Vocalic

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /vəʊˈkælɪk/

Definitions

1. Pertaining to the sounds produced by the human voice in both speech and song, encompassing the characteristics of vowel sounds found in languages, and relating to the study of phonetics in vocal expression
2. Connected to vocal sounds emitted by the voice during speaking or singing, focusing on the nature and features of vowel sounds in various languages, and involving aspects of phonetics relevant to vocal delivery
3. Describing characteristics or qualities associated with vowel sounds in speech or singing

Etymology: Vocalic is a late arrival in English, borrowed from French "vocalique," which is built from "vocal" plus the suffix "-ique." That suffix comes down through Latin "-icus" and Greek-derived "-ikos," and it is the same ending you find in "music" and "public." Its job here is simple: it turns the idea of the voice into an adjective describing things that relate to vowel sounds. The root "vocal" traces back through French to Latin "vocalis," meaning "of the voice," from "vox," "voice." The Latin base is ancient, but the specific form "vocalic" was built later, on the French model, and then taken into English. Because the word is a technical coinage of this kind, its history is mostly a matter of how the pieces were assembled rather than any change in meaning.

Synonyms: vocal, sonorous