whispering
ささやき声
解説 Definition
ささやき声とは、声帯を振動させずに息だけで発する小さく柔らかい声のことを指す名詞である。秘密の会話や、静かな場所でのコミュニケーション、または親密さや神秘的な雰囲気を演出する際に用いられる。比喩的には、風や葉のかすかな音を表すこともある。
Whispering is the act or sound of speaking extremely quietly, generally with little or no vibration of the vocal cords. The word can also describe a continuous faint sound resembling soft speech, such as wind moving through leaves.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
whispering は原形 whisper に -ing をそのまま付けた名詞・現在分詞で、/ˈwɪspərɪŋ/ と発音する。名詞では「ささやく行為・ささやき声」を表し、the whispering of children のように使う。whisper は一回の小声、whispering は続く小声のやり取りや音という違いを場面で覚えよう。
Whispering is made by adding -ing directly to the base verb whisper, with no spelling change, and is pronounced /ˈwɪspərɪŋ/. As a noun, it focuses on the activity or continuing sound of whispering rather than on one short whispered message. Picture children whispering in a silent library or someone leaning closer because the speaker is too quiet to hear. The phrase the whispering of the wind extends the same image to a faint, breath-like natural sound. Learn whisper for the verb or an individual soft utterance and whispering for the ongoing action or sound.
例文
The whispering of the children in the library annoyed the librarian.
図書館での子供たちのささやき声が司書を困らせた。
She heard the soft whispering of the wind through the autumn leaves.
彼女は秋の葉を通り抜ける風のかすかなささやき声を聞いた。
His whispering was so quiet that she had to lean in to hear him.
彼のささやき声はとても小さかったので、彼女は彼の声を聞こうと身を乗り出さなければならなかった。
whispering の類義語・関連語
whispering の語源・成り立ち Etymology
whispering は whisper「ささやく」に名詞・現在分詞語尾 -ing が付いた語。whisper は古英語 hwisprian にさかのぼる古ゲルマン系の擬音語で、息をひそめた小声の感じがそのまま意味になった。関連語は whisperer, whisper。
Whispering consists of whisper plus the noun and participle suffix -ing. Whisper comes from Old English hwisprian, a verb meaning “to speak very softly,” and belongs to a group of Germanic words whose sounds imitate or suggest quiet, breathy speech. The basic sense has remained stable from Old English into modern English. Its figurative application to wind, leaves, and other faint noises developed naturally from their resemblance to subdued human voices.
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