Looking for a form of the word AUDIO.

[JpnDude]

Just a quickie question here.

I’m looking for a word similar to “visual” but related to hearing instead of seeing.

For example, in the following sentence:

DVDs and CDs can be used in classrooms as visual and ______ aids.

what word for “audio” would fit best?

auditory? aural?

Thanks in advance.

[Shagnasty]

Auditory is the typical answer and the one that is most clear. There is a somewhat academic use of the word “temporal” that could also fit but I wouldn’t use it in this context.

[JpnDude]

@Shagnasty

Auditory is the typical answer and the one that is most clear. There is a somewhat academic use of the word “temporal” that could also fit but I wouldn’t use it in this context.

Thanks for the quick reply, Shagnasty.

[ultrafilter]

Both “auditory” and “aural” work, but using “aural” parallels the earlier use of “visual” in the example sentence. It’s mainly a question of style, but I’d definitely prefer “aural” there.

[Cervaise]

@ultrafilter

It’s mainly a question of style, but I’d definitely prefer “aural” there.

In writing, yes. I’d use “auditory” in a spoken context lest I provoke homophonic sniggering from the peanut gallery.

[Terminus_Est]

For the sentence quoted in the OP, why not just say “audiovisual”?

[Sunspace]

@Cervaise

In writing, yes. I’d use “auditory” in a spoken context lest I provoke homophonic sniggering from the peanut gallery.

Yes. When spoken, ‘aural’ sounds the same as ‘oral’.

[tomndebb]

@Sunspace

Yes. When spoken, ‘aural’ sounds the same as ‘oral’.

Well, maybe when you come from a part pf the world where house rhymes with moose.

In my dialect, while they are similar, the initial vowel of aural is quite a bit broader than the initial vowel of oral, which is nearly closed. I do agree that they can be confused when someone is speaking rapidly, particularly if the audience (odience?) is unfamiliar with the word aural–as many are not.

(And I am aware of the dipthong in house when pronounced above the St. Lawrence or the 49th Parallel.)

[pulykamell]

@tomndebb

Well, maybe when you come from a part pf the world where house rhymes with moose.

In my dialect, while they are similar, the initial vowel of aural is quite a bit broader than the initial vowel of oral, which is nearly closed. I do agree that they can be confused when someone is speaking rapidly, particularly if the audience (odience?) is unfamiliar with the word aural–as many are not.

(And I am aware of the dipthong in house when pronounced above the St. Lawrence or the 49th Parallel.)

According to dictionary.com, at least if you assume the most common pronunciations are listed first, then “aural” and “oral” are indeed homophones for most American English speakers.

[Ludovic]

@Cervaise

In writing, yes. I’d use “auditory” in a spoken context lest I provoke homophonic sniggering from the peanut gallery.

You said “homophonic”…huhuhuhuh.

[Excalibre]

@tomndebb

Well, maybe when you come from a part pf the world where house rhymes with moose.

In my dialect, while they are similar, the initial vowel of aural is quite a bit broader than the initial vowel of oral, which is nearly closed. I do agree that they can be confused when someone is speaking rapidly, particularly if the audience (odience?) is unfamiliar with the word aural–as many are not.

(And I am aware of the dipthong in house when pronounced above the St. Lawrence or the 49th Parallel.)

I’m not Canadian, but “aural” and “oral” are certainly homophones for me. Frankly, I’d be surprised if someone in Ohio really had separate vowels there. (Note that people are generally not very good judges of how they actually speak, particularly in spontaneous, rapid speech.) Most American dialects have a much smaller selection of possible vowels before /r/.

[Colophon]

I think they are supposed to be homophones in British English too, but when I was at school the French and Spanish teachers would always stress “OW-ral” (first syllable to rhyme with cow) so as to distinguish it from “oral”. We had both aural and oral language tests, y’see.