sotto voce

See also: sottovoce

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian sottovoce (literally “under [the] voice”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌsɒtəʊ ˈvəʊtʃeɪ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌsɑtoʊ ˈvoʊtʃi/

Adjective

sotto voce (not comparable)

1. (of speech, of a voice, etc) In soft tones; quiet.
   • 1913, D. H. Lawrence, chapter 5, in Sons and Lovers:

     Then a man called for her, and began to make coarse jokes. But Mr. Pappleworth nodded his head in the direction of the boy, and the talk went on sotto voce.

   • 1985, Gary Russell, Divided Loyalties, page 38:

     ‘Hello?’ she shouted, but still her voice came out barely louder than a sotto voce whisper.

   • 2018, Nicole Seymour, Bad Environmentalism, page 89:

     The Boyz also regularly speak in sotto voce, mimicking the grave, hushed tones often adopted by nature/wildlife programming hosts.

2. (music) Soft, instruments or voice.

   Synonym: (informal) sotto

Adverb

sotto voce (not comparable)

1. (of speech, of a voice, etc) Quietly.
   • 1847, Emily Brontë, Jane Eyre:

     "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.

2. (music) Sung or played softly, instruments or voice.

   Synonym: (informal) sotto

Translations

quietly (of speech)

• Esperanto: duonvoĉe
• Estonian: poolel häälel, sosinal
• French: à mi-voix (fr), tout bas
• Georgian: ხმადაბლა (xmadabla)
• Italian: sottovoce (it), sotto voce, a bassa voce, piano (it)
• Japanese: 小さな声で (ちいさなこえで, chīsana koe de)
• Kannada: ತಗ್ಗುದನಿಯಲ್ಲಿ (kn) (taggudaniyalli), ಮೆಲುದನಿಯಲ್ಲಿ (kn) (meludaniyalli), ಮೆತ್ತಗೆ (kn) (mettage), ತನ್ನಷ್ಟಕ್ಕೆ ತಾನೇ (kn) (tannaṣṭakke tānē)
• Polish: cicho (pl), półgłosem (pl)
• Russian: вполго́лоса (ru) (vpolgólosa), ти́хо (ru) (tíxo)
• Spanish: en voz baja

Noun

sotto voce (plural sotto voci)

1. (music) A direction in a score that a passage in a piece should be played softly, or sung in a low voice, when applied to vocal music.

Italian

Adverb

sotto voce

1. Alternative form of sottovoce