strident (adj.)

One of the SOURCE FEATURES of sound set up by Chomsky and Halle in their DISTINCTIVE FEATURE theory of PHONOLOGY, to handle variations in the SIBILANCE of a sound. Strident sounds are defined ARTICULATORILY and ACOUSTICALLY as those sounds produced by a relatively complex STRICTURE, and marked by relatively high frequency and intensity, as in [f], [s] and  . The opposite term in Jakobson and Halle’s approach is MELLOW; in Chomsky and Halle’s later system it is non-strident: these are sounds produced by a less complex stricture, and marked by noise of relatively low frequency and intensity, such as in PLOSIVES and NASALS. All vowels are also [−strident]. The allocation of segments to these categories has been controversial (e.g. whether [f] is + or −strident).