tensenessn.
/ˈtɛnsnɪs/ The state or condition of being tense (literal or figurative); spec. of vowel sounds (cf. tense adj. 1c).
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the world > matter > constitution of matter > hardness > types of hardness > [noun] > tautness
tenseness1707
tightness1780
tautness1861
the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > vowel > [noun] > qualities of
colour1841
laxness1909
tenseness1918
vowel colour1948
1707 J. Floyer Physician's Pulse-watch 29 The Tenseness makes the Distention less.
1776 Saunders 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.
1904 W. M. Ramsay Lett. to Seven Churches xix. 261 [Grace] strains the city like a lyre into tenseness harmonious with itself.
1918 D. 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 L. Bloomfield Lang. vii. 109 In German the tense vowels are longer than the loose; this difference of length is more striking than that of tenseness.
1958 A. S. C. Ross Etymol. 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.
1978 Canad. Jrnl. Linguistics 1977 22 211 There appears to have been a recent tendency to attribute tenseness to all lengthened vowels.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
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n.1707