Skip to main content
tonguing

tonguing

1 7.5
Using the tongue to make clear speech sounds, especially consonants
  • noun
  • /ˈtʌŋɪŋ/
  • Specialized
translation icon : articulación
  • Effective tonguing is essential for musicians to produce clean, articulate notes when playing a wind instrument.

So the vowel sound in boat most hope starts with the tongue further forwards in the mouth.

Examples

  • No, you sound like someone who is making preliminary sounds but not completing them with the tongue and the lips.

  • It may be necessary to imitate the tonguing and breathing mistakes students are making and ask them to compare their playing to the proper model.

    Academic text (2007)
  • First, each word ends in a DE sound, which is a tongue tip sound like this.

  • So the vowel sound in boat most hope starts with the tongue further forwards in the mouth.

  • In singing, proper tonguing techniques help emphasize the consonants to make the lyrics clear.

  • Teachers often demonstrate tonguing exercises to help students pronounce challenging consonant sounds correctly.

Antonyms

103 4.9

To speak in a low, unclear voice that is hard to understand

3 6.3

To speak so the words run together and are hard to understand

Compounds

9.9

A hand tool that cuts matching raised edges and slots on boards so they fit together

How Articulated

enunciation
3 5.5
tonguing
  • Specialized
1 7.5

Surface Forms

tonguing singular
tonguings plural

Morphology

tonguing = tongue (transparent) = tongue + ing

Regular nominalization of the verb 'tongue' describing the action of using the tongue to articulate speech sounds.

Etymology

Tonguing comes from the simple word tongue, meaning 'the mouth muscle used for taste and speech'. So in speaking and singing, tonguing means moving the tongue to make or separate sounds clearly, which is why it helps with good pronunciation.