Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The seventh tone of a diatonic scale, immediately below the tonic.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In music, the next tone below the upper tonic of a scale; the leading-tone or seventh, as E in the scale of F. Also called subsemitone.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective (Phonetics) Applied to, or distinguishing, a speech element consisting of tone, or proper vocal sound, not pure as in the vowels, but dimmed and otherwise modified by some kind of obstruction in the oral or the nasal passage, and in some cases with a mixture of breath sound; -- a term introduced by Dr. James Rush in 1833. See Guide to Pronunciation, §§155, 199-202.
  • noun (Phonetics) A subtonic sound or element; a vocal consonant, as b, d, g, n, etc.; a subvocal.
  • noun (Mus.) The seventh tone of the scale, or that immediately below the tonic; -- called also subsemitone.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective phonetics, dated Of or pertaining to imperfectly articulated sounds or utterances that are inaudible or barely audible, as characterized by Dr. James Rush (Guide to Pronunciation, 1833).
  • noun music The note immediately below the upper note of a musical scale.
  • noun phonetics, dated An imperfectly articulated sound or utterance, as characterized by Dr. James Rush (Guide to Pronunciation, 1833).

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun (music) the seventh note of the diatonic scale

Etymologies

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Examples

  • I'm reminded of the problem that physicists have when they're looking at subtonic particles.

    CNN Transcript - Special Event: Congress to Hold Hearings on Election Night News Coverage - November 16, 2000 2000

  • = Indefinite Syllables = are capable of almost indefinite prolongation; they are those which terminate in a tonic, or any subtonic except one of the three abrupt subtonics, _b_, _d_, _g_; for example, _awe_, _fudge_,

    The Ontario Readers: The High School Reader, 1886 Ontario. Ministry of Education

  • If the terminal sound is a tonic, or a flowing subtonic, the implication consists of a gentle murmuring prolongation of the terminal element coalescing with the initial element of the next word; if the terminal element is a flowing atonic the prolongation will not be accompanied by a murmur; but in either case the vocal organs, while prolonging the sound of one word, prepare, as it were, to begin the next.

    The Ontario Readers: The High School Reader, 1886 Ontario. Ministry of Education

  • Some syllables that so end, by virtue of tonic or subtonic elements which they may contain, are capable of _some_ prolongation; for example, _warp_, _dart_, _block_, _grab_, _dread_,

    The Ontario Readers: The High School Reader, 1886 Ontario. Ministry of Education

  • Be careful not to convert the subtonic into a tonic.

    The Ontario Readers: The High School Reader, 1886 Ontario. Ministry of Education

  • -- Utter the word _bud_ slowly, and detach from the rest of the word the obscure murmur heard in pronouncing the first letter: this is the _subtonic_ represented by _b_.

    The Ontario Readers: The High School Reader, 1886 Ontario. Ministry of Education

  • But the correct and distinct pronunciation of the subtonic, and especially of the atonic, elements, when they occur, as is so frequent in English words, in combination, is not so easily accomplished; and orthoepy, in this respect, as a _habit_, cannot be secured without great care and incessant practice.

    The Ontario Readers: The High School Reader, 1886 Ontario. Ministry of Education

  • "The Green Man [his nickname at the time] always played his arpeggios back to front, and in the subtonic key, which forced the listener to rethink his assumptions about where a solo should go," recalls Parnell, who played bass with Miles Davis, Art Tatum, and Thelonious Monk.

    unknown title 2009

  • "The Green Man [his nickname at the time] always played his arpeggios back to front, and in the subtonic key, which forced the listener to rethink his assumptions about where a solo should go," recalls Parnell, who played bass with Miles Davis, Art Tatum, and Thelonious Monk.

    unknown title 2009

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