Fortition
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A sound change in which a consonant becomes more fortis. countable, uncountable
"1988, Sylvia Moosmüller, Sociophonology, Peter Auer, Aldo di Luzio (editors), Variation and Convergence: Studies in Social Dialectology, page 76, The two process types following from these assumptions, lenition processes, aiming at articulatory ease at the expense of perception, and fortition processes, resulting in articulatory difficulty in favor of better perception, were further modified by Dressler & Drachman (1977), as lenitions need not necessarily impede perception; similarly fortitions need not necessarily result in articulatory difficulty."
- 2 Casual choice; fortuitous selection; hazard. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"No rotation; no appointment by lot; no mode of election operating in the spirit of fortition or rotation, can be generally good in a government conversant in extensive objects."
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"1988, Sylvia Moosmüller, Sociophonology, Peter Auer, Aldo di Luzio (editors), Variation and Convergence: Studies in Social Dialectology, page 76, The two process types following from these assumptions, lenition processes, aiming at articulatory ease at the expense of perception, and fortition processes, resulting in articulatory difficulty in favor of better perception, were further modified by Dressler & Drachman (1977), as lenitions need not necessarily impede perception; similarly fortitions need not necessarily result in articulatory difficulty."
Etymology
From fortis + -ition; compare lenition.
Related phrases
More for "fortition"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.