Make Your Point > Archived Issues > DISCONSONANT
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connect today's word to others:
Sure, consonants are the letters B, C, D, F and so on--all the sounds other than the vowels--but also, the adjective consonant is another word for harmonious, consistent, agreeing, blending, and suitable. Do things jibe? Then they're consonant.
Consonant literally means "sounding together." Isn't that lovely? "His goals are consonant with mine."
(Then why is a letter or sound such as B, C, D, F and so on called a consonant, if "consonant" means "sounding together"? They're the sounds made only with vowels--or at least, that's the simple way folks seemed to be thinking about them when they created the word!)
Keeping in mind the literal meaning of consonant, see if you can explain why it looks like resonant.
Okay, now let's build on the word consonant. It has two different opposites: there's dissonant, which literally means "sounding apart," and there's disconsonant, which, of course, literally means "not sounding together." (And there's actually a third one, inconsonant, also literally "not sounding together," but I'm going to be blatantly biased here and ignore it because it looks and sounds too much like incontinent, a whole 'nother type of problem!)
Dissonant and disconsonant: such a fine difference! Isn't that fantastic? We can choose to emphasize how things clash with dissonant, or choose to emphasize how they fail to harmonize with disconsonant.
The same goes for the word accord with its two opposites: discord and d_______d.
Let's compare those synonyms, accord and consonance. While consonance suggests agreement through the metaphor of sound, through what other metaphor does accord suggest agreement? In other words, if we're consonant, our sounds agree; if we're in accord, our whats agree? (Find the answer here.)
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
make your point with...
"DISCONSONANT"
Consonant things are harmonious or consistent--that is, they fit together well.
So, disconsonant things are inharmonious or inconsistent--that is, they fit together badly.
Pronunciation:
diss KON suh nunt
Part of speech:
Adjective.
(Adjectives are describing words, like "large" or "late."
They can be used in two ways:
1. Right before a noun, as in "disconsonant things."
2. After a linking verb, as in "They were disconsonant.")
Other forms:
disconsonantly, disconsonancy
How to use it:
This is a formal word, and it's much rarer than its close synonym "dissonant." So, call things "disconsonant" when you need to draw special attention to how they fail to harmonize with each other.
Often we say that one thing is disconsonant with another:
"their traditions are disconsonant with ours,"
"these tenets are disconsonant with those,"
"these results aren't necessarily disconsonant with that theory,"
"that requirement is disconsonant with my principles."
But you can also refer to things by themselves as disconsonant, assuming you're making it clear that those things are disconsonant with something else: disconsonant facts, ideas, opinions, principles, etc.
So far I've talked as if a disconsonant thing is always out of harmony with some other specific thing. But actually, we can also talk about disconsonant notes, sounds, noises, and music--which sound bad, harsh, jarring, and unmusical all on their own. And, more abstractly, we can talk about a disconsonant image, impression, personality, performance, writing style and so on.
To use the noun, talk about the disconsonancy between two things or people, the disconsonancy of a relationship, the disconsonancy in people's opinions or responses, the disconsonancy of something's name (because it doesn't match its characteristics), and so on.
(Yes, for the noun, I kept writing "disconsonancy" and not "disconsonance:" the second one isn't recognized by all dictionaries, even though it matches the synonym "dissonance" and the opposite "consonance." Why isn't "disconsonance" recognized? I don't know! It's disconsonant!)
examples:
I recall some sweet memory of you, over and over, so often that it warps; it becomes disconsonant with how you recall it.
"As her career advanced...and she moved increasingly out of the feminine role as helpmate (either as spouse or cabinet officer) to powerful men, the tension between her media coverage and her self-constructed image became increasingly disconsonant."
— Rachel B. Friedman and Ronald E. Lee, The Style and Rhetoric of Elizabeth Dole: Public Persona and Political Discourse, 2014
study it now:
Look away from the screen to define "disconsonant" without saying "opposing" or "conflicting."
try it out:
Fill in the blanks: "(Someone else's) goal, to _____, is wholly disconsonant with mine."
Example: "Her goal, to keep the kids still and silent until they are dismissed, is wholly disconsonant with mine."
before you review:
Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first.
Our game this month is "A Doodad Named After a Thingamajig."
If I give you two categories, X and Y, can you think of an X that was named after a Y?
We'll start off easy--these first few questions will have lots of correct answers each that you might think up--and we'll work our way toward harder questions that, as far as I know, have only one correct answer each.
From the previous issue: Can you think of a prepared dish named after a person?
Possible answers include the cobb salad (named for Robert H. Cobb), fettuccine alfredo (named for Alfredo di Lelio), and eggs Benedict (named for one or more Benedicts--the "real" one is a matter of dispute).
Try this one today: Can you think of a chemical element named after a planet (or a deity associated with a planet)?
review today's word:
1. The exact opposite of DISCONSONANT is CONSONANT.
But a close opposite of DISCONSONANT is
A. BACKSTREET.
B. SAVAGE.
C. IN SYNC.
2. Within the witnesses' accounts was a disconsonancy that _____.
A. ensured the maximum sentence
B. drew muffled laughter
C. troubled the jury
Answers are below.
a final word:
Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From Liesl's blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
Answers to review questions:
1. C
2. C
Sure, consonants are the letters B, C, D, F and so on--all the sounds other than the vowels--but also, the adjective consonant is another word for harmonious, consistent, agreeing, blending, and suitable. Do things jibe? Then they're consonant.
"DISCONSONANT" Consonant things are harmonious or consistent--that is, they fit together well.
I recall some sweet memory of you, over and over, so often that it warps; it becomes disconsonant with how you recall it.
Look away from the screen to define "disconsonant" without saying "opposing" or "conflicting."
Fill in the blanks: "(Someone else's) goal, to _____, is wholly disconsonant with mine."
Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first.
1. The exact opposite of DISCONSONANT is CONSONANT.
Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. |