unvoiced
Meaning
not expressed in words; unspoken
(phonetics) produced without vibration of the vocal cords
Structure
Usage
she sensed his unvoiced criticism during the meeting.
the phonemes /p/, /t/, and /k/ are examples of unvoiced consonants.
there was an unvoiced agreement between them to never discuss the incident.
Etymology
The word "unvoiced" is a Modern English formation built from native Germanic and Latinate elements. The prefix "un-", of Old English origin, is a prolific negator. The core noun "voice" entered English via Old French from the Latin vox, meaning "voice, sound, utterance," which itself traces back to the pie root wekw-, "to speak." The suffix "-ed" is used to form adjectives from nouns, indicating possession of a quality. Therefore, the literal construction "not having voice" logically evolved into its dual modern meanings: the general sense of something not verbally expressed, and the specific phonetic sense describing speech sounds made without vocal cord vibration.
Analysis
- un: old english, a prefix meaning "not" - voice: from old french vois, from latin vox, voc- (voice, sound), a noun root - ed: old english, an adjectival suffix meaning "having the quality of"