post-vocalic
|post-vo-ca-lic|
🇺🇸
/poʊst-voʊˈkælɪk/
🇬🇧
/pəʊst-vəʊˈkælɪk/
after a vowel
Etymology
'post-vocalic' originates from Latin-derived elements: the prefix 'post-' (from Latin 'post', meaning 'after') and 'vocalic' from Latin 'vocalis' (from 'vox', meaning 'voice' or 'sound').
'post-' (Latin 'post') + 'vocalic' (from Latin 'vocalis', via English 'vocal' + suffix '-ic') were combined in modern English linguistic terminology (19th–20th century) to form 'post-vocalic'.
Initially the components meant 'after' and 'voice/sound' respectively; the combined term came to have the technical phonetic meaning 'occurring after a vowel' and has largely retained that specialized sense.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Adjective 1
occurring after a vowel; used in phonetics to describe a sound (often a consonant) that follows a vowel.
In many dialects, the post-vocalic /r/ is pronounced.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Last updated: 2026/01/11 05:44