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🗣️ To speak or sing 🎶 To sing notes 🔤 To make a vowel
to vocalize

to vocalize

1 7.3
To make a consonant sound like a vowel when speaking
  • verb
  • /ˈvoʊkəˌlaɪz/
  • Specialized
translation icon : vocalizar
  • After much practice, the choir members were able to vocalize the intricate harmonies beautifully.

Examples

  • Its pattern matching software translated the wearer's fingerspelling gestures into letters that could be displayed or vocalized by a speech synthesizer.

    Academic text (1994)

  • We Speech folk know how to deal with vocalized pause problems (uh).

    Blog text (4)

  • JFK was famous for his vocalized pauses, and it didn't seem to hurt his ability to connect with people.

    Blog text (1)

  • His responses were remarkably free of the vocalized pauses that characterize his usual off-the-cuff speech.

    Blog text (1)

  • Given that /l/ is so often vocalized by adult speakers, we suggest that it is not appropriate to consider vocalization of /l/ a worthwhile intervention target.

    Academic text (2015)

  • During the lesson, the teacher told the students to vocalize the song using clear vowel sounds.

  • The speech therapy session helped the child to vocalize sounds more easily, improving his communication skills.

Synonyms

to vowelize
vsto vocalize
  • Specialized
9.9

To make a sound or letter sound like a vowel when speaking

applies only to consonants, usually liquids, rather than to any sound

Surface Forms

vocalize infinitive
vocalized past
vocalized past participle
vocalizing present participle
vocalizes third person singular

Morphology

vocalize = vocal (semi-transparent) = vocal + ize

Formally derived from 'vocal' + '-ize', but this sense is a technical phonetics usage (turning a consonant into a vowel-like sound) that may not be obvious to an average B1 learner.

Etymology

Vocalize comes from the Latin root vox meaning 'voice' and is linked to the English word vowel, which is a 'voice' sound. In language study, to vocalize a consonant is to make it more like a 'vowel' or a voiced sound, so the word means turning a consonant into a more voice-like sound.