sonority

Rich sound quality

Sonority is the quality of being resonant and full-sounding.

In linguistics, it refers to how much sound a speech segment carries—vowels have high sonority, stops like *p* and *t* have low sonority.

The term appears in discussions of poetry, music, and phonetics: the sonority of church bells, the sonority hierarchy in syllable structure.

resonance

reverberation

Prolonged reflected sound

overtones · sustain · richness · fullness · depth · warmth · brilliance · ringing · carrying · projection

linguistics

phonology

Science of language sounds

phoneme · prosody · intonation · stress · articulation · nasal · liquid · glide · nucleus · onset

instrumental

orchestra

Large instrumental ensemble

strings · woodwinds · chamber · tutti · fortissimo · crescendo · pianissimo · orchestration · scoring · tonal

vocal

voice

Sound from throat

operatic · choral · aria · cantata · oratorio · vocalize · register · tessitura · coloratura · legato

Categories
Opposites
sound quality/richness

sonorityshrillness

Harsh high pitch

tinniness · stridency · harshness · reediness · squeakiness

acoustic resonance/volume

sonorityfaintness

Verge of swooning

inaudibility · mutedness · weakness · quietness · feebleness

phonetic openness

sonorityocclusion

Complete closure or blockage

stoppage

Family

sonorities

Familiarity
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Used worldwide · Timeless · Abstract · Rated G