Gutturality

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The characteristic of producing sounds that originate from the throat is often associated with a deep or harsh vocalization commonly found in various languages
2. A quality denoting deep, rough, or throaty sounds, typically arising from phonation that occurs in the throat region
3. The quality of producing deep, throaty vocal sounds that often have a rough texture is typically associated with certain speech patterns or languages

Etymology: "Guttural" comes from Latin "guttur," meaning throat, and it entered English in the early 1600s as a term for sounds made in the back of the throat. "Gutturality" is simply that adjective with the suffix "-ity," which turns a quality word into a noun for a state or property, so it names the throatiness of a sound itself. The suffix does the same job in many other pairs, such as "electric" and "electricity" or "local" and "locality." Speakers reach for "gutturality" when they want to discuss the quality of a sound rather than a single sound, as in comparing how consonants are articulated across languages.

Synonyms: harshness, gruffness

Antonyms: smoothness, melodiousness