lenis

American  

[lee-nis, ley-] / ˈli nɪs, ˈleɪ- /

adjective

1. pronounced with relatively weak muscular tension and breath pressure, resulting in weak sound effect: in stressed or unstressed position, (b, d, g, j, v, th̸, z, andzh ) are lenis in English, as compared with (p, t, k, ch, f, th, s, andsh ), which are fortis.

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noun

lenes plural

1. a lenis consonant.

lenis British  

/ ˈliːnɪs /

adjective

1. (of a consonant) articulated with weak muscular tension

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noun

1. a consonant, such as English b or v, pronounced with weak muscular force

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• lenes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of lenis

First recorded in 1925–30; from Latin: “soft, mild, gentle”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lenis lenes

Intergradation with lenis is also shown in some specimens by the widely spreading zygomatic arches.

From The Pocket Gophers (Genus Thomomys) of Utah, Vol. 1 No. 1 Kansas University Publications. by Durrant, Stephen D.

Large size is the distinctive feature of Thomomys bottae lenis.

From The Pocket Gophers (Genus Thomomys) of Utah, Vol. 1 No. 1 Kansas University Publications. by Durrant, Stephen D.

If the phrase that is to be sung commences with a word beginning with an initial vowel, care must be taken to employ the normal coup de glotte, or spiritus lenis.

From The Voice Its Production, Care and Preservation by Miller, Frank E.

For more than sixty years, at least, this court had felt this authority—potens et lenis dominatio—in the presence of the two celebrated Chief-Justices who filled out this long service.

From Eulogy on Chief-Justice Chase Delivered by William M. Evarts before the Alumni of Dartmouth College, at Hanover by Evarts, William Maxwell

Chief exhorter of the Victoria Char lenes, Mme.

From Time Magazine Archive

A further peculiarity of Scottish Gaelic is that it substitutes lenes or voiceless mediae for the voiced stops, and even l, r, n sounds show a great tendency to give up the voice.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 5 "Cat" to "Celt" by Various

Men become under its subduing dietary influence, "lenti et lenes."

From Herbal Simples Approved for Modern Uses of Cure by Fernie, William Thomas

How the so-called aspirates differ from their corresponding lenes has not yet been determined.

From A Handbook of the English Language by Latham, R. G. (Robert Gordon)

Both pairs were used to express the lenes medially between vowels.

From A Middle High German Primer Third Edition by Wright, Joseph