Sigmatic

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Relating to sigmatism, a speech disorder in which the s, z and related hissing sounds are mispronounced or distorted
2. Describing a speech defect marked by faulty production of sibilant sounds such as s and sh
3. Of or connected with a lisp-like impairment in which hissing consonants are articulated incorrectly

Etymology: The Greek letter sigma, the source of this word's first part, had a name that was itself a Greek word: "sigma" was the Greek name for the letter, borrowed from the Phoenician letter shin, and in Greek it was pronounced "sigma" with a short i-sound. The adjective "sigmatic" is simply that name with the common suffix "-ic" attached, meaning "relating to the letter s" in the sense of the sound it stands for. The word is a technical formation, built on the Greek letter name rather than on the Latin letter "s" itself. Its use is confined to phonetics and speech description, where it refers to sounds or speech patterns involving the s-sound, such as a "sigmatic" lisp. Because it was assembled from a classical name plus an English suffix, its meaning stays close to its source: a sign or quality tied directly to the letter.