Vocable

Definitions

1. A word or utterance, especially with reference to its form rather than its meaning.
2. A syllable or sound without specific meaning, used together with or in place of actual words in a song.

Equivalents

Examples

“Without words and almost with the seriousness of asylum nurses they at once set⟳ upon an unsavoury-looking matron who began to cry⟳ out Mediterranean vocables of distress.”

“At first the man puzzled; then he smiled. He pronounced a string of uncouth vocables.”

“Many Native American songs employ⟳ vocables, syllables that do not have⟳ referential meaning. These may be used to frame words or may be inserted among them; in some cases, they constitute the entire song text.”

CEFR level