释义 |
tenseness|ˈtɛnsnɪs| [f. tense a. + -ness.] The state or condition of being tense (lit. or fig.); spec. of vowel sounds (cf. tense a. 1 c).
1707Floyer Physic. Pulse-Watch 29 The Tenseness makes the Distention less. 1776Saunders in T. Percival Ess. (1776) III. App. 307 According to the uniformity there is between the tenseness of the fibres of the several boards, and the tone of the different pipes. 1904W. M. Ramsay Lett. to 7 Ch. xix. 261 [Grace] strains the city like a lyre into tenseness harmonious with itself. 1918D. Jones Outl. Eng. Phonetics 20 The ‘tenseness’ or ‘laxness’ of a vowel may be observed mechanically in the case of some vowels by placing the finger on the throat. 1933[see tense a. 1 c]. 1958A. S. C. Ross Etym. ii. 125 OE e o became opened to ę ǫ soon after 1200... This loss of tenseness is of great consequence in the development of new diphthongs. 1978Canad. Jrnl. Linguistics 1977 XXII. 211 There appears to have been a recent tendency to attribute tenseness to all lengthened vowels. |