Soinnillisen

Soinnillisen is a Finnish linguistic term used to describe a sound that is voiced, meaning produced with vocal fold vibration. The word soinnillisen is the genitive singular form of the adjective soinnillinen, and it is commonly used to modify a noun in grammatical descriptions, for example soinnillisen konsonantin meaning “a voiced consonant.”

In phonetic terms, a soinnillinen sound exhibits periodic vibration of the vocal cords during its articulation. This property contrasts with soinniton, or voiceless, sounds. In many languages, voicing is a phonemic feature for certain classes of sounds, especially obstruents, while vowels and most sonorants (such as nasals and liquids) are inherently voiced. The presence or absence of voicing can be influenced by phonological processes and context, including assimilation and final devoicing.

In Finnish, the distinction between voiced and voiceless sounds is influenced by surface phonology. Finnish exhibits final devoicing, whereby obstruents at the end of a word often appear voiceless, even if underlying representations might be voiced in loanwords or in certain analyses. The term soinnillinen is used in linguistic descriptions to discuss the property of voicing regardless of surface realization.

Etymologically, soinnillinen is formed from sointi (voicing, sound) plus the suffix -linen, meaning “having the property of.” The genitive form soinnillisen is used when describing a specific instance or class, such as “soinnillisen konsonantin” (of a voiced consonant).

See also: voicing, final devoicing, Finnish phonology, sonorant.