different between utterable vs vocable

English

Etymology

utter +? -able

Adjective

utterable (not comparable)

1. Capable of being expressed in words, especially audibly.

   Antonym: unutterable

Derived terms

• unutterable

Related terms

• utterability

References

• Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French vocable or Latin vocabulum, from Latin voc? (“I call”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?v??k?bl?/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?vo?k?bl?/

Noun

vocable (plural vocables)

1. (linguistics) A word or utterance, especially with reference to its form rather than its meaning.
   • 1974, Anthony Burgess, The Clockwork Testament:

     Without words and almost with the seriousness of asylum nurses they at once set upon an unsavoury-looking matron who began to cry out Mediterranean vocables of distress.

   • 1925, John Buchan, "The House of the Four Winds":

     At first the man puzzled; then he smiled. He pronounced a string of uncouth vocables.

2. (music) A syllable or sound without specific meaning, used together with or in place of actual words in a song.
   • Encyclopaedia Brittanica, Native American Music;

     Many Native American songs employ vocables, syllables that do not have referential meaning. These may be used to frame words or may be inserted among them; in some cases, they constitute the entire song text.

Translations

Adjective

vocable (not comparable)

1. (linguistics) Able to be uttered.

   a vocable marker

Synonyms

• utterable, voiceable

Related terms

• vocabulary
• vocability

Translations

French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin vocabulum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /v?.kabl/

Noun

vocable m (plural vocables)

1. term

Related terms

• vocabulaire

Further reading

• “vocable” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).