Yvonne,
Like Natalie, this word immediately reminded me of Voldemort's snake.
What a sibilant noise! LOL!! Hope I used the word correctly!! Yay!! Take care
x
You got me! This one I had absolutely no idea about.
That is not even close to what I thought that word meant, but after reading the definition, it makes sense.
That's cool. Parseltongue, anyone?
Makes me think of parsel tongue, Nagina and Harry Potter. Great word!
Tina @ Life is Good
Co-host, April 2013 A-Z Challenge Blog
@TinaLifeisGood, #atozchallenge
Yup. Gollum and Parseltongue!
In my other life I was a speech-pathologist, and I always noticed the use of this word made me look smart at meetings. In our world, we'd say all sibilants are a sub-group of fricatives, including the /f/ sound and unvoiced /th/ as well as the two you mentioned, but voiced sounds like /v/ or the voiced /th/ or /z/ or the voiced /sh/ are only fricatives, not sibilants.
See what I mean? Smart, right?? ;)
I am something of a phonology geek.
So I am a huge fan of your post today!
Seven silver swans swam silently seaward... sssssss
I'm all too familiar with sibilants, nasals, plosives and all of their ilk. Phonology 1A--a course I'll never recover from.
Snakes would be fluent. Just saying.
Now I need to find a way to use this wonderful new word!
Never heard of it...well the word not the sound...little kids do way too much of it!
Happy "S" day!
I think I'm actually surprised that the word doesn't stem from a name of a snake!
Lyre @ Lyre's Musings #atozchallenge
Hi Matthew - love everyone's comments - but Sheena's stands out .. 'snakes would be fluent' ...
And people who've studied phonology .. I'm lost!
Cheers .. but I'd love to learn more .. Hilary
This is a new one for me. I like it.
A Sith with a lisp.
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