Construct · 5 fields · 6 citations

Where does voice collide?

One name. Different field. Different construct. One map.

● jingle · one word, five constructs Nearest construct by meaningtexturecompare the meanings
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voice5 CONSTRUCTSGrammatical voiceKLAIMAN · DIATHESISVoicingLISKER · VOCAL FOLDSEmployee voiceHIRSCHMAN · SPEAK UPVoice (part)HURON · POLYPHONYVoiceGENETTE · NARRATOLOGY

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2026

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Linguistics and grammar

the grammatical category governing how a verb's arguments map onto subject and object, as in active and passive.

In grammar, voice (or diathesis) is the category that governs how a verb's arguments map onto the subject and object: an active clause makes the agent the subject, a passive clause promotes the patient to subject and demotes or omits the agent, and languages mark further voices such as the middle or antipassive. Klaiman's 1991 Grammatical voice surveyed these systems across languages and set out how voice reorganises the link between semantic roles and grammatical relations. The referent is a morphosyntactic property of clauses, described by the alignment of roles it produces, not a buzz of the vocal folds, a worker speaking up, or a melodic line in a score.[1]

Unit
A clause's mapping of semantic roles to subject and object
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
Identified by the verb morphology and the alignment of arguments, and compared across languages by typological analysis

Phonetics

whether the vocal folds vibrate during a speech sound, as in voiced [z] versus voiceless [s].

In phonetics, voicing is whether the vocal folds vibrate during a speech sound: a voiced sound such as [z] or [b] is produced with the folds vibrating, a voiceless sound such as [s] or [p] without, and in stops the contrast is carried largely by voice onset time, the interval between the release of the closure and the start of that vibration. Lisker and Abramson's 1964 A cross-language study of voicing in initial stops measured this timing across languages and showed how it separates the stop categories. The referent is an articulatory and acoustic property of a sound, measured in milliseconds of voice onset time, not a grammatical category, an act of dissent, or a part in a chorus.[2]

Unit
A speech sound's vocal-fold vibration, indexed by voice onset time in milliseconds
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
Recorded by acoustic analysis of voice onset time and by laryngoscopy or electroglottography of fold vibration

Organizational behavior and political economy

Speaking up, not exiting

In political economy and organizational behavior, voice is the attempt to change a dissatisfying state of affairs by speaking up rather than leaving it: Hirschman's 1970 Exit, voice, and loyalty set voice against exit as the two responses available to members of a firm or state in decline, with loyalty shaping which one is chosen, and later work such as LePine and Van Dyne's 1998 study of voice behaviour in work groups treated employee voice as a measurable, promotive form of speaking up. The referent is a person's expressed effort to improve a situation from within, counted by acts of raising concerns or suggestions, not a feature of a verb, a vibration of the larynx, or a strand of a polyphonic texture.[3][4]

Unit
An expressed attempt to improve a situation from within, by act of speaking up
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
Assessed by self- and peer-report scales of voice behaviour and by observing raised concerns or suggestions

Music

A part in polyphony

In music, a voice is one of the independent melodic lines that sound together in a polyphonic texture, whether sung or played: writing for several voices means keeping each line coherent on its own while the lines combine acceptably, and the traditional rules of voice-leading describe how each voice should move from note to note. Huron's 2001 Tone and voice derived many of those voice-leading rules from principles of auditory perception, showing why lines written that way stay perceptually distinct. The referent is a part in a musical fabric, described by its melodic motion and its separation from the other parts, not a grammatical alternation, a phonetic feature, or an employee's protest.[5]

Unit
An independent melodic line within a polyphonic texture
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
Traced in a score or performance as a single part, and analysed by its melodic motion and voice-leading

Narratology

the narrating instance, who speaks in a narrative, as distinct from who sees.

In narratology, voice refers to the narrating instance, who speaks in a narrative, as distinct from who sees. This meaning comes from Genette (1979) in Narrative Discourse: An Essay in Method.[6]

Unit
Recovery means
Measured by

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Nearby collisions

loyalty6 fields · 10 citationsjingle · one name, six constructsengagement8 fields · 13 citationsjingle · one name, seven constructsdiscourse6 fields · 10 citationsjingle · one name, six constructs

References

  1. Klaiman, M. H. (1991). Grammatical voice. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521360012
  2. Lisker, L., & Abramson, A. S. (1964). A cross-language study of voicing in initial stops: Acoustical measurements. Word, 20(3), 384–422. https://doi.org/10.1080/00437956.1964.11659830
  3. Hirschman, A. O. (1970). Exit, voice, and loyalty: Responses to decline in firms, organizations, and states. Harvard University Press.
  4. LePine, J. A., & Van Dyne, L. (1998). Predicting voice behavior in work groups. Journal of Applied Psychology, 83(6), 853–868. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.83.6.853
  5. Huron, D. (2001). Tone and voice: A derivation of the rules of voice-leading from perceptual principles. Music Perception, 19(1), 1–64. https://doi.org/10.1525/mp.2001.19.1.1
  6. Genette, G. (1979). Narrative Discourse: An Essay in Method. Blackwell. ISBN 9780631109815

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