Monday, April 22, 2013

A to Z Challenge 2013: S - Sibilant

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:

Sally said...

Smeagol always comes to mind when I think of the word sibilant - if any character defines that word then it would be him.

Dani said...

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!

Natalie Aguirre said...

Another great word. It reminds me of the snake in the Harry Potter movies.

Joe Lunievicz said...

Another word that sounds like what it means! What are those called? I'll have to ask my son...

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Think snake.

Stina said...

There isn't going to be a quiz at the end of the challenge, right????

Anonymous said...

I am interested in all you have written during the challenge, thanks, most enjoyable,

Yvonne,

mshatch said...

Like Natalie, this word immediately reminded me of Voldemort's snake.

Old Kitty said...

What a sibilant noise! LOL!! Hope I used the word correctly!! Yay!! Take care
x

farawayeyes said...

You got me! This one I had absolutely no idea about.

Unknown said...

That is not even close to what I thought that word meant, but after reading the definition, it makes sense.

Rick Daley said...

That's cool. Parseltongue, anyone?

Tina said...

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

SC Author said...

Yup. Gollum and Parseltongue!

Kristen Wixted said...

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!

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

Seven silver swans swam silently seaward... sssssss

cleemckenzie said...

I'm all too familiar with sibilants, nasals, plosives and all of their ilk. Phonology 1A--a course I'll never recover from.

Sheena-kay Graham said...

Snakes would be fluent. Just saying.

Nancy Thompson said...

Now I need to find a way to use this wonderful new word!

M said...

Never heard of it...well the word not the sound...little kids do way too much of it!
Happy "S" day!

Lyre said...

I think I'm actually surprised that the word doesn't stem from a name of a snake!

Lyre @ Lyre's Musings #atozchallenge

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

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

Elise Fallson said...

This is a new one for me. I like it.

Steve MC said...

A Sith with a lisp.