Definition

Verb: * To make a voiced sound become voiceless. In phonetics, this means to change the pronunciation of a sound so that the vocal cords do not vibrate during its production.

Usage

The verb "devoice" is used to describe a specific phonetic process. It is a technical term most common in linguistics and language studies. * It is typically used in the passive voice or as a past participle to describe the state of a sound. * It can be used transitively (e.g., "The environment devoices the consonant.").

Examples

• The final consonant in the word "dogs" is devoiced and sounds like /s/, unlike in "dog" where it is voiced /z/.
• In some languages, voiced consonants become devoiced at the end of a word.
• The phonological rule devoices the plosive /b/ to /p/ in that context.

Advanced Usage

• Devoicing (gerund/noun): The process or result of making a sound voiceless.
  • Final-obstruent devoicing is a common feature in German.
• Devoiced (adjective): Describing a sound that has undergone this process.
  • The phoneme is realized as a devoiced alveolar fricative.

Variants and Related Words

• Devoicing (n): The act or process of devoicing.
• Voiceless (adj): The state of a sound produced without vocal cord vibration; the result of devoicing.
• Voice (v): The opposite action; to make a voiceless sound become voiced.

Synonyms

• Unvoice

Antonyms

• Voice (verb)

Related Linguistic Concepts

• Assimilation: A broader process where a sound becomes more like a neighboring sound; devoicing can be a type of assimilation.
• Fortition: A sound change that increases the articulatory effort, which can include devoicing.
• Phoneme: A unit of sound that can distinguish meaning; devoicing may create allophones of a phoneme.

Verb

1. utter with tense vocal chords