Surf Wiki
Save to docs
general/acting-techniques

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Sotto voce

Intentionally lowering the volume of one's voice for emphasis

Intentionally lowering the volume of one's voice for emphasis

Note

Sotto voce (, ; literally 'under the voice') means intentionally lowering the volume of one's voice for emphasis. The speaker gives the impression of uttering involuntarily a truth which may surprise, shock, or offend. Galileo Galilei's (probably apocryphal) utterance "Eppur si muove" ("And yet [the Earth] moves"), spoken after deciding to recant his heliocentric theory, is a legendary example of a sotto voce utterance.

Uses

Law

In law, "sotto voce" on a transcript indicates a conversation heard below the hearing of the court reporter.

Drama, literature, and rhetoric

In drama, literature, and rhetoric, sotto voce is used to denote emphasis attained by lowering one's voice rather than raising it, similar to the effect provided by an aside. Also similar to an aside, sotto voce can be used to express a character's thoughts out loud. For example, in Chapter 4 of Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë uses the term sotto voce to describe Mrs. Reed's manner of speaking after arguing with Jane: :'I am not your dear; I cannot lie down. Send me to school soon, Mrs. Reed, for I hate to live here.'

:'I will indeed send her to school soon', murmured Mrs. Reed, sotto voce; and gathering up her work, she abruptly quitted the apartment.|Jane Eyre}}

References

da:Sotto voce

References

  1. Publishers, HarperCollins. "The American Heritage Dictionary entry: sotto voce".
  2. "SOTTO VOCE definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary".
  3. (2015). "A Dictionary for the Modern Conductor". Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
  4. (1997). "Essential Dictionary of Music Definitions". Alfred Pub. Co..
  5. [https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/did-galileo-truly-say-and-yet-it-moves-a-modern-detective-story/ Did Galileo Truly Say, 'And Yet It Moves?' A Modern Detective Story] {{Webarchive. link. (25 January 2022 , ''[[Scientific American]]''. Mario Livio, 6 May 2020. Retrieved 25 January 2022.)
  6. "Uniform Format Manual for Texas Reporters' Records". State of Texas Judicial Branch.
  7. Brontë, Charlotte. (2008). "Jane Eyre". Penguin Classics.
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

acting-techniques rhetorical-techniques
Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Sotto voce — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report