adjective
- unable to produce vocal sound; voiceless
- relating to or denoting a speech sound produced without vibration of the vocal cords
Usage: medical or linguistic term
Usage: linguistics
Examples
- The patient became aphonic after the surgery and could only communicate in writing.
- In linguistics, the consonant 'p' is an aphonic sound because the vocal cords do not vibrate when producing it.
- She lost her voice and remained aphonic for several weeks.
- Aphonic consonants are contrasted with voiced consonants in phonetic analysis.
- The singer's aphonic condition prevented her from performing on stage.
- Doctors determined that the injury had left him temporarily aphonic.