voiced
Meaning
(of a speech sound) produced with vibration of the vocal cords.
Expressed in words; spoken.
Structure
Usage
The sounds /b/, /d/, and /g/ are voiced consonants.
She voiced her concerns about the new policy during the meeting.
There was a barely voiced murmur of agreement in the room.
Etymology
The adjective 'voiced' is built upon the noun 'voice', which traces back to the Latin vox (genitive vocis), meaning "voice, sound, or word." This Latin term is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root wekw-, meaning "to speak," which is also the source for words like 'vocal' and 'vowel'. The suffix '-ed', of Germanic origin, is added to nouns to create adjectives indicating possession of a quality, as seen in words like 'talented' or 'winged'. Therefore, the literal construction "provided with a voice" logically evolved to describe speech sounds produced with vocal cord vibration, and by extension, anything that is expressed or spoken.
Analysis
- voice: From Latin vox (voice, sound, word), via Old French voiz. In this word, it functions as the core root denoting sound or utterance. - ed: A productive English suffix of Germanic origin (Old English -ed, -od, -ad), used to form adjectives from nouns or verbs, meaning "having, provided with, characterized by."