Of or pertaining to imperfectly articulated sounds or utterances that are inaudible or barely audible, as characterized by Dr. James Rush (Guide to Pronunciation, 1833)
Applied to, or distinguishing, a speech element consisting of tone, or proper vocal sound, not pure as in the vowels, but dimmed and otherwise modified by some kind of obstruction in the oral or the nasal passage, and in some cases with a mixture of breath sound; a term introduced by Dr