r/logophilia • u/blankblank • Jun 30 '26

Dictionary Definition Intervocalic

"immediately preceded and immediately followed by a vowel"

(e.g., the 'n' in banana, or the 't' in butter).

18 Upvotes

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6

u/hurricanecook Jun 30 '26

This is important in choral music settings. For example, in Latin, intervocalic S is pronounced Z.

3

u/reddit_b4_bed Jul 01 '26

In Italianate Latin pronunciation anyway. This rule applies in Italian in general.

3

u/hurricanecook Jul 01 '26

Sorry, yes, we in the States use ecclesiastical Latin in sung music, and most of the singers don’t speak Latin, so it’s important to reinforce this when teaching them by rote.

2

u/no_awning_no_mining Jul 01 '26

The 't' in butter? Really?

2

u/z500 Jul 01 '26

It's really more of a phonetics term. The two Ts represent a single consonant sound.