The word "breathier" is spelled with the letter combination "th" following the letter "r". This can be confusing, as "th" is usually pronounced as a voiceless or voiced dental fricative, as in "thick" or "the". However, in "breathier", the "th" is followed by a vowel sound and is pronounced as a voiced dental fricative, as in the word "breathe". Therefore, the correct IPA phonetic transcription of this word is /ˈbrɛðiər/. Remembering this pronunciation can help with proper spelling and pronunciation of the word.
Breathier is an adjective derived from the word "breath". It is primarily used to describe a sound or voice that is characterized by being more audibly filled with breath or air.
When referring to a sound, breathier indicates a quality in which the production of the sound involves a greater amount of air or breath passing through the vocal apparatus. This typically results in a sound that is softer, lighter, or more ethereal in nature. For example, a flute producing a breathier tone would imply that the player is blowing with less force, resulting in a more delicate and airy sound.
In relation to a voice, breathier describes a vocal quality that is produced by a greater amount of breath being used while speaking or singing. A breathier voice may sound soft, airy, or whispery due to the increased audibility of the breath passing through the vocal cords. This can occur naturally as a vocal technique, intentionally desired in certain singing styles or theatrical performances for a specific effect.
The term breathier can also be used metaphorically to describe writing or prose that contains a noticeable presence of breath or air. In this context, it suggests that the language or expression used in the text is light, airy, or easily flowing, as if the words are being exhaled with ease.
Overall, breathier characterizes sounds, voices, or writing that possess a noticeable presence of breath or air, conveying a soft, delicate, or airy quality.
* The statistics data for these misspellings percentages are collected from over 15,411,110 spell check sessions on www.spellchecker.net from Jan 2010 - Jun 2012.
The word breathier is derived from the noun breath, which originated from the Old English word bræð, meaning odor, scent, exhalation. The -y suffix is commonly added to adjectives to form comparatives, meaning more or having the quality of. Therefore, breathier can be understood as more breath-like or having the quality of breath.