Debuccalize

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. In phonology, to shift a consonant so that its articulation moves back into the throat, often turning it into a glottal sound such as /h/
2. To change a speech sound by removing its oral place of articulation, so that it is produced at the glottis instead of the mouth
3. Describing the process in which a consonant loses its mouth-based articulation and becomes a glottal or laryngeal sound, as when /s/ becomes /h/

Etymology: "Debuccalize" is a phonetic term built by adding the prefix "de-" to "buccalize," so its story is essentially the story of the verb it reverses. The "de-" element comes from Latin, where it meant "down," "away" or "off," and in English it often signals removal or reversal, as in "decode" or "defrost." Here it takes "buccalize," a verb describing the articulation of a sound with the cheeks or the lips, and turns it around. The base "buccalize" comes from "buccal," which derives from Latin "bucca," meaning "cheek." Speech scientists use "buccal" for sounds produced in the mouth cavity, so "buccalize" describes making a sound more buccal in articulation. Its opposite, "debuccalize," describes the reverse process: a sound shifted backward in the mouth, away from the lips and cheeks and toward the throat.