What does sonority mean?
Sonority is the quality of sounding full, resonant, and powerful. It can describe a voice, a musical tone, or a sound more generally, as in a singer's rich sonority. In linguistics, sonority has a more technical meaning: it measures how prominent or strongly carrying a sound is, particularly in relation to the vowels and consonants of a syllable. Vowels generally possess greater sonority than consonants, which helps explain why they often form the audible nucleus of syllables and why vowel sounds are central to the perceived rhythm of language. The word is formal and somewhat literary in everyday description but important in phonetics, phonology, and the study of speech. Its usefulness lies in connecting an ordinary experience—the resonance of a voice—with the technical analysis of how sounds are organized and perceived.
nounSonority is the quality of being full, resonant, or powerful in sound. In linguistics, it refers to the relative prominence or strength of a sound within a syllable, word, or utterance.
- The quality of being sonorous, resonant, or full-bodied in sound.
- In phonetics and linguistics, the relative degree of prominence or carrying power of a sound, especially a vowel within a syllable or word.
"The singer's warm timbre gave the phrase a rich sonority."
"The low, open vowels contributed to the language's sonority."
"The sonorous final note filled the hall with a deep resonance."
Plural sonorities is used when referring to the sonorities of different sounds, voices, or musical textures.
"The analysis compared the sonorities of the two vowels."
Sonority gives speech its shape: vowels often carry more prominence than consonants, making them the most audible parts of a word.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does sonority come from?
Sonority entered English through French sonorité and Latin sonoritas, both derived from sonor, meaning “sound” or “resonant.” The Latin root also underlies English words such as sonorous, sonor, and sonance. Over time, sonority developed both a general sense concerning resonant sound and a specialized linguistic sense concerning the relative prominence of sounds.
How sonority is actually used
The general sense is formal and literary, though not uncommon in discussions of music, voices, and sound. In linguistics, sonority is a technical term associated with sound prominence and syllable structure.
Easily confused with sonority
Sonority is the noun naming a quality of sound, while sonorous is the adjective describing something that produces a rich, resonant sound.
Sonority concerns the quality or prominence of sound, whereas sorority denotes a women's social organization or, in student life, a group of women in a fraternity system.