Literary notes about surd (AI summary)
The term “surd” emerges in literature with a range of meanings depending on context. In linguistic and phonetic discussions, it denotes a voiceless or silent component of speech, as when sounds are described as surd rather than sonant, clarifying distinctions in articulation and historical pronunciation changes [1] [2]. In grammatical texts, the term is preserved for etymological or phonological precision, for instance noting how certain Latin letters remained surd despite shifts in pronunciation [3] [4]. Beyond its scientific usage, “surd” appears in more creative narratives where it functions as a distinctive name or metaphor, lending an absurd or enigmatic quality to characters like Professor Surd [5] [6] and evoking an atmosphere of inexpressible difference in matters ranging from emotion to metaphysics [7]. Moreover, in mathematical contexts the adjective “surd” is applied to radicals whose precise value cannot be exactly determined, further underscoring its multifaceted literary presence [8].
- [4] For 'voiceless,' 'surd,' 'hard,' or 'tenuis' are sometimes used.
— from New Latin Grammar by Charles E. (Charles Edwin) Bennett - An important distinction is that between voiced (or sonant) and voiceless (or surd) consonants.
— from Anglo-Saxon Grammar and Exercise Bookwith Inflections, Syntax, Selections for Reading, and Glossary by C. Alphonso (Charles Alphonso) Smith - d before the surd s is pronounced t ; the spelling d is preserved for etymological reasons only: as, adsum , pronounced atsum .
— from A Latin Grammar for Schools and Colleges by George Martin Lane - S was probably always voiceless, or surd, in classic Latin, but became voiced between vowels, in Gaul, at the end of the Vulgar Latin period: casa .
— from An Outline of the Phonology and Morphology of Old Provençal by C. H. (Charles Hall) Grandgent - For Furnace Second were no invitations to Professor Surd's house.
— from Stories by American Authors, Volume 5 - Drawn by Reginald Birch “IN FRONT OF ME STOOD PROFESSOR SURD HIMSELF, LOOKING DOWN WITH A NOT UNPLEASANT SMILE”
— from The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine (May 1913)Vol. LXXXVI. New Series: Vol. LXIV. May to October, 1913 by Various - THE SURD OF METAPHYSICS, An Inquiry into the Question Are there Things-in-themselves?
— from Darwin, and After Darwin, Volume 3 of 3 Post-Darwinian Questions: Isolation and Physiological Selection by George John Romanes - Of [Pg 206] course this gives a number, but this number may be a surd, like √2.
— from The Teaching of Geometry by David Eugene Smith
