Prevocalic

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Pertaining to a sound or letter occurring immediately before a vowel in a word; describing the position of a phoneme that precedes a vowel sound; relating to an element placed just ahead of a vowel segment in speech or writing
2. Referring to any linguistic unit situated directly before a vocalic element; indicating a consonantal sound that comes prior to a vowel within a syllable or word; denoting the position immediately antecedent to a vowel in phonetics or orthography
3. Characterizing a fragment that precedes vowel articulation in language; marking a segment positioned just before a vocalic tone or phoneme; identifying the placement of a sound or letter directly in front of a vowel sound in spoken or written form

Etymology: The word is a technical coinage from phonetics, built in English by attaching the prefix "pre-" (before, ahead of) to "vocalic," which describes a sound that functions as a vowel. "Vocalic" itself reaches English through French, where "vocal" came from Latin "vocalis," meaning "of the voice," from "vox," voice. So the chain runs from a Latin word for voice, through French "vocalique," to English "vocalic," and finally to the prefixed form. The pieces are transparent: "pre-" comes from Latin "prae," meaning "before," which entered English through Middle English. Put together, "prevocalic" simply means "before a vowel." Linguists use it to describe a consonant or other sound that stands directly ahead of a vowel, as the "p" does in "pat."

Synonyms: pre-vowel, before vowel

Antonyms: postvocalic, after vowel