hoorbaar

Hoorbaar is a Dutch adjective meaning audible or hearable, used to indicate that something can be perceived through hearing. It can describe sounds, voices, noises, or messages that are within the listener’s ability to hear. In usage, hoorbaar can function both predicatively and attributively, as in "Het geluid is hoorbaar" or "een hoorbaar geluid." The word is typically employed in descriptive, technical, or literary contexts to emphasize audibility rather than clarity or meaning.

Etymology and form: Hoorbaar is formed from the verb horen (to hear) plus the suffix -baar, which signals that something is capable of being acted upon or possessed by the sense named in the root. The construction is common in Dutch, and the form is cognate with German hörbar. Pronunciation is generally rendered as /ˈɦoːrbaːr/ in standard Dutch, with the first syllable carrying a long /oː/ vowel and the second syllable a long /aː/.

Usage and nuance: Hoorbaar tends to be used for physical audibility—whether a sound can be heard under given conditions—or to describe events noticeable by listening. It is more formal than everyday synonyms in casual speech and often appears in acoustics, media reports, or descriptive prose. The term should not be confused with terms that describe how something is received or interpreted, such as luisterbaar (pleasant to listen to) or begrijpelijk (understandable), which address different attributes.

See also: Horen; Gehoor; Auditief; Geluid.